.

Chapter Five

.

.

.

8th July 1994

Monday

Nina Williams only came to the city for one purpose.

To kill Kazuya Mishima.

It's a perfect summer's day to do the job. Clear skies, perfect vision and nice sunny weather. He was lucky enough to die on a good day.

With her most trusted sniper and a few other weapons, she crept into the empty and half constructed skyscraper where she had a good sniper's view. Sooner or later, Kazuya would be outside to visit some other building across the street.

Lee Chaolan was the man who employed her to kill Kazuya Mishima. It's ironic that the man hired her before but she failed in her mission to kill the Patriarch of the Mishima family. Something told her that Lee might have been using her to find out how powerful the Mishima men were but it wasn't interesting enough to analyse the mind of a self proclaimed silver haired 'demon'.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't embarrassed. It was her first failure and should be her only failure. This time she was ready to succeed in taking a Mishima life.

He's a scumbag, Nina fuelled herself, trying to find reasons to hate Kazuya Mishima. Aside from animal testing, the man hadn't done much else. He was like a Yakuza and mingled with those types of crowd from time to time but as far as her research went, Kazuya hadn't committed rape or killing innocent people. He didn't betray his own people either. Her last kill was a gangster who slaughtered an entire family and sexually abused the only one left. He made a lady friend who was a cop and treated her with respect.

Maybe Kazuya did commit atrocities and was better at covering it up.

Signing, she watches the well dressed man exit from a vehicle and walk with some bodyguards. A flash of scarlet red caught her attention.

No..it couldn't have been…

"Anna you bitch, what the hell?" Nina muttered under her breath, seeing her nineteen year old sister happily walk alongside the target.

Whatever. Nina had job to do and would do it. As soon as Kazuya was in the line of fire, Nina pulled the trigger and watched the body crumble to the ground.

Ha!

"So you're finally here." His deep voice echoed.

Nina swallowed and didn't turn around as she contemplated her next move. She wasn't in the mood to leave a trail of bodies behind her but she had to ensure he wasn't a threat.

"I've read all about you. Mighty scumbag slayer." He told her in Japanese. "Offed so many pieces of shits since the age of seventeen. I'm impressed."

Nina's eyes widened as she recognised that rough deep voice. She could imagine the scowl. But she just killed him. How the hell was he up here in the tall construction building?

Don't talk to the witness she reminded herself. Her eyes look through the crosshairs again. Anna is nowhere in sight but there are people surrounded by the dead body in panic.

"Your own sister sold you out you know. She told me you were coming for me."

No…Anna would never go that far…could she?

From the sound of his voice, she knew he wasn't right behind her so there was an advantage. Without warning, Nina spun around fired several rounds into Kazuya Mishima. He groaned as he fell to the ground.

Smug, she stood up and took a few steps closer to inspect the damage to the target. He lay motionless without a drop of blood on his suit?

"Nina." A familiar female's voice echoed in the half constructed building.

Instinctively, Nina pointed a gun at the young woman just like she had a few months before at the graveyard where their father was buried.

'Bitch' Nina mouthed. She guessed this is what people meant when they were stuck at a crossroad.

"I wouldn't if I were you. You have nowhere to go."

Anna's leg was peeking out of the slit of her dress. In a fit of anger, Nina shot her in the leg. Anna screamed out and cursed at the blonde. If Anna had men who would chase her, maybe this bitch's injury would slow them down.

But that betrayal….it burned.

Nina lifted up the rifle with angry eyes, meet's Anna's equally angry ones. All the little childish jokes they played on each other had changed so much. It was sad. Nina would have never betrayed her. Anna was a traitor. She deserved punishment.

She chose someone else over her own sister.

With shaky hands, Nina held the rifle and hesitated.

An animalistic roar startled her and Nina spun around to fire at the monster who was charging for her. A blur of purple floated upwards and when it looked at her with those hideous red eyed, Nina inspected it.

A purple monster with claws and dear god, was that a third eye on the forehead? So ugly.

It was Kazuya with horns and wings.

She fired again and again.

