Tekken Fan Fiction ❯ Canto ❯ Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Lee was awakened by the sounds of his bedroom door swinging open then slamming shut. He sat up slowly and blinked at his father who stood in his room, arms crossed. The man still was clad in a grey business suit from his traveling, minus the blazer. The sleeves of his white oxford shirt were rolled up. He looked tired.

"Good morning, sir," Lee said slowly before he swung over the side of his bed to grab his flannel pajamas bottoms. "I thought you weren't coming home until this evening."

"Change of plans," the older man answered softly. Heihachi then rubbed his temples, "Your brother. Where is he?"

"He's gone?" Lee got out of bed and pulled on his bottoms then straightened up; Heihachi nodded once at him. Like his father, Lee crossed his arms. "I couldn't tell you. You know Kazuya hardly tells me anything these days."

"Right," Heihachi replied quietly.

The younger man glanced over at the clock then back at his father, "Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure." After he said that, Heihachi turned and numbly opened the door then hastily exited. Lee blinked then followed, his arms still crossed.

As he pulled his bedroom door shut behind him, Lee looked up and noticed the bathroom light was on and the door opened. He then cautiously walked there, then leaned in the doorway, somewhat not surprised by what he saw.

The vanity mirror had been shattered, leaving the floor covered in glass and dried blood. Lee could only assume that Kazuya had punched it in a few hours ago. The grey haired boy let out a low chuckle, amused that he had somehow slept through the noise. He grinned slightly and shook his head before turning to go get a broom.

It wasn't ten minutes later when the phone rang, and the silverhair boy trotted out of the bathroom and into Kazuya's room to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Um...Lee?" Anna asked weakly, almost whispering.

He frowned and sat down on the bed, "Kaz isn't here. Don't know when he'll be back."

"I...don't care who I talk to. I...just....Lee, Emil's..."

"He's...?" Lee lifted a brow. "He's what, Anna?"

"He's...dead. The police came here to question Nina about it. I'm..." There was a pause, then Lee heard weeping on the other end of the line. He blinked once slowly in shock as what the younger girl said finally clicked.

"Anna, calm down," he finally responded to the crying.

"I...can't," she sobbed. "I don't understand what's going on. I'm scared."

"It's okay. Just, um, you have to keep strong for Nina. Okay?" He paused and listened. There was silence at the other end. "Anna?"

"Lee...I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Everything's going to be okay. I promise." He found himself repeating that over and over again, saying anything he could to calm her. He stood up and paced as he talked to her in a whisper and in a trance, hardly paying attention to what came out of his mouth, and thoughts that hadn't formed fully trickled out. He kept glancing over at the door as he walked back and forth across the room, as if waiting for Kazuya to come in.

Finally, he said, "I love you."

There was another long awkward silence before she whispered hastily, "I have to go," and hung up.

"Anna?" Lee frowned. The dial tone whined in his ear. He sighed heavily and placed the receiver back and rubbed his temples, confused and embarrassed. He then left the room to go back to his sweeping.

Heihachi pulled the door to the dojo shut behind him as he walked away from the building. Earlier, he had checked the garage: Kazuya's car was still there, and Heihachi knew that Lee's was in the shop again. He sighed heavily and nervously made his way back to the house.

He paused at his rock garden, however. For moment the immediacy of his dilemma was gone, and he found himself thinking ahead to that evening. Clean up the garden, rake the sand, and review the week's finances, dinner, