"What's that you're reading?"
"A book."
"It doesn't look like a book, it looks like a comic. Where did you get it?"
"I found it."
"Jin!"
Jin sat up. He pulled a sullen pout.
"What's wrong with reading a comic? I trained for seven hours today, I've eaten, I've washed…"
"Read a proper book," Heihachi barked.
They were reclining in room with the walls thrown wide open and the bug nets drawn across and the fierce sound of cicadas chirruping in the night. Heihachi liked to read by candlelit lanterns on occasion, and when he did, Jin would join him. Today, Jin was tired and aching all over and reading the manga he'd found under the dresser in his room. He didn't like reading at all in fact, but when there were pictures, he was at least more interested. He sat cross-legged and propped up his chin and kept reading under the orange glow of a lantern.
He saw Heihachi put down the newspaper he was reading. A prickle went up the back of Jin's spine. He felt a little colder and looked up, more wary and respectful now that an issue was about to be made.
"There's the matter of your education."
Jin glowered despite himself. "I'm learning just fine. I'm fast at learning. You even said I picked up that last kata faster than anyone else you've taught..."
Heihachi glared at him. "You've a long way to go before that arrogance is merited, boy," he growled. It was mostly without danger though, so Jin let it wash over him. "But I'm not talking about your martial arts. I'm talking about everything else. A Mishima is more than just his fists. One must be canny – a businessman."
Jin's gaze had drifted back to his comic. "I'm not looking to become a businessman. I just want to fight, that's all."
"Just fight. And what's the good in being an idiot who's good at fighting?"
Jin fixed Heihachi with a glare now. "I'm not an idiot. I just don't care about learning anything except how to get revenge."
Heihachi's palms slammed down on the table. Jin jumped, and his attention snapped to him. Heihachi's eyes were dark, fierce. Jin held that look for a moment, then respectfully dropped his gaze.
"I'm sending you to Mishima Polytechnical School."
Jin felt a flare of panic. "I-… Ojiisama, I just want to train with you here. I don't want to go to a school. Please, I won't read any more comics, I-"
"This isn't about comics. It's high time you were enrolled in a school, and it just so happens that I've founded one that will do the job nicely. I have Tekken Force officers on site there so the grounds are always secure, and the teachers are recruited from among the best in the country."
"Can't I just learn here? I always learned at home before," Jin said desperately.
"You've never been to school?"
Jin shook his head. "No, Ojiisama."
"Well, that settles it." Heihachi sat back. "I'll have you attend immediately. You have a lot of catching up to do."
Jin wilted visibly, not daring to protest any further. He felt wretched and afraid. He'd only just started feeling familiar with the estate grounds. He didn't want to be uprooted into a new setting filled with strangers.
"I expect brilliance in all areas, Kazama Jin. I had my sons educated at home – they did not have the opportunity you do to attend a school I have crafted from the ground up – but they both entered universities and did exceedingly well in them. I expect the same of you. The Mishima name is not just attached to our martial arts, after all. I told you before. I expect class, bearing, intelligence, and business savvy from you. Perfection in all areas. What use is a weapon that only cuts at a specific angle. I want a well-honed blade. I hope you do not disappoint me."
Jin looked at his grandfather, breath coming fast. Had his father and uncle really achieved all that as well as martial prowess? He felt faintly sick. Heihachi's expectations in the dojo were exacting, but Jin believed that if he poured himself night and day into the art, he could come close to meeting them. But for academic pursuits… He knew he was going to fall short. He knew that even if he gave his everything, he wouldn't come close to what Heihachi wanted. A well of emotion threatened to rush to his eyes. He bowed low to Heihachi, hoping to hide the worst of his fears.
"Hm, I'll have to have a uniform made for you. It's summer vacation now, but come September, I'll have you enrolled."
