It was New Year's Eve and Heihachi was throwing a small party. In attendance of course was his grandson, and also an assortment of people who believed him to be their friend and who variously needed intimidating or impressing.

Jin was the youngest by at least forty years, but Heihachi considered that a bonus. His grandson drew the kind of attention that small dogs at the park did. People couldn't help but pause to coo and compliment. Nearly everyone here had opted for a safe, dark suit; respectable and high-end tailored. Heihachi and Jin stood out like peacocks in their midst – full illustrious kimono, hakama, and haori all in rich brilliant golds and reds. Jin had been instructed to keep his posture upright, but he still shrunk from all the attention lavished on him. He had been attending etiquette lessons throughout December, which at the very least meant that he knew when to stay quiet and pretend not to look too vacant. He nodded politely and usually at the right time, so that would have to do as far as manners went.

Several fusuma had been rolled back to create an enormous room and a long table that could accommodate all fifty guests had been set. Jin was given a seat of honour, next to Heihachi, as was fitting, and convenient since the boy had no attention span at all for matters of business. The mansion had been decorated beautifully. Two giant kadomatsu bundles of bamboo and plum sprigs had been placed on either side of the front door, bound with ornate straw ribbons. A large, tasselled rope hung over the door too. Heihachi had been informed that Jin had personally overseen the decorations, excited by the luxurious quality of the traditional ornamentation. The whole house had been cleaned especially for the occasion and new flower displays were set in fine vases up and down the receiving room.

An abundance of sake in pots and soba noodle dishes filled the tables. There was muted laughter and the thrum of a dozen conversations. Heihachi surveyed his empire, content. Every time someone caught his eye, they bowed a little to him and raised their cup and drank. Heihachi was pleased, though he couldn't help but overhear Jin attempting to navigate a conversation next him.

"And that's why it's simply essential that the Russian market isn't forgotten when it comes to technology, and by that I especially mean the field of robotics. Although, let us not forget that the Mishima Zaibatsu has rivalled top nations in this field since the early nineties!"

"I see," Jin said politely to the man next to him who was monologing.

"What a year 1995 was for robotics, don't you think?!"

"Well, it was a little before my time, but I have no doubt you're correct."

"Of yes, of course, how old would you have been then?"

Jin floundered for a moment, then gave a slight smile. "I was born in 1997. So… minus two…"

There was a pause where Jin grimaced, then looked anxiously up at Heihachi. The guest suddenly burst into laughter and drank back his sake.

"You're very funny, Kazama-san!"

Jin gave a wince of a smile. Heihachi decided it was time to step in and rescue the boy.

"What did you think of the decorations at the front door?" he asked the guest.

"Oh – magnificent, Mishima-sama! Absolutely divine!"

"My grandson here oversaw them, didn't you."

Jin nodded enthusiastically. "The bamboo is cut from the garden, and the plum branches are from the orchard – almost all the elements come from here on the estate."

Heihachi gave a smile and returned to his noodles. Jin was very different to Lee or Kazuya. Lee would have found a way to keep the conversation rolling in the guest's favour regardless. Kazuya couldn't have been saved even by intervention – he'd always delighted in creating perverse, awkward silences and making a point of having no interest in any topic that was brought up at a dinner table. Of course, Heihachi had a use for both of these approaches. As his sons had gotten older, Heihachi had wielded them as knives in either hand, settling a guest with Lee and intimidating them with Kazuya – the extremes of their personalities meant that between them they served up business partners who were malleable and impressionable by the time they got to Heihachi.

Jin, by contrast…

Well, the boy was now outlining how many plum trees were in the orchard, and the precise angle of a blade needed to cut the bamboo for the kadomatsu. It was the guest's turn to nod and look a little blank.

Heihachi turned to an elderly man nearby on his other side.

"Mochizuki-san, how are you keeping? How is your family?"

