Chapter 1: Materialize
(The title is actually taken from a quote from my favorite attraction at Disneyland/Disneyworld.)
And I'm going to assume that you all know who's who already, so I may not be using full names of the characters anymore lol.
Also, this fic may get a little silly…
More short fics (some already in the works)…just scenes/interactions that came to my head of their everyday lives…some fics related to each other…some scenes with serious tones but majority with a silly/funny twist on characterization. Lee is the super rich, doting uncle…only Jin and Xiaoyu can understand Panda-speak…
There may be spoilers, so I highly recommend you catch up to the lore based on the time period listed in each shortfic. It's been years since I dabbled in writing fanfiction, but these ideas just wouldn't leave my head. Hope you enjoy!
Time Period: Several weeks after the events of Tekken 8
Featured characters: Jin Kazama, Ling Xiaoyu, OC supporting characters and several references/brief appearances: Lee Chaolan, Lars Alexandersson, Alisa Bosconovitch, Panda
His sparring session with Lars earlier had gone longer than planned. They'd ended up eating dinner late. It took Alisa to come find them in order for them to stop sparring. Lee was apparently waiting in his apartment, dinner was ready to be served, and he and Alisa wondering where they'd disappeared to.
Since Jin had moved into the private residence level at Violet Systems Tokyo, Lee insisted on family dinners.
"Damn if I'm going to have one of those awkward family dinners Heihachi used to have," Lee had said. "As long as none of us are traveling for work, we should have family dinner. Socialize with each other. I want a normal family dinner…"
And so, he and Lars had taken the quickest rinse ever by the training hall shower, with one of the staff standing by with a fresh change of clothes for both men and they quickly followed Alisa to Lee's apartment unit. Dinner had gone for two hours, until Lee had to cut their time short due to an early meeting tomorrow morning. So they had ended the night early, all going to their own living quarters within the high-rise building.
After finishing a full shower, Jin flipped the switch of his bathroom light off after hanging the towel he used to dry his hair. On the way to his bedroom, he passed by the stackable washer/dryer unit and pushed a few buttons to activate the dry cycle, waiting a few seconds to ensure the cycle started. Some time earlier in the afternoon, the unit had stopped mid-cycle. He'd been out most of the day, and with a pile of clothes smelling like mildew after being left damp for too long, he'd had to rewash and dry again.
After closing all the doors leading to his bedroom, he changed into black pajama bottoms and a matching short sleeve top which he left open before hitting a switch to activate the blinds. In seconds, the floor to ceiling windows of his apartment were covered, the lights of the city outside no longer visible.
He glanced at the clock on his nightstand before settling in bed. The glowing blue numbers read ten p.m. His gaze shifted to his cell phone charging next to the clock, seeing that a notification had arrived while he'd been in the shower. He took his phone off its charging dock, seeing a message from Xiaoyu.
Still awake? You up for a quick video chat?
A brief smile came to his features, and Jin quickly typed a response back.
Sure. Right now?
See you in a few minutes.
Jin tossed his phone on the bed and reached for his laptop on the other nightstand, quickly logging on to his computer. These nightly interactions with Xiaoyu, texts or video calls, were becoming a ritual between the two of them. Sometimes they were brief, but he enjoyed them all the same. Little moments like these served as reminders on the direction he had chosen for his life.
A ringing sound filled the room and he opened his video call application. His screen changed to reveal Xiaoyu sitting at the foot of her bed, dressed in a pink t-shirt with a wide neckline and matching shorts. Her dark hair was styled in low pigtails by her neck.
She waved. "Hi."
"Hi, Xiao."
"So are we…" she stopped abruptly as Panda came onto the screen, making some growling noises waving at the screen.
"Hi, Panda," Jin greeted.
Panda made some more growling noise, and Jin could see she had a hairbrush in hand.