Jin managed to slink off after that without revealing too much of his emotional distress. When he got to his room, he sat down in a corner. Maybe it would be ok. He'd only seen schools from afar. He didn't really know much about them. Maybe he was imagining that they were worse than they were. And even though he hated meeting new people, maybe it could be fun to know someone his own age; someone who didn't call him "Young Master Kazama" and tell Heihachi his every move. He brushed at his eyes. Yes, it would be alright. It was just a bit of a surprise. Anyway, maybe if he trained even harder, his grandfather would see that he couldn't possibly spare any time to be going to school.
The last weeks of August passed far too quickly for Jin's liking. They were filled with gruelling training that left him hungry and exhausted, and so hot he felt faint in the humid temperatures. They also marked the beginning of his disagreements with Kuma, the pet bear. All his life, Jin had been quiet on his feet and learned from his mother how to approach an animal so that it did not fear him or become enraged by him. With Kuma, he just seemed to get off on the wrong foot from the outset.
The animal would growl lowly if he got too close, and bare his teeth at him whenever he walked into a room. Kuma had free reign of the mansion, but especially liked sitting in the one room that had a television. He could press the button on the remote with a claw, and would sit and watch children's cartoons – bright and loud and colourful, in the mornings after his early wanderings and fruit poaching. Jin had been intrigued by the television on more than one occasion, not having had one as he grew up. He had made the mistake of pausing in the doorway to catch a few glimpses of a show Kuma was watching. The roar the bear let tremor through the house had sped Jin swiftly on his way to training. On bringing this difficulty up with his grandfather, Heihachi had only said that Kuma didn't like to be disturbed, and Jin should have been training anyway, and under no circumstances would he empathise with the idea that someone might find his darling bear intimidating.
As it was, by the time the first day of school came around, Jin was almost looking forward to meeting someone who wasn't a bear or a servant. And as much as he valued his training, his battered body barely got a chance to revitalise and heal itself before he was back at it again. In his mind he'd even begun to think of this day as something of a holiday.
Jin didn't like his school uniform. His trousers were a green tartan and he had to wear a crisp white shirt and a navy sweater over this. He had been given gleaming polished brown shoes, and a satchel to match. He didn't know what to put in the satchel. In the end he settled on his water bottle, two pencils, a fountain pen, and a pad of squared paper. He traipsed out of his room with his shoes slung by their laces over his shoulder and the bag in his other hand. He sat down on the step of the foyer and began putting on his shoes.
"A bento for you, Master Kazama." One of the kitchen maids was bowing to him and offering him a small, rounded lunchbox.
"Cheers." Jin stuffed it into his satchel.
"The limousine is out the front and waiting, Young Master Jin." That was Fujita the butler.
"The limo? I'm taking the limo to school? I thought Ojiisama took it to the Zaibatsu?"
Fujita raised his eyebrows, and in a voice touched with condescension said,
"There's more than one limo, Young Master Jin."
Jin carded through his fringe as he sat in the limousine, waiting to leave. It wasn't going to be a pretty start. If Heihachi wanted him going in this, then he wanted the whole school to know Jin was his grandson. Jin didn't want that kind of heat and attention. Especially when it was going to become apparent pretty quickly that he had no idea what one even did at schools.
He looked up as the car door opened. A Tekken Force captain got in the middle with him. Jin frowned.
"Ah,…. No space upfront," the captain gave, by way of explanation. "I'm to stay with you until you arrive."
Jin nodded glumly then looked back out the window as the car engine started. Summer had baked everything to a yellowing grey, and it looked like an early autumn would wither up the remains soon.
"I recognise your voice. You were with me when I first visited the Mishima Zaibatsu. We went to that awful park and bought sunglasses." Jin flipped the pair out of his pocket now and put them on.
The captain shifted in his seat. "That's right."
The car was waved through the private gates at the end of the drive, and abruptly the road was overshadowed by evergreens. Jin remembered lurking in those woods when he first arrived, desperately trying to find a way in without alerting the armed guards.
"So, are you assigned to me, then?"
