Tekken Fan Fiction ❯ Canto ❯ Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Lei and Jun sat together at the Friar's Cafe that next Monday, waiting for their so-called contact to show up. It was late, and nearly an hour before the place closed. Jun's eyes were dull and tired, and she kept painfully rubbing her temples as she conversed with her partner, who also wasn't too happy at this point. She picked up the half finished cup of coffee in front of her, her hands half hidden beneath the sleeves of the oversized grey sweat jacket she was wearing over her white tank top and denim capris.

On the other hand, Lei kept lifting his head every time the door opened and closed, with no luck whatsoever. He kept tugging at the black t-shirt he was wearing, as if it was too small, though like Jun's sweat jacket, it was baggy on him. Lei glanced down at his watch again for had to be the twentieth time in the past thirty minutes.

Jun murmured to herself, "They never seemed like bad people..." She rubbed her temples again, "This whole case is...argh!" Lei looked up at his companion and frowned as he reached over and patted her on the wrist.

"Hey, this place isn't all that bad really," he managed to smile. "It's just this guy we're supposed to be meeting is late." He glanced over at the door as he heard it open again; it was just another customer leaving. Lei sighed and turned back, "Besides, I'm sure you know all the great night spots here." He cracked a grin and leaned back into his seat.

Jun chuckled harshly, "If you like seedy bars, there's plenty of them here." She finished her coffee and leaned back in her chair as well. The young man in front of her let out a amused laugh at her reply.

"Okay, I guess no bar hopping tonight," he snickered. "While we're waiting, why don't you tell me about your childhood."

Jun lifted a brow, "What?"

"You know, your friends, what you did in high school, if I'm ever going to meet your parents--"

"--I'd take you to meet my parents, but then they'd think I was pregnant and getting married to you...no matter what I told them." Lei fully busted out into laughter at that remark, and it made Jun crack a small grin. She sighed and chuckled, "There isn't much to tell, though."

"Oh, come on," Lei teased playfully, "there has to be something. Like...did you ever get to see any of Mishima's children?" Jun straightened up at that question, and her forehead wrinkled up in thought.

"Funny, you should mention it, actually I was in high school with both of them...I remember the youngest better...."

"Ah! We're getting somewhere now!" Lei leaned over the table on his elbows to listen. A huge smirk broke across his face as he waited. "So, what was he like?"

Jun rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Yeah....Chaolan Lee-Mishima. He was...interesting."

"Stuck up?"

"Well, no. He wasn't. He was just...WEIRD."

Lei nodded in enlightenment, "Ah, weird. As in goth-weird, nerdy-weird, or let's-not-go-there-weird?"

"He was really quiet. And--" she leaned over to the bookbag that was sitting next to her and dug through it until she found what she was looking for, a photo of the Mishmas that was ten years old from that file Chancey had given them; there was Heihachi looking exactly like Kazuya did now and his wife, both smiling serenely at the camera. In front of the couple Kazuya and Lee both sat rigidly and properly, neither one of the boys smiling. She placed it in front of Lei and pointed to the smallest boy in the photo, "--He was completely grey by the time he was in high school." Lei lifted a brow as he saw that Lee's hair in the photo was dark brown.

"Kooky," he commented. "Stress, I take it?" He grinned up at his partner.

"I have no clue, and don't want to know either. But...he didn't look bad. In fact, he was by far one of the best looking guys I've ever seen." Lei bobbed his head again and sat back in his chair.

"Wow, so that one's a freak of nature. Know anything about the other?"

Jun shrugged, "Not really, except my friend Paul used to get into fist fights with him all the time."

Lei lifted a brow, "Oh...was Paul a boyfriend?"

"Heck no! He's like three years older than me, and was just, you know, a buddy." She smiled, "We'd go out and hang all the time."

"Never saw, uh, whatshisface in person then?"

"Kazuya, and not very often," she said, her voice tapering off and her eyes becoming distant. Lei frowned at the change in Jun's face and straightened up in his chair. "We never did say much to each other, but I could tell...there's something wrong with him."