The man's face crinkled in delight at the attention. He was portly, with hair nearly entirely white now – an old family acquaintance who'd worked closely with Heihachi in the eighties. Heihachi would pick up a line to Mochizuki and entire police stations would divert patrol routes, round up 'usual' suspects, or let go 'wrongly accused' citizens sitting in their cells. Mochizuki had been part of the well-oiled machine that kept the Zaibatsu untouchable and their enemies living in terror.

"Oh yes, very good, very good, Heihachi-sama. Maybe you remember my daughter? You came to her wedding, let's see,… twenty-five years ago now it would be! She has children of her own now, two daughters and a boy – he can't be far off your boy Jin here's age. He's just turned eighteen, I believe."

"Very good. Yes, Jin will be sixteen this coming year. Perhaps they should be introduced, that the friendship between our families continues on. The future head of the Zaibatsu, and the future head commissioner of the Tokyo PD."

"Oh!" Mochizuki's face went positively gleeful. "Really, Heihachi-sama, my grandson hasn't even sat the police examination yet!"

"Well, he better hurry up, I have a position at the top with his name on it. Give his name to my secretary and tell me where he's taking the exam, I'll make sure the right people know where he's headed."

The man beamed and bowed repeatedly. "You are so good to my family, Heihachi-sama! Two police commissioners in one family! I hope I live to see the day!"

"You shall, old friend, you shall."

Mochizuki's eyes had paused on Jin, with a look in them. There was a kind of recognition there, and not an entirely affable one.

"Hm? Something ails you?" Heihachi asked mildly.

"Oh! No!" Mochizuki laughed and returned his attention quickly to Heihachi. "Your grandson is just… He-…" The man squirmed in his seat. Heihachi had an inkling of what this might be about. Mochizuki gave a quick smile. "The family resemblance is uncanny."

He looks like Kazuya. That had been what the man wanted to say, Heihachi had no doubt. When Kazuya had taken over as head of the Zaibatsu, he'd purged Heihachi's supporters from its ranks and associates and won over the rest, no doubt with Lee's help. Mochizuki had been used and cast aside, his reputation in tatters thanks to Kazuya. When Heihachi had thrown down his unruly son down, all those ruined by him became Heihachi's natural allies once more. He'd reinstalled the police commissioner and the man had presided for another happy ten years before his retirement.

"So, Jin will be sixteen soon?" Mochizuki seemed keen to move the conversation on from Kazuya's shadow. "Have you any suitors in mind? The heir to the Mishima Zaibatsu would make quite a catch!"

"Hm?" Heihachi returned his gaze to the man from where it had been resting heavy on Jin. "No, no plans at present. The boy has a long way to go before he'll make public appearances. Besides, there are things more important than political marriages."

"Heihachi-sama! You surprise me! Are you an old romantic at heart?"

Heihachi paused for just a second too long. For a brief, brief moment, his heart was filled to bursting with loss. He longed for Kazumi's grace at the table. The way she would deftly pour out a drink, perfect bearing and composure, the kind of old elegance that comes of ancient families. The way she'd turn to him, her features so delicate, her eyes bright and canny, her lips parted in a slight smile, reading him, reading his boredom here in amidst these platitudes. She knew his heart. She knew his loves. Magnificent old buildings. Powerful, docile animals. Karate before dawn in the moonlit dojo. Incense in the long shadows. Banquets of good food. Woodsmoke on an autumn evening. Long baths while sunlight streamed through the high windows in the bathhouse. The silence of meditation. The clack of the bamboo pipes in the garden. Cherry blossoms in the orchard come spring. Finding a fine carved set of geta to match an elaborate outfit. The feeling of exhaustion as sweat ran down his back and they looked at one another, gis soaked and coming undone. Her hand on his cheek. Her hand running down his chest. Her lips brushed to his. What had he done. What had he done. What had he done.

"Romance?" Heihachi laughed loudly. "Hahahaha! Perhaps! But Mochizuki, do you know the most important quality in a woman?"