"To the estate, and specifically to bodyguarding the Mishima family." The captain sounded a little stiff and awkward, as if he wasn't sure if he ought to be talking or not.
"Huh… how'd you wind up with me rather than my grandfather? Or does he get a different captain?"
"He has a different captain with him. But I'm here because I chose to be." Jin looked over at him when he said that. The man was completely obscured by his armour. He sat straight and stared forward. "I asked to be assigned to you."
Jin turned away slowly and looked back out the window. "Why? Because I need it more?"
The captain didn't answer at first. He shifted a little in his seat, which Jin found odd. It was odd to think that someone might think carefully about their answers to him, like he did with Heihachi.
"Because I'm interested in seeing what kind of a man the heir to the Zaibatsu will grow to become."
Jin was silent at that. Shortly, he heaved a sigh. He glanced back the captain's way, expression going harder.
"I don't plan on having anything to do with the Zaibatsu. I have a task to do, and completing that is all that matters to me."
The remainder of the journey passed in silence. Mishima Polytechnical School was situated in the Tokyo suburbs, though still a good fifty minutes drive from the estate. The first thing Jin noticed as they pulled up outside the school, was an enormous golden statue that towered over the buildings. As he got out the limousine, Jin pushed his sunglasses on further and peered up at it. The statue was of a man with a very familiar posture: legs apart, arms folded, and-… Jin squinted up. Definitely his grandfather's distinctive sweeping hair sticking at angles out of his head. Jin worried a hand through his fringe again.
"Master Kazama." Jin turned and saw the Tekken Force captain approaching him. He stopped before him. "There are Tekken Force details present in this building, should you need them, you may radio from the school office or-"
"I don't need armed security in a school. I don't understand why there are any Tekken Force here at all."
He thought the captain would argue with him, say something about Heihachi insisting, but instead the man just bowed and said,
"A car will be here for you when school ends."
Jin walked uneasily up the steps to the main school entrance. As far he could see, the building was mostly concrete with lines of glass windows breaking up the sheer block of the front façade. It had a soulless quality to it that the presence of a sixty-foot golden statue of his grandfather did little to lighten. Jin slung his satchel over his shoulder and tried not to look as apprehensive as he felt. Stand straight, chin up, eyes forward, pride, pride, he kept reminding himself. He pushed open the glass doors, revealing a foyer full of people with noses pressed up against the windows. A few students hopped up and down behind their friends, trying to look over them. They were staring at the limousine, Jin realised. A hush fell over the foyer as he entered, and all eyes turned to him. Jin was eternally glad for his sunglasses.
Jin wasn't sure what to do. He'd been told someone would meet him here, but all he could see were lines of inquisitive faces, gradually becoming bolder, and approaching him.
"Who comes to school in a limo?"
A boy had stepped out of the crowd, flanked by two more. The guy was maybe Jin's height but slighter. Jin had spent a month and a half building muscle and training all hours of the day and it was beginning to show on his form. He still leant towards the scrawny though.
The boy planted himself in front of Jin now. He had dark hair combed to one side, and his sweater tied about his waist, with his untucked shirt tails sticking out from beneath. The rest of the students present seemed to be drawing in around them to watch the spectacle.
"What happened to you, lose a fight?"
Jin touched his chin, where a bruise ached faintly. He'd gotten so used the heavy-handed lessons that he barely noticed that he was a constant discolouration of healing bruises and stuck-on plasters. He glanced over the boy's head, uninterested in the interaction. A sign reading 'school administration' looked to be his best option. He stepped around the boy and kept walking.
"Hey! Hey! I'm talking to you! And what's with wearing those dumb glasses indoors!"
What happened next was something of a blur to Jin. One moment, he was walking towards the sign, and the next, he saw a hand darting before his face. Hours of training against Heihachi's unforgiving punches kicked in, and in a second he'd slammed his arm into the hand in a Mishima-style block, then bounced off the contact to backfist the boy in the face. Suddenly there seemed to be blood all over the boy. Jin stepped back, not quite understanding what had happened.