"Like what?"

Jun shrugged, "I'm not sure, but he frightened me." She sighed, "And if that's how it was, I could almost understand why Lee turned out the way he did." Lei nodded once stiffly at his companion. The cafe door opened, and the two turned their heads. A young man entered the room and scanned it, then smiled and waved as he saw the couple sitting in the back. Lei sighed with relief and stood up.

"Oh, man, sorry I'm late," the man apologized as he made his way to the detectives. Lei nodded and looked the boy up and down and could tell that this agent was fresh out of training. He had short bleached blonde hair cropped close to his skull and small, piercing blue eyes. Like Lei, he was wearing a black t-shirt, but he had a long sleeved white tee underneath it as well. Over his legs, he wore a pair of oversized khaki cargo pants and had several wallet chains hanging from his waist. Lei also noted the large tattoo on the side of the younger man's neck, a completely black stylish decoration reminiscent of Aboriginal art.

Jun rolled her eyes and stood up as well, "It took you long enough."

"I'm really sorry," he extended his hand, "I'm not from here at all, and I got lost." Lei nodded and shook the young man's hand, and then Jun did the same. "I'm Bryan," the young man smiled. "And again, this is my fault, but we should probably find another place to talk."

"Right, right," Lei agreed. Jun swooped over and grabbed her bag.

"You guys got into your apartments all right, I'm hoping?" Bryan asked as he wrung his hands together nervously.

Jun nodded as she straightened up, "Yeah, that's taken care of." The boy sighed and smiled.

"Great, why don't we talk at one of you guys' place? Probably the safest bet."

Lei nodded in agreement, "I'd say. And...you follow us, so you don't get lost."

"Heh, gladly," Bryan grinned.

Bryan smiled, "Now, that doesn't sound too difficult, does it?" He was seated at the small dinette set in Lei's temporary apartment, while both detectives were on the couch in the living room area that was adjacent to kitchen. Jun nodded once and leaned back into her seat.

"But exactly...how long will this take?" she asked wearily.

"Depends on how long it takes to find what we need," the young man shrugged. "That could be a few months. Or longer." The girl rolled her eyes, again regretting ever leaving New York. "I know, and I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Lei shrugged as he stood up to stretch. "You're just here on duty, just like the two of us." The older man smiled, "Besides, this will be a nice change of scenery, I think." He glanced down at Jun.

"Hey," Lei started again, "It doesn't sound like we have to do much. Just gather info and report in occasionally. That isn't bad, right?"

Jun shrugged, "I guess." She sighed and rubbed her temples. "And is that all, Agent Fury?"

"For now," Bryan shrugged. "Of course, I'll let you know if anything develops on our side or any changes."

"Great." Jun stood up, still rest her forehead in her palm. "I'm going to head back to my place then and call it a night."

"So soon?" Lei teased as he patted her on the shoulder. He smiled uneasily at her when she didn't respond right away. "Not feeling well?"

"No." She looked up and managed a small grin. "I promise I'll be in tiptop condition tomorrow. I'm just worn out right now."

"Okay...get some rest." She nodded and proceeded to gather her things before leaving Lei and Bryan for the evening.

She still felt ill that evening as she sat alone in her new apartment. The sounds of her neighbors, a couple of college aged boys, murmured through the walls and were mostly the whispers of ska music and off-key drunken singing. Then silence and the opening and closing of a door.

The room grew darker over the hours that Jun sat silently to herself on the white couch that had been provided. Everything about the apartment was obscenely clean and virginal looking. White furniture and walls. And the soft off-white carpet underneath her bare feet.

She hated it. The longer she sat there, the more she wanted to just tear apart everything in the little apartment. The white walls reminded her too much of her childhood. The perfect little girl she had to be for her father, all the little white dresses and patent leather shoes. The terrible thing was, she never managed to break away from that. Whenever she went out, her clothes were always nice, conservative looking outfits, carefully picked out from a bland selection. And almost always white, as much as she despised that color. Even as an adult, she couldn't bring herself to change. This was what people thought of her.

