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Chapter Twenty
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It sounds like someone is calling his name.
Jin groans as he woke up. The pain is gone and he stands up. The front door was closed.
"Nina?" Was the first word he would manage.
No response.
He remembers Nina saying something about having a bath. Bath!
With no time to waste, he springs to the bathroom. Opens the door.
"Nina!"
She was in an empty tub, damp gown clinging onto her body. Jin gasps and hurries down towards her.
"Are you okay?!" He asks, wrapping an arm around her shivering body. Her hair and face was soaked. She gasps out, unable to say anything. Her teeth chattered and she buries her face into the crook of Jin's neck, glad that he was here. Her throat aches badly from being squeezed. Her eyes burns.
"I'm going to grab the towel." He says. She was freezing cold. He looks around and found a clean towel hanging on the towel rack. Going back to her, Jin dries her hair and face first. Then rests the towel over his shoulder. Seeing that she was still in shock, he places a hand to her cheek.
"I need to get you out of these damp clothes." He says softly. "It's going to be okay."
She looks at him with desperate eyes. He never saw her like that before. It makes him feel nervous. Nina says nothing and Jin wastes no time in undressing her. He quickly places the towel over her. His eyes never strays from hers, as he silently assures her that he was there for her.
Jin ties the towel around her and peels off her damp clothes. He lifts her up to take her out of the room. Then places her on the armchair. He hates leaving her alone for a while but he had to call the police. It was going to be a long day. After telling the police what happened, he finds Nina gazing at nothing in particular. As if she is lost within herself.
He'd been in that scene many times.
"Nina…,"
His voice makes her look at him. "The police are on their way. They're going to ask you some questions about the attacker."
The man tried to kill her but released her and escaped. She had no idea why at the time. She was in too much shock to process the whole thing. Her near death experience pulled her into a catatonic state for a while.
"Hold me..,"
Her voice startles him. It was the first thing she said since he found her in the bathroom. He went to her, lifted her up and put her on the bed. Jin got near her and let her rest against him. He wrapped his arms around her.
They sit there for a small while.
He sucks at finding the right words. How to deal with a person who was in shock? All he could think about of were practical steps and to try solve the problem.
"You need to tell them what he looked like. His face, his outfit, his height."
Nina listens carefully to him and then almost chokes on her breath. By calling the police, Jin put himself at risk. They would come, see him and who knows, might report to Heihachi Mishima where he was. Being in hiding was so important to Jin but now he was at risk.
All for her.
"I'll tell them everything, I'll be fine." Nina says firmly with steely resolve. She will be strong. "But you need to be careful that they don't recognise you. You're in hiding, remember?"
Getting caught was the least of his worries now. Nina's attacker had to be found and punished.
Jin looks at her and then his eyes finds the red marks on her neck.
That evil bastard did that to her!
Instant red hot fury and a growl escaped his mouth.
He is surprised Devil didn't come out to attack at that time.
Like I would play knight in shining armor…the devil's voice scoffed in his mind.
His fingers go to her neck, traces the sore skin. He wishes he had the resources to track that evil piece of shit himself and deal with him without the police. Losing the privileges of the Zaibatsu was felt deeply by him in that moment.
Money did matter to some extent.
Jin's touch feels like sunlight, shining on something starved for warmth.
Nina leans more into Jin's touch. He begins massaging her and she sighs. Then someone knocks the door.
After the police takes the statement, they are moved to another hotel room. Nina lies in Jin's arms and relapses into her vulnerable state. It feels so surreal, being attacked, telling the police about it with courage. The police leaves behind one question.
Why did this attacker leave them alive?
The police even got a nurse and a rape kit for her. She wasn't raped but it sure did feel like it as they mentioned something about blacking out a horrible memory to cope. To save one's sanity.
She feels so stupid for wanting to cry. It takes a toll on her to keep those pathetic tears in.
"He didn't kill me." Nina thinks out aloud. "He left me alive. For what?"
Jin however, as furious as he was, understands why. "He was toying with you. Perhaps he intends to come back and attack again and again."
Makes sense. Some sick bastard wanted to toy with her. She didn't know if he'd attack her again. She had no idea why or what, there was so many questions on her mind that it didn't help the pain from dying.
She remembers what Jin said to the police.
While she was in the bathroom setting up a bath and Jin was in the bedroom, they needed extra towels and he had called a member of housekeeping staff up. A knock on the door and he opens it. It is a man who with a cart of fresh towels. He greets him as he's picking up a pair of towels. Then suddenly, he feels a familiar pain in his chest and his world goes black.
"It's my fault." Jin sighs.
He should have been suspicious. Should have been stronger, should have been quick.
"Don't you dare blame yourself." Nina warns. She wishes she was in a position to find that man herself and unleash all hell on him for what he did to Jin. Even a tranq dart was a bullet to Nina. Next time, she'd be stronger. She'd be deadly and that pathetic killer would wish he never touched her Jin.
Breaking that bastard's bones sounded appealing.
"If I ever see him again, I'm going to break his bones for what he did to you." Nina says calmy, a hint of anger in her tone.
Jin too would take revenge for Nina. Taking revenge for loved ones was his thing.
"I would love to see you do that."
He never made her feel weak and Nina appreciates that. She presses a kiss, on him. Their lips meet and they kiss deeply. Their arms wrap around each other and she snuggles her face onto his chest. Who needed glitter, when they had gold?
Some more silence.
Her emotions completely catches up with her. It was like a rubber band that had finally snapped. Talking of breaking bones and revenge could only do so much.
Her fear of dying was discovered today. Her fear of Jin getting hurt and killed.
She must have not liked crying before because it feels odd and pathetic.
Her eyes are warm and teary. She is struggling to breathe. Jin keeps stroking her hair over and over again. She refuses to think about the masked man who shoved her face into the bathwater. Of whose fingers squeezed her neck.
She thinks of her darling, her love and his warmth which he shares with her.
Jin's heartbeats sooth her to sleep.
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