"What are you…?" Xiaoyu waved her away as Panda started to talk some more. "No, it's fine. No, you don't need to fix my hair just because Jin is on-screen!" She lightly pushed her pet companion away, shaking her head, her cheeks tinged with embarrassment. "Sorry about that. She thought my hair looked messy…"
"I like your hair messy." That came out wrong. He cringed inwardly. "I meant…your hair looks fine and you don't need to fix it…"
She smiled in that way that made his heart skip. It was a fairly new feeling, and he liked the sensation. "So are we still having breakfast tomorrow?"
"Yes. Eight-thirty okay?"
"Maybe closer to nine? It might take me a little longer depending on how crowded the trains are."
"Closer to nine is fine."
"What about the rest of your week? Any plans?"
"End of the week I'm supposed to help Uncle Lee…he has a friend coming from out of town and he'll be in meetings. I agreed to keep her company while he's finishing up."
Xiaoyu's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait…didn't the staff at the Mishima Estate always gossip about him when they thought we weren't around?"
"You remember that?"
She laughed and a mischievous gleam entered her eyes. "Oh, I can't wait to hear how this goes…"
"Meaning?"
"I'm trying to imagine you playing host to…how does she know your uncle again?"
He was instantly reminded of their days living at the Mishima Estate. At first, she'd been awestruck at the idea of living in such a luxurious home. Anytime she addressed the staff, Heihachi, and even himself, she did so in a respectful tone, but her eyes shone with amusement, as if she was secretly laughing. He'd always been polite to her, almost formal because he didn't know what to make of her. They were complete opposites - he was quiet and kept to himself, she was outgoing and could easily chat with a stranger and become fast friends. Then one Saturday morning, while Heihachi had been traveling, and Jin was practicing a new technique that he was struggling to learn, Xiaoyu met him in the training hall and told him to put on hiking clothes. They'd spent the next few hours at Mt. Tsukuba walking the various trails. Somehow, she'd known he'd needed to clear his head and walking those trails had helped. Their friendship had started that day, and in spite of the things he'd done the last year and a half, after not seeing each other for so long, they'd been able to pick up where they'd left off.
"An art dealer? Appraiser? Apparently, they met at an airport during bad weather." Jin blew out a sharp breath, causing several of his bangs to shift before crossing his arms. "I just wanted to help any way I could. Considering…I'm…unemployed and not paying for anything."
She gave him an understanding look. "I know. And I think it's great you offered."
He looked in the direction of the laundry closet, frowning at the lack of sound coming from the dryer.
"Jin? You okay?"
"Yeah…it's…my dryer turned off when I started it about five minutes ago…"
Xiaoyu covered her mouth with one hand. "Maybe you have a friendly ghost…"
Maybe… "I'll be right back…" Jin crossed the space to the laundry closet, opening the door. Just for a brief second, he felt a chill. He turned the dryer back on before heading back to his room.
He sat back down just as he saw Xiaoyu yawn.
"You look tired," he commented. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
She nodded. "Okay. Sleep well."
"You, too."
He shut down the laptop, placed his phone back on the charger, turned off the lights and settled into a comfortable position, easily drifting off to sleep.
—
The following morning, Jin woke up just two minutes before his alarm was set to go off. He turned the alarm clock off and pushed the nightstand button to retract the blinds. This time of the day the sun was on the opposite side of the building but due to the windows' size, plenty of natural light filtered in.
Jin headed to the bathroom, pausing by the dryer machine. A quick check and his clothes were dry, the unit hadn't stopped mid-cycle like it had the previous night.
Once in the bathroom, he saw that his toothbrush, instead of being in its usual cup holder, was lying on a piece of tissue inside the vanity cabinet. He glanced up at the ceiling as a slight drop in temperature sent goosebumps across his skin and a breeze ruffled his spiky hair. Jin sighed in exasperation.
"I know you're there. Stop hiding." Jin began brushing his teeth as the breeze faded.
After he finished his morning rituals with no disturbances, he headed back to his bedroom to find something to wear for a morning outing as well as wind-resistant for riding his bike. He slid his closet door open and waited, glancing around expectantly.
Nothing.
He waited a few more seconds.
Still nothing.
"It isn't easy to scare people who don't get scared, is it?" he muttered.
"For the record, I wasn't hiding," a voice announced.