The boy's friends crowded around him.
"Ikeda! Ikeda, are you alright? Wow, that's a lot of blood!"
Jin wavered. A splatter of blood was on the back of his knuckles.
"What's your deal?!" one of the boys yelled at him.
The injured guy – apparently one Ikeda – had his hands cupped around his nose and seemed to be bleeding all over the floor. He tottered around whilst people around him panicked. Just then, a harassed looking adult arrived on the scene – a woman with black, flyaway hair sailing about her, clopping on the stone floors in slight heels.
"What is- Oh, my…" She reeled at the sight of the blood. "Hurry! Take him to the school nurse! You two go with him. Who did this?!"
All eyes turned on Jin, still standing in the middle of the foyer, a circle of space about him.
"Young man!" the woman strode up to him. "Come to the school office this instant!"
That was just fine by Jin, he'd been trying to get there for a while now anyway. He passed through the crowd of students unhindered and followed the woman. They walked down a corridor, leaving peering, inquisitive faces behind them. Jin couldn't help but notice the spots of blood trailing on the ground before them, marking the passage of the injured student.
"In there," the woman said, with some heat. She pointed at a door. "I'm going to check on Ikeda. You better hope his nose isn't broken, young man!"
Jin did feel a little apologetic over the state of the boy, but in his opinion, the guy had somewhat deserved it. He pushed open the door onto an empty office. When the door closed behind him, it blocked out the dull, constant buzz of ambient voices. Jin breathed a sigh of relief at the peace.
The office was bright, lit by a large window, with a desk to the right and lines of shelved files to the left. Jin went straight to the window, where a waxen-leafed pot plant was straining towards the light. He angled it a little better toward the sun's rays. The leaves were yellowing in places, and the soil felt dry. He reached into his satchel and drew out his water bottle. He poured a little water into the saucer the plant sat on, then sat himself half on the windowsill and peered out, looking for birds.
Shortly, the woman entered the office. She had tied her hair back now and wore a frown.
"Ikeda has a broken nose," she said.
Jin considered this. It made sense. He'd dealt the boy a fierce backhand. He returned to looking out the window.
"Well?" the woman said. "Have you had time to reflect?! Do you have anything to say?!"
Jin frowned and glanced back round. He blinked at her slowly for a few seconds, then said, "There are three azure-winged magpies, a coal tit, and a nuthatch in the trees on the edge of the sportsground."
The woman's face scrunched up and her cheeks got redder.
"Young man, take those sunglasses off! This is no joking matter! I will be informing your parents of this behaviour-!"
Whatever else she said was lost to Jin. His expression had come down dark and shuttered off his emotions from the world. He heard nothing. He saw nothing. He stood at the window emptily, with words washing around him meaninglessly. He only spoke when a hand came near to his shoulder.
"Don't touch me."
The woman retracted her hand.
Jin wasn't sure how long he stood at the window. He heeded no words and would not be moved from there. He just stared at nothing and at no one. His senses only returned when he heard a familiar voice. He turned and saw a Tekken Force captain bowing to the teacher.
"Not to worry, Ma'am. I know his name. Yes, he is enrolled here, it's his first day. Please, Ma'am, give me a moment alone with him, I'll sort everything out."
Then the woman was leaving and Jin was left alone with the Tekken Force captain. The captain didn't immediately approach him. He pushed aside a stack of paper on the teacher's desk and sat on the cleared corner. He interlocked his gloved fingers and laid them on one knee.
"So,… so much for not needing armed security in school."
Jin said nothing. The captain reached a hand as if to rub at his chin, but seemed to remember he had a helmet on part way through the action. He rested his hand on his knee again.
"I… get that this is a little different to what you're used to at the estate, but give this place a shot, okay? It's not so bad here."
Jin was still silent. He looked back out the window again.