It laughed. The bullets were useless. Nina began to feel her palms sweat out of a desperation to stay alive, to not let this thing get her. She was about to reach for her grenade until she heard several footsteps approach fast- the sound of backup.

Suddenly, a red laser shot out. Nina rolled back and shoved Anna out of the way.

Then there was total darkness.

.

Nina yelped in bed. As if she fell from the sky.

You have to nurture that humanity left in Jin Kazama.

It was a soft voice that uttered that and Nina wasn't entirely sure if it was hers. That nightmare was something though. She rolls over onto her back and stares at the clean white ceiling. She couldn't remember the last time she had a vivid nightmare, especially one ending with some ethereal voice. She hadn't dreamed for a long time. That was a memory of Anna's betrayal. What was the correlation between the voice and one of the most heart-breaking memories she'd ever have?

You have to nurture that humanity left in Jin Kazama.

Jin Kazama. He wasn't even in her dream but she remembered last night. Someone got stabbed on his order. Was something trying to control her again? A sudden fear took hold of her and she bolted upright in bed.

No one was taking control of her body. It was just her imagination.

Her day was spent overseeing Tekken Force drills and slapping the sense into them for sloppy shit. Eddy had his day off and Nina took on the duties he'd normally do. She didn't know if he was to blame or Heihachi but much of these guys were pretty much useless. Nina wouldn't be surprised if a schoolkid could knock them all down like bowling pins. She was about to lose hope until another set of Tekken Force arrived, showing them how it's done. They were full of finesse, skill and tactics that impressed Nina.

A man in a Lion Armor was in charge of that group. She hadn't seen him before. After the session ended, Nina decided to chill out in the canteen of the Zaibatsu where the Lion Armor man found her.

"Fancy seeing you here, how are you?" The blonde man asked with a hint of concern and charm, his warm blue eyes smiling at her.

"Who are you?" Nina asked, perplexed. Maybe he got her confused with someone else.

"Pardon me, I'm Lars Alexanderson, Chief Commander of the Tekken Force."

"Lars…" Nina mouthed, trying to rack through her memories. Nothing came up in that awkward silence.

"We met a couple of years back at the Melting Pot." He clarified. "When you had your memory loss."

Aha. So he was the blonde man she kissed on Anna's insistence all those years ago. The man must have seen the slight embarrassment on her face because now he was chuckling.

"I'm sorry, I just have this habit of never forgetting faces." He admitted with a shrug. "It was your eyes I remembered the most. Haunted and in need of help."

"Well if you put it that way…" Nina trailed off, anxious that he remembered her as a sort of damsel in distress. Was that his kink?

"So what brings you here? I assume you're working for Jin Kazama in some capacity. We would have met in the induction event but I was off sick that week."

"I'm his bodyguard."

She wondered if that would take her out of his type. She was no helpless maiden in need of rescuing and she certainly wasn't any basket case. Despite his good looks, that sort of fetish from a guy was a turnoff for her.

"That's impressive." He responded, not sounding upset at all. "Looks like you found your calling."

"Thank you, Lars." Nina replied politely. "So what brings you here?"

In the span of a few minutes, she learnt that he enjoyed his job and was a true soldier boy. His mother was proud of him as it brought the honor home and what surprised Nina the most about Lars was that he was mixed race. His father was Japanese but hadn't been part of his life. He hinted that he was in Japan to be closer to his birth father too. Nina kept directing the conversation to his story because she wasn't comfortable with the idea of sharing hers. Lars liked to talk and flirt at the same time and she guessed that's why occasionally he'd get flirty hello's from the female staff as they passed.

He wasn't completely like Chaolan as this type of flirt was from a place of genuine kindness and Anna's ex flame was more of a predatory type who'd follow up with the ladies he'd flirted with and host harem parties. At times he'd two or three time ladies with no desire for commitment. It inspired her sister to do the same and have many lovers at the same time. During the second tournament, Anna was seeing Lee, a couple of some unknown businessmen and tried it on with Kazuya too. She wondered if Anna tried it on Lars also and vaguely remembered Anna dating the best friend of Lars during her memory less period. Was she also still dating him and getting it on with Kazuya?

"You have a bestfriend named Togou?" Nina asked.

Lars eyes widened. "Yes, I do. How do you know that?"

She hadn't met this Togou but was sure he was part of the drill earlier on.

"Anna mentioned she was dating him."

"She still is." Lars admitted. "Togou thinks of proposing to her soon." He beamed. "We're going ring shopping later but don't let your sister know?"

"Anna mentioned to me she was dating him years ago. I didn't know they were still a thing." Nina revealed. "I saw her with Kazuya Mishima just the other day."

Lars' mouth drops.

Good. Save your beloved bestfriend from my silly cow of a sister.

"Were they together in a lover's kind of way?"

Nina nods. "He was in her bedroom. I'm sorry."

Lars hisses and clenches his fist. Nina looked at her watch and it was almost time for her swimming session. She excused herself.

"I'll see you around." Lars said to her with no malice in his tone. "Have a good evening Nina."

The news was proving to be a nuisance. His building was surrounded by disrespectful reporters trying to get the scoop of how a schoolgirl got stabbed at a high security event. Jin was lucky he had another way to get into his own damned building without being spotted. A part of him sympathized with his ground staff. After a few business meetings and the important task of cutting of several trust funds Heihachi left including one of Ling Xiaoyu, he had decided to call it a day and go for a swim. Nina told him she would be going for one around this time and he hoped to catch up with her.

Focusing on the positive, he got enough money to put into the war and cause problems for those who Heihachi had favored. That Mishima ward project was done for and there would be no more idiots signing up to become a part of the Tekken force.

No more idiots lapping up the greatness of Heihachi and Jin swore, tomorrow he would tear that gold giant statue of that monstrous man from the schoolgrounds of Mishima Polytechnic. The one that Xiaoyu often tried to get him to pay respects to by sometimes doing stupid things like touching the toes of the idol and making a wish.

He was glad to see Nina already having a swim and enjoying herself. So there was his bodyguard. Right where she said she'd be. Earlier in the day he had permitted her to cover for Eddy in some issues regarding the Tekken Force while he stayed mostly in the conference room. Nina put some distance between them after learning about the stabbing. Now was a good time to find out what was on her mind. He silently dipped in the water for a second to get used to the temperature.

She was so busy swimming that she hadn't noticed him enter the room and wait for her to reach him.

"Having fun?"

She gasped and he smirked, having never seen this type of reaction from her. Jin was on the ladder. She guessed he didn't know how to dive. Her eyes lingered on him longer that she intended, taking in the sight of an Adonis like body. Jin was broad and chiselled. He was a big man and thoughts of having that body against hers pervaded her thoughts. Too bad he was her employer and her rule of thumb was not to bed the boss. Once he got into the water, she finally broke her silence.

"You're lucky you're my boss."

"I think you're lucky I'm your boss." He countered.

"Really now?"

"Would you prefer working for Heihachi? Or my father?"

Nina huffs. "You have a point."

"I often do."

"Such a cocky bastard." Nina muttered. "Didn't think you can swim either."

He narrows his eyes at her words, slightly offended that she thought that. He wasn't boring or useless. She just didn't know him and what sorts of surprises he had. If she thought he wasn't interesting, he would prove her wrong over time.

"I'll race you." Jin challenged before assuming a position and setting off into the water. There's splashing behind him and for the next few moments, they have their little race and he discovered Nina had a lot of stamina, just as much as him. He tries to splash her to slow her down so he'd win. When a pair of hands caught his ankles, Jin almost yelped at the pull. He resisted and was pulled a little underneath anyway. When he resurged, he saw Nina almost reach the finishing line.

That woman!

A movement from above caught his eye and there was a man with a turban on his head. Jin hadn't seen him before and one swoosh moment, he jumped into the pool over Nina's head with a cry.

"JIN KAZAMA!"

He swam furiously towards Jin who was as startled at the sudden scene. Jin tried swimming away and Nina followed. He wasn't afraid to deal with the man but he was afraid of getting angry which would unleash the devil. Not even Nina's safety would have been guaranteed and right now, her safety was just as important as his own.

The man was so fast and had caught upto him. He grabbed Jin's leg and got kicked in the mouth.

"Let go!" Jin shouted through splashes. He couldn't believe this! He gave another kick in the mouth to the guy and another but the bastard still held on tight. There was more splashing and yelling.

"Bitch! I want to have sex with him!"

Jin's leg was finally free and he swam a little further away to see what the hell was going on. He saw the man in a chokehold. Nina had the upper hand. It seemed to weaken the intruder. Deciding to get out of the water, Jin walked over to the spot where Nina was.

"Long live Kazuya Mishima!" The man growled as he glared at him. Jin glared back, signalling for Nina to keep the man alive but restrained until his security got here.

So much for a good swim.

He sat alone in his office, contemplating on the recent events.

Once the intruder was captured and interrogated, Jin was told by the police on what the man's true motives were.

To drug him, assault him and then kill him afterwards. It shook him up and brought back memories of him being shot by someone he trusted. The assassin was sent by someone whom Heihachi previously set up a trust fund for. It was why he had easy access to Central Tower. Jin just cut the funding off the Mishima Ward and already they were showing their true colors. Things would definitely become more difficult once Jin start messing with the big dogs. Being in the spotlight was already a nightmare in itself. He longed for the days of his childhood, back in Yakushima and away from the monsters.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" A soft voice distracted him from his stormy thoughts.

He looked up at her like a lost boy and out of nowhere, Nina had this sudden urge to reach other and hug him.

You have to nurture that humanity left in Jin Kazama.

That voice replayed in her mind.

"You mind telling me what's on your mind?" Nina asked him. Their little race earlier in the pool was fun sport and she liked it. Jin could be playful too. But something told her the incident after wasn't pleasant for Jin and he needed to be distracted from it.

Jin knew she was observing him and his fingers pressed deeper into the leather chair. She wore a sleek black biker outfit that accentuated her figure. He wondered if she had a bike to match with her outfit. His eyes travelled up on the shiny black until her face came into vision. The color brought out her pink lips. Plush and soft looking.

"Kiss me."

He didn't know where those words came from but he said it when his gaze focused on her plush pink lips. Curved in a smile. She saw a little too much of his innocent side. It was time to drape that curtain.

"What? Are you afraid of losing a challenge?" Jin said with a straight face. "I know you are attracted to me."

Jin saw her lip twitch as she was caught out. He had noticed her checking him out in the pool. Even if she was annoyed that he had called her out on it, he enjoyed seeing her flustered. The all so confident woman at his mercy. She was the type to conquer challenges he guessed and so was he.

If she did kiss him, it would prove that she indeed deemed him as handsome.

Who did he think he was by challenging her like that? The audacity and yet she was ensnared by that look of his. This sudden confidence from him was alluring. Warmth spread from the pit of her tummy and upwards. There was this sudden urge to rip open his shirt and throw him on his desk before having her way with him.

Jin stood up, ready for anything and like a panther approached her. Nina's eyes were intense as they met his ones. In the silence that loomed, Nina simply got up from his desk and got close to him. She was only wearing kitten heels so her head reached his nose. Her eye level was at his bottom lip. Nina went on her tiptoes and on cue Jin craned his head a little down. She stopped till her lips was an inch away from his. He felt his heartbeat accelerate.

It felt like he had never been kissed before.

She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips against his. The kiss was warm and he pressed back. It was…..comforting. Thoughts of being attacked by the man floated away. Then as Jin pulled her closer, it caused her chest to press against him. That aroused him.

Nina deepened the kiss, causing him to groan. His hand grabbed the back of her head to prolong it. A few seconds passed before she gently pushed him back. She observed him for a moment with mischief in her eyes. Her swollen lips curled into a sly smile.

She smirked. "Easy with the bedroom eyes, Kazama."

Kazama. Not Sir or Mr Kazama. It wasn't Jin either. Not yet atleast. He had no response to that and breathlessly looked at her. She took another step back, the tease.

"You're welcome for your first kiss." Nina said sultrily. "It's a pleasure."

Then she turned towards the door.

He wondered if they'd ever get another moment like that again?

And why was he so intrigued by her?

.

.

.