Heihachi caught a twist of noodles in his sticks and slurped them up. He was easy, laidback, expression impenetrable.

"I think you're about to tell me!" Mochizuki exclaimed.

"She must be tough as nails. A top rate martial artist. She must be able to make you work to hone your skills. This is a life partner we're talking about, you have to be able train together, and she has to know the importance of that. Otherwise, every hour you train is an hour you walk in a different direction to her. I hope you're listening, Jin."

Jin's eyes had turned to him at some point during that. His cheeks darkened as Heihachi spoke to him by name.

"We're not all martial artists, Heihachi-sama!" Mochizuki laughed. "Although I can see the standard is high for young master Kazama over there! Does this scupper any school sweethearts you have your heart set on, Kazama-san?"

Jin looked at the man so emptily that Heihachi saw it there for a moment, and so did Mochizuki. Kazuya. That was a very Kazuya expression. Mochizuki wilted before it.

"Romantic entanglements are not permitted at school," Jin said, a little aloof.

Mochizuki got over his little fright quickly enough. "Haha, true, but the heart does what the heart wants! I'm sure the young ladies are all very interested in a strapping young lad like you, and with an empire to hand to doesn't hurt none!"

Jin looked at the man darkly. "I'm not attending school at present. My grandfather has hired a private tutor for me."

"Well, very proper! But Heihachi-sama, you simply must send the boy back to school. He's missing out on all the teenage drama, ahaha!" Mochizuki necked back another sake.

Heihachi looked at Jin. His grandson was looking up at him hopefully. He averted his eyes quickly when he saw Heihachi studying him.

"Perhaps," Heihachi said slowly. He drained a sake himself. "That will depend on a number of factors. Chief among them how young master Kazama here conducts himself."

Jin sat up straighter and held his chin up.

Jin was on his best behaviour for the rest of the meal, and even afterwards when it devolved into rapid drink consumption and increased volume and laughter. Heihachi had given Jin one cup of sake to have with the first toast of the meal, and had had the cup removed afterwards. He had little cause to abide by any laws, but Jin certainly wasn't educated or experienced enough to hold up well in social situations whilst inebriated.

He could see the boy flagging now, as others grew less careless of volume or personal space. He was stiff and evasive, and the occasional bout of laughter would make him flinch before he schooled it.

"Jin."

The boy sat up straight on instinct and looked up at him.

"You may be excused."

Relief and gratitude washed over Jin's face. He bowed to him, then bowed to the guests, and swiftly departed.

The party went on late, and by the time a car had picked up the last guest, it was the early hours of the morning. Heihachi put on an enormous tiger skin coat and struck up a cigar. He sat on the doorstep to the front door, between the bamboo displays that had so excited Jin. It was pitch black out, save for the twinkle of distant stars, and the gleaming end of his cigar.

The cold air was raw on his cheeks, welcome after the ample amount of sake he'd drunk and the hot room lit by a roaring log fire. He draped his cigar hand over his knee and breathed out smoke rings into the frigid air.

"Are you still here?" he said to the night.

He tapped his cigar and a few ashes vanished from the end into the dark.

"Maybe you were here for a short while. Kazuya use to leave rice out for you on Obon. One year he stopped and never did so again. Maybe you left then." Heihachi sat quiet for a moment. A small twist of a smile wrung out of his lips. "He always took after you. Unfortunately, in more ways than one."

The night was silent. Not even an owl hooted.

"His son is here now," Heihachi confided. "I wonder if you'd spoil him like you did Kazuya. I keep wondering if he carries your gift too, but thus far I've seen nothing. Oh, I keep looking, but no matter how hard he's pushed, I can't see it. He has a temper, don't get me wrong, but not like Kazuya's. Kuma used to flee Kazuya when he had a temper. He doesn't like Jin, to be sure, but it's not the same. It's more like it was with you. Kuma never did get on with you so well. I always thought it was because you kept that blasted tiger around."