Jin swiftly turned around to see the translucent form of a young man about his age sitting cross-legged at the corner of his bed. He had short black hair cut close to his ears, was wearing a simple dark gray t-shirt and dark colored jeans with high top sneakers.
The other man stared at him in shock. "Wait…you can see me?!"
"Yes, I can see you." Jin crossed his arms. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
"That's crazy…you're the first in this building who actually can see me…" He shook his head in wonder as he rose to his feet, greeting him with a slight tilt of his head and torso. "The name is Kai. You're Jin, right? I used to intern here…well…not here exactly…but at the previous company."
Jin frowned. "That must have been a long time ago. Before Violet Systems took over the building, it was commercial rental space."
"That's right. Anyway…a few years ago I got into an accident outside and…" Kai shrugged.
"So what are you doing here…?"
"It seemed like a nice place to be…" Kai admitted before starting on a long speech. "Lee Chaolan's your uncle, right? I'm not exactly a fan of his apartment. Thought I'd find someplace not so…fancy. Lars Alexandersson and Alisa Bosconovitch's apartments are nice too, but he doesn't really know how to decorate and her place has too much…frilly stuff. Your place has a nice vibe. Relaxing. Clean, simple style. And there's a studio down the hall that's pretty chill that will sometimes have a different person there once or twice a month. Sometimes your uncle is there too, depending on who's visiting, but he never stays there the full night…"
Jin blinked. "Wait…what?"
"Yeah…I walked in one time and the noise was just…" Kai made a gagging face. "They were obviously enjoying themselves…and I'm not going to judge your uncle…in fact, I-"
"Wait…that's going on down the hall…?!" Jin watched as Kai's image shook several times and faded. "Kai…?"
Jin slid the shoji screen to the living room open, poking his head out, seeing no sign of his visitor. He checked the bathroom and laundry closet. Nothing either.
I'm going to be late.
Jin quickly dressed in black jeans, a white henley long-sleeved tee, and a black and white leather hooded jacket. Grabbing his cell phone off its charger, he texted Xiaoyu to let her know he might be late, stopping abruptly in the living room to see Kai examining the photos on the wall of Yakushima and his school days with Panda and Xiaoyu.
"Sorry about that. I disappear when something bothers me," Kai explained cheerfully. Then he frowned. "Trust me…you don't want to ever walk in on your uncle-"
"You're right, I don't," Jin cut in abruptly.
He watched as Kai poked at a framed photo of him and Xiaoyu in their school uniforms with Panda posing in the background.
"So this must be your girlfriend. This was what…several years ago? I'm guessing since you don't go to school anymore. I recognized her from a few days ago."
Jin stepped forward to straighten the photo he'd knocked askew before narrowing his eyes at him. "What do you mean, you recognized her from a few days ago?"
"Well, when she was here-"
"I didn't sense you a few days ago," Jin interrupted. "Last time she was here I was called to Lars' place…did you…move anything while she was here alone?"
"No. Well, maybe your toothbrush." Kai shook his head, his mouth turning down in disdain. "It's not like I'm one of those weird ghosts that likes to haunt people."
Jin had always believed that there were things in the world that could not be explained. His mother's side of the family was very in tune with spirits and nature. And his father's side…well. Even as a child, he'd been able to sense the unusual. It had dissipated over time, especially when he moved to the Mishima Estate. But once in a while, that feeling would come back.
"You're haunting me," Jin pointed out.
"True…I just meant that I wasn't going to haunt her while she was in the bathroom or anything else weird-"
"You do that…?"
"Other ghosts do that, not me! Why would I haunt your girlfriend while she's in the bathroom? I'm not some perverted-" His form shimmered and faded again.
"...Kai?" Jin looked around the now empty living room. He shook his head and looked down at his phone to see that Xiaoyu had responded to his text that he was running late.
It's okay. Panda insisted on fixing my hair this morning, so I'm also running late.
He could almost hear her voice in his head. Jin smiled before glancing around the living room again.
Empty.
He'd have to deal with the ghost later. If the ghost even decided to come back. Jin grabbed his keys, quickly locking his apartment and headed towards the parking garage.