"They don't know who you are. Why didn't you tell them? You could have cleared all this up in an instant."
"I want to go home," Jin murmured very quietly.
"Well, it's noon now, half the day's already gone, so it'll be home time in three-and-a-half hours anyway."
Jin hadn't meant the estate though. He'd meant home home. He missed it so badly his chest hurt. He'd never gone so long without hearing the sea in his life. He felt lost without it. He missed the mountains and the forests, and worst of all he missed-… He jerked his head, looking hard into the far distance.
"You need to go to class," the captain said. "It's not too late to salvage the day. As soon as the teachers know your name, they'll be keen to keep things smooth. They'll not want to have to report to your grandfather that your first day was a mess. So, if you're accommodating now, there's still time to turn this around." The captain leaned forward. "Unless of course it doesn't matter to you what your grandfather has to say about this."
Jin turned to him then, stirred back to the present by that tangible fear.
"It does matter to me," he murmured.
"Right," said the captain. "I'm going to call the admin secretary back in. Let's answer her questions nicely, and get you sent off to class, okay?"
Jin nodded slowly.
The secretary was brought back in, looking wary and harassed.
"I hope you gave him a good talking to, Captain," she said curtly, "he's just been standing there ignoring me all morning."
The captain glanced at Jin, who was unforthcoming. He sighed.
"I can't give him a talking to, Ma'am, he is my charge. I answer to him. This is Kazama Jin, grandson of Mishima Heihachi."
The woman's face went a strange colour then. All the light leaked out of it, and she sat down hard on her desk chair, ashen.
"M-… Mishima Heihachi's… grandson." She suddenly rifled through the papers on her desk and clutched at a page of finely weighted paper, with a clean header, and stamped with a red Mishima mon at the bottom. "Y-yes… I came to the foyer to look for you." She lost herself in another stunned silence, then quickly continued. "W-well, it seems there's been a misunderstanding, Kazama Jin. Let's start over, shall we? I have your timetable for you here, and a school planner with important dates in it – you'll be able to keep a track of your homework schedule in it too."
She pushed these items across the desk towards Jin. Jin didn't move. The captain gestured lightly to them. Jin's eyes swivelled to him, then to the ring-bound planner and timetable. He picked them up and shoved them in his satchel without looking at them.
"That-" The teacher's hand fluttered. "Not to worry, I have another here." She busied herself clicking on a computer, and then a printer spat to life behind her. She brought the printed page to the desk and leant over it. "So-… this is today, Monday, you can see in the margin. Then these are the timeslots for the different classes. Each class is fifty minutes, then there's a short break before your next class begins. You have an hour for lunch but you need to be sitting down and ready for your next class when that hour is up. This here is the class name, and this is the room you'll find it in – it will only change for a couple of classes. There's a map in your planner, but- ah yes, you've already put that away. Take this one. There's half an hour left of… you're meant to be in Social Studies now, which is in your homeroom over here." She drew a circle on the map. "We are currently here." She drew another circle. "So if you just head off there now-…"
She looked at Jin. Jin looked blankly at her, then at the map.
"I'll see that he gets there," the captain said and picked up the page.
The woman gave a sigh of relief.
"We are truly pleased to have you here, Kazama Jin. I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. Don't worry about Ikeda, he's always rustling up trouble. I don't think there's any need to concern Mr Mishima with such matters. Have a good class, ok? I'm Miss Konishi, and I work here in the admin office. You just come to me if you need anything, alright?"
The next Jin knew, he was walking down the quiet school halls with the Tekken Force captain. The man's heavy armour clinked as he moved, but otherwise only their footsteps filled the empty corridors. They walked together in silence. When they reached the door to the classroom, the captain turned to Jin and nodded. Jin looked up at him, searching in the blank features of his helmet.
"All good?" the captain asked.
Jin set his gaze on the door. He stood straighter, held his chin up, and eyes forward, and thought of pride, pride.