Heihachi sucked on the end of his cigar. He blew out another ream of smoke.

"I suppose I ought to be grateful to the beast now. Certainly helps keep the winter chill off."

He chuckled lowly to himself. He fell quiet again, then sighed heavily.

"I'm getting old, Kazumi. I bet you would have aged beautifully. Silver hair to match those white gowns you used to love. I had a son with silver hair too. You would have liked him. He's probably dead by now, or working some dead-end job like he deserves. They all tried to usurp me, the ungrateful brats. Not Jin though, he doesn't have the head or ambition for it. Perhaps it will be different this time."

A faint wind creased in invisible trees, lending the darkness an old creaking and a deadened rustle.

"Ah, don't be like that. I'm not so set in my ways. Just you watch. Jin will be the successor I wanted. He has Kazuya and Chaolan's best qualities and less of their irritating ones. I'll make him into something magnificent. There won't be a fighter who can best him."

Heihachi sat there alone for some time. He sat until the sky began to grow a tad greyer. He got up then and went indoors. He went to Jin's room and knocked lightly on the door.

"Jin," he said, not in his usual sonorous tone, but loud enough. Silence. "Jin," he called again, a little louder.

There was a scrabbling beyond the door. Heihachi opened it. The covers were thrown off the bed, and Jin hurried to kneel before him. The boy's hair was all tousled and his eyes were heavy with sleep.

"Ojiisama, I'm sorry, I must have overslept. I will be at the dojo as soon as I can. I'm so sorry, I-"

"It's 5AM, you haven't overslept."

"Oh," Jin looked at him, confused and sleepy.

"I came to see if you would like to watch the first sunrise of the new year."

"Oh!" Jin rubbed his eyes. "Yes, I would like that very much."

"Dress warm. It's cold. I'm out the front door."

Jin beamed at him. Heihachi nodded and left.

His grandson joined him shortly, dressed in a fashionable, long, dark, winter coat Heihachi had bought for him when the weather turned in November. He came and seated himself next to Heihachi on the doorstep.

They sat together silently as the darkness moved into softer greys, slowly painting angles and shadows into the night. The sky began to bleed, tipping the grey world into black silhouette against a throbbing, scarlet sky. Jin's breath drew in as he watched it. Heihachi glanced at him, then back at the dawn, seeking to try and see what Jin saw. The first of the birdsong begun then. At first a few brave, hesitant lone melodies, until gradually a chorus of twittering filled the morning.

Heihachi realised he could see a single tear on Jin's cheek. He didn't scold him for it though, and merely pretended not to see it.

"Did you watch the sunrise last new year?" Heihachi asked him.

Jin brushed at his eyes and nodded. He was usually good at answering verbally, but Heihachi didn't begrudge him just now.

"And the year before that?" Heihachi asked.

Jin nodded again, then said, soft and husky, "Always."

Brilliant orange and burning pinks were birthing from the heart of that red sky now, and the depths of untouched reaches further above were a grumbling purple. The black shapes of birds flitting about were visible against the growing light.

"Did you ever watch the new year sunrise with my father?" Jin asked, very quietly.

It was maybe the first time Jin had asked about Kazuya. Heihachi felt a familiar simmer of hatred at the topic. Jin was candid and quiet and vulnerable like this though, and Heihachi had had a long night of sake and talking to ghosts.

"No. Kazuya had little patience for such things, and certainly wouldn't have stomached my company through it."

Jin was silent after that, and Heihachi thought that would be the end of the matter. As gold began to seep into the pinks and reds of the sky though, Jin's voice came to him again.

"What was he like?"

Heihachi's lip twitched. He didn't answer immediately.

"Proud. Arrogant. Always angry. Hateful. Bitter. Sarcastic. He delighted in the misfortune of others and enjoyed being cruel where he could."

Heihachi saw Jin's shoulders sink. Had the boy been expecting glowing praise? He better get such fanciful notions out of his head. Kazuya was dead though. He could no more influence the boy than his dead mother. Heihachi mused for a moment before continuing.

"He was stubborn too. Strong and independent. Cunning. He never shied away from a fight or let others fight his fights for him. He was fiercely possessive and sought to protect what he believed to be his own. He only picked fights with those who challenged him or who were his own level. He would shelter those who were weaker than him, though only as long as others couldn't see. And he adored power. Every scrap of it I gave him had him hungry for more. No creature on this earth was so consumed by hatred, so driven, so ferocious as Mishima Kazuya. He burned like a bright star falling to earth, as I always knew he would."

Jin was silent after that.

Heihachi wondered what went on in Jin's head behind those dark, sad eyes. Jin seemed to think a lot, for someone who said very little. Then again, a lot of the time Jin had a very blank expression and was slow to pick up on intent and hidden meaning. He both thought far too much and far too little.

"What will you wish for when the sun rises?" Heihachi asked him.

Jin stirred. He looked out over the estate. The first brilliant white of sun was slipping over the horizon.

"I don't know," Jin said quietly. "I don't know what I want."

Heihachi gave a chuckle.

"How can you not know?! You can say you wish for the estate and the Zaibatsu, boy, I won't bite."

Heihachi saw a frown crease the boy's brow. As he suspected, the notion hadn't even crossed Jin's mind.

"Oh… yes, of course." Jin didn't sound very convincing. He was sitting still, just gazing at the morning as it unfolded. The glaring disc of the sun was tangled in the dark branches of trees, casting occasional, illuminated pools between their wily arms. The sky above was flooding with gold, like a dam had burst and set loose the light. "You said Kazuya was determined, set in his hatred. Did he ever think about what he wanted after revenge?"

Heihachi's eyebrows descended. It seemed that letting one Kazuya question slip passed him had been a mistake. He laughed coldly.

"Of course he did. He took the Zaibatsu and crusaded on power. He seized the whole of Hokkaido and planned to turn it into an independent nation probably named after himself."

"Oh."

"What, no plans yet to forge your own sovereign state, Jin?"

Jin looked up at him. The sunrise was coming strong enough that Heihachi could make out his features now. They were cautious. When he picked up on Heihachi's amusement, a tentative smile broke through though and alighted on his lips. They turned back then to the morning, and watched it progress in silence together. When a strident blue finally touched the heavens and begun to push away the morning's golds and reds, Heihachi sighed. He was about to suggest going in when Jin spoke.

"I wish I could rewind time and live in the past. But… since I know that can't happen, I instead wish that I can find what I need to be happy and at peace in the present."

Heihachi laughed. "Well, look no further, there's an abundance of all you could ever want on the estate!"

Jin didn't say anything to that. He just looked out on the morning with his still, sad eyes. Heihachi frowned, but left the matter. After that, he retired inside to catch some sleep. He left his grandson on the doorstep, in amidst the riot of birdsong and full beams of sunlight chasing away the shadows of the old year.

Heihachi awoke at midmorning after an unsatisfactory four hours of sleep. The dull thud of a faint hangover was behind his eyes and his mouth was dry from sake and cigar smoke. It was New Years Day though and he had plans. He bathed and selected a luxurious outfit – deep azure hakama with gilt embroidery, and a silken gold kimono tucked into them – it would pair well with one of his finest sets of geta.

He summoned Jin to him and they ate at the centre of the enormous fifty seater table alone. They dined on fine, gold paper-lined osechi boxes, compartmentalised into a dozen different dishes – seasoned grilled lobster, sweet rolled omelette, sliced cured white fish, simmered shrimp, salmon-stuffed kelp rolls, lotus root, mashed candied chestnuts with sweet potato, salted herring and flying fish roe, and a variety of pickled vegetables. Jin's eyes were wide in his head as he looked on all the vibrant food presented meticulously. He quietly tried everything, bar the lobster that sat almost fully shelled in the box.

Heihachi bid him lift up the creature and taught him how to deconstruct it, and what to eat and how. The chopsticks today were pointed at both ends, so Heihachi had to warn Jin off near poking his eye out as he tried to follow the instructions he was given.

"Next time, you better know what you're doing, or I'll send you to the kitchen to practice in the meantime." Heihachi wagged a finger at his grandson as they finished pulling apart the lobster. "It's imperative to have command of a dish laid before one. A room is like a meal, Jin. If you fumble and look like an amateur, your company will notice. Conversely, if you break apart and eat everything before you in a systematic way, you extend that power over your dinner guests themselves. They become an extension of an easily consumed meal."

Jin looked at him with some confusion. "But I don't want to eat anyone…"

Heihachi laughed at him, and poor Jin was a pitiable picture of confusion. Heihachi didn't bother to enlighten him.

They shared a New Year's sake after that, with Jin drinking from the cup first and Heihachi after. It had been a long time since Heihachi last shared that cup with anyone. It was said in the old days that the elderly could absorb the vitality of youth if a youngster drank from the cup first. Heihachi studied his grandson as he drank, wondering if it was true that a little of Jin's life was gifted to him in the act. His life certainly had felt rejuvenated since Jin had stepped into it. Each day brought new curiosities and even the smallest, most mundane of tasks were new and exhilarating when Heihachi observed Jin encountering them.

They struck out together to Hon-Maru after that, walking over frost encrusted fields, and past icicle-hung trees. Puddles beneath their feet were frozen to swirling mirrors, shining back the cool, open blue of the sky. They said prayers in silence together before the Hon-Maru shrine, in the sun-soaked wooden halls of the temple, unspeaking, and undemanding on one another's presence. Heihachi wondered again and again if this would be the year he left it all behind, the one-hundred-and-eight desires that they say drag a man down. Jin made it so easy. He brought Yakushima with him wherever he went. Windows into a life that, whenever Heihachi got glimpses into it, made him pause.

When they got back to the mansion it was mid-afternoon. They sat down together at a low table to drink tea. When he judged the moment sedate enough, Heihachi reached into his kimono and withdrew an envelope decorated with a curling dragon. He slid it over the table towards Jin.

Jin looked up at him. Heihachi nodded. Jin took the envelope. He opened it and tipped a metallic black card out of it. The silver Mishima logo gleamed on it.

"Since it's customary to give you youngsters some money, I thought it a fitting time to give you access to some of the Mishima accounts. There's more than you'll ever need on there, but I expect you to spend responsibly, Jin. That account will be monitored, and I better not see any unwise spending."

Heihachi studied his grandson. Jin's face was a stony neutral. When he looked up, his eyes were hard. Harder than Heihachi had seen them before. Jin placed the card on the envelope and pushed it back towards him.

"This isn't mine," he said. His voice was low with something that sounded close to real anger.

"Well, if you don't want it…" Heihachi set his finger on the envelope and inched it away from Jin. He'd been expecting the boy to leap to stop him, but Jin only continued to glower.

Jin drained his tea.

"I'm behind on my training." He stood and made for the door. He turned back once to look at Heihachi. "My name is Kazama Jin."

He left.

Heihachi stroked his moustache, more surprised than anything. He picked up the card and turned it between his fingers. The name 'Mishima Jin' winked upon it.

So Jin did have it. That undercurrent. That rebelliousness and pride. There were limits to how far he would bend. Limits that would only become harder as he got older and more confident.

Heihachi sipped his tea. He slipped the card back into his pocket. Jin wouldn't be needing a credit card for a while: he had an attitude to cool off. Tutored etiquette was going to be needed for a little longer too. And like that, the new year was already falling back into the patterns of the last seventy.