Tekken 8: Breach

Chapter 5

The sun is ready to set when she finished the one and a half of the two books she borrowed and now she's on her way back to her house with the additional books she just borrowed.

When she saw a motorcycle parked in front of the house from a distance, she hurried her steps.

"Onii-san!" She called from the genkan. Seeing Jin Kazama come down from upstairs, she immediately greeted him, "Welcome back," but her voice trailed off after seeing a bag behind him, and remembering his motorcycle outside the garage. Her eyebrows soon slightly furrowed.

"Shouldn't I be the one to tell you that?"

"You're leaving again?" Mihatsu noticed his eyes widened slightly. "Forgi–"

"Have you eaten yet?" She just asked as she headed to the kitchen, and straight-up to the refrigerator.

"Actually, are you in a hurry?" she peeked her head through the refrigerator's door to see him put down his bag on the couch.

"There's already food on the table." When she looked at the table to see food that is only enough for one person, she looked at him flatly.

She just sighed internally, "But are you?"

"No," and so, she quickly grabbed and prepared the ingredients necessary for a fairly quick dish.

While she was brushing an eggplant with sesame oil, she had to ask, "Are you sure you're not in a hurry?"

"They can manage."

As she was heading to a preheated oven, she turned to him with a raised eyebrow. He raised his back to which she just shrugged to before carefully putting the baking pan in the oven. If he says so then…

But it's not often that he's not here during weekends, her uninformed no less. Why did I even have to insist on this?

Few minutes later, Nasu Dengaku is served on the table. "My apologies, Onii-san. You can at least pack–"

"Don't you want me to eat with you?"

"No. That's not what I mean– obviously. You don't really have to pretend to me that there wasn't some emergency. You know that I heard the call you had last time."

"Forgive me."

"You don't really have to. I'm the one who has to. I'm sorry for what had become of my business with Akari-san. I should have informed you immediately. And I didn't because of whatever you have in your mind, alright? I didn't because I was too focused on not failing such an opportunity."

"I'm glad." She almost did not catch what he mumbled, but before she could ask him what he exactly meant with that, "I at least can eat one of these with you."

"More than twenty minutes has passed, Onii-san. I really appreciate the offer but time is of the essence." Mihatsu turned her back to her brother to grab a food container, "But you can take this with you, right? No risk or something?"

"Of course, thank you for this."

"Still not enough for the breakfast earlier and the dinner now however," she ended with a moue.

He snickered, "It is. Trust me."

"Of course, I do trust you." Oh really? Why don't you tell him of your business this upcoming Monday then? She froze in her place, eyes still on Jin packing up but widened still.

When he turned to her, she swallowed a lump, "Are you alright?" She just hummed and escorted him to his motorcycle.

"Take care."

"Take care."

They shared a laugh together before he drove off.

He left her peripherals as quickly as he started the engine but she was not so quick to go back in the house. She had to let out a sigh before doing so.

Although it is not long that she's in there. She only packed the food her brother made her and together with the books she brought with her, she headed to her apartment, which had greeted her with darkness once she arrived. She did not bother doing anything about it and after cleaning herself, she easily drifted off once her body felt the comfort of her bed. Her mind, however, was not the most empty. Regardless, that has to be dealt with the next day.

I should have asked him when he'll be back. She sighed in front of the newly heated food from the last dusk. Without a reliable way of contacting him lest she wants to worry him and more importantly, be more worried for him, that was an oversight that will most likely cost her the entire day and maybe even the next. It was an expensive oversight, definitely, and Mihatsu sees no point in denying such, especially with an upcoming espionage. Difference on the latter is that she should not be dealing with anyone who is personal to her.

As her plate empties, her mind goes on to be filled with thoughts. Considering that G Corporation seems to be closing in on them, it should be more than a week– more than a month or even months. She grimaced at the thought but it later went somewhere else. Months… It is quite logical to assume Mishima Kazuya-san has the Mishima Zaibatsu under his control for at least eight months considering the job hiring. Her mind wandered off to the other hirings G Corp. had for the past eight months. If there was indeed an influx, then that will confirm her hypothesis. As much as she wants that already resolved, she really rather not risk searching anything about G Corp. using an unprotected device.

Akari Saito has one protected, connected to a private network that enemies should not be able to access in any way. She said that she will give her one herself… Still on Monday. Tsk.

She stood up from her seat and headed towards the sink with her plate and utensils. As she is washing them off, Eight months and they only got known of the takeover only this week? And she gets to questioning the capability of the people her brother has been working with for Four years… and he seems to really trust them… Her doubt vanished as soon as it came to be.

After putting the mess out of the way, she heads off to the bedroom and sits by her study table to pick up where she left off in the book she borrowed. But without finishing even a single paragraph, she closed it and opened a new one. She at least managed to finish a page of it before closing it itself. She just sighed before turning her chair to the rest of the room.

Four years to get comfortable again at her second house and it is still not enough. Her eyes laid at perhaps the main reminder why she came to this. She got up from her chair and dusted off the corkboard that was underneath the bed. Why am I still keeping this anyway? Mihatsu clicked her tongue as soon as she saw the notes and pictures pinned in it. For as much as she doesn't like how this corkboard now reminds her of her agony before her brother came back, she appreciates it for helping her get a better gauge of where he actually was during that time.

His physical location was fairly simple to predict, especially considering that he actually told her where he will be: still somewhere in the Middle East, retrieved by the United Nations... The one she did not see coming was an involvement of another organization that can fend off even UN- the very organization he is currently working with.

He was harder to find. She focused on a specific part of the board. "Someone else is pulling the strings", "Dual-personality"... "He was just faking himself with me", "I don't really know him."

She remembered her talk with Akari yesterday.

Well... She only has actually known him for not as long as normally other siblings do– for around a third of her age. It has been only six years since she finally has memories she can hold on to to prove that she did not spawn out of nowhere in the care of someone who she herself frustratingly somehow cannot remember until now.

And it is that very same lack of good memory that made her easily trust Jin regardless of what he does and who he actually is. He's the only one who she has… and was. Mihatsu sighed and after placing the corkboard on top of her bed, she sat back at her chair to write notes of different business strategy that would seemingly be for G Corp. 's prosperity but is actually for her to quickly get to the top of their structure.

But even with the various ideas coming in her head, she is unable to write even a single word. When will he be back? She stared at her pen touching the note. What if he… And the note is finally inked– of a crooked line that is. The note is quickly disposed of, but instead of picking up the pen again, she picked up her phone instead and begrudgingly dialed a number, "I know you have said that I am free to treat your place as my own, but I still want to know and ask for your permission if I can go there right now."

Akari took a moment to answer, "Huh? As I told you–"

"Onii-san is somewhere else."

"Then rest there for as long as you wait for his return."

Mihatsu wondered of whatever "there" she could be referring to, "He will not be coming back until Monday at best, next week at worst."

At this apartment, where it is not even the weekdays that her schoolworks can occupy her? At that house? Hmph. And she really rather not be overdosed with caffeine nor be bored observing people unmoved for hours. Akari somehow managed to give her a more preferable last resort.

"Alright, you have my permission and don't worry, you don't really need it."

(side note: while writing this, i got distracted for 5 hours watching documentaries about speedrunners and cheaters, science experiments, and killers. like what the fuck.

also, that was like four months ago, so yeeeaaah… not to mention that this turned out to be very short lmao, and i s'ppose it's important to establish it now: am not really doing edits, am just going "random bs go brr" for all of 'em)