She hadn't told Lei the truth that evening. She had seen Kazuya quite often, and yes, hated how he looked at her. The times she ran into him when she was with Paul, the blonde would never notice the glances that Kazuya would give Jun, since it was something that was exchanged discreetly, and almost privately.

She wasn't sure why he chose her out of all those other girls. She was rather plain and very typical looking as far as Asian girls went. She never wore make up, and her black hair was always combed out of her face, sometimes behind a headband. Yet, Kazuya always would look at her from across the room, as if waiting for Paul to leave. That would never happen, of course.

There was one time that she could remember clearly. It was the night of her senior prom, which she didn't attend yet still wore the white satin gown that her father had bought for her. She left the house with her "date", a young man named Marshall Law, then had him drop her off at Paul's apartment.

Paul had opened the door clad in nothing but a pair of blue jeans, the top button undone, and he was unshaven. His hair was messy, yet it just made him that more attractive. Of course, the blonde had been surprised to her see her, but he smiled fondly, let Jun in, and shut the door.

"No dance for you, Junie?" he laughed as he offered her a seat on his couch. She shook her head silently at the young man and remained standing and folded her hands on her stomach. He frowned at her silence, "Too bad. You look...great." The girl then slipped out her dress and pressed her nude body against Paul, who was trembling and quite speechless at the act of seduction that the girl was doing, though he did kiss her back when she brushed her lips against his and wrapped his arms around her slender waist. And before long, he found himself lying on the floor, his fly completely unzipped, and Jun kissing him on the neck then moving lower on his body ever so slowly with her kissing and fondling.

She never spoke to Paul again after that evening, and even left while he was asleep, dressing quickly and quietly, then leaving hastily. And as she walked home in the dark, she felt like she was being followed. She kept looking behind to see if there was someone there, however, all she would see where the rose tinted street lights and the long shadows they made. Her pace quickened, and Jun practically ran down the street, her white heels tapping noisily against the pavement, until one of her heels broke and she tripped. As she fell, she let out a little yelp, then sat up. She hadn't been injured at all, but still cursed under her breath at her ruined shoe as she picked it up and stood. Her head was still down and she leaned over and took off her other heel so she could run better. However, when Jun straightened up, she gasped, startled.

Kazuya was standing in the distance, leaning against a building. And for a moment, their eyes locked. It wasn't at all like the other times, where Jun had seen some kind of monster, but it more impersonal, and almost as if he didn't recognize her. His eyes were dull until he noticed that Jun was staring at him, and he pulled away from the brick wall, confused then frightened himself.

Run, you don't want to be near him! a voice screamed. Jun couldn't tell where it had come from, though it was familiar, a concerned male voice. She glanced back Kazuya, whose lips were parted, as if he was saying something. But it was his eyes....

She ran. There was no looking back, and she just ran home. And as she finally made it into her house, she nervously dumped her shoes in the kitchen garbage can, then went upstairs. Luckily, no one had been awake at the time.

Jun stood up as she realized the room had darkened to the point that it was nearly impossible to see, aside from the blue digital clock display on the microwave in the kitchen and the slivers of rosy light that were thrown on the floor by the blinds. She felt her way over to the living room light switch and turned it on. She frowned as her vision blurred as it readjusted to the sudden light, then Jun made her way to the kitchen.

She stopped as she noticed the phone on the wall then walked over to behind her counter to reach for the receiver and to dial. And absentmindedly, she dialed and waited. The dial tone dragged on for several seconds until there was a click.

A lilting female voice at the other end answered, "Kazama residence." Jun felt herself become sick again as she heard her mother's voice for the first time in years. She stayed silent and just listened. "Hello? Are you looking for Ineda? Hello? Hello?"

Jun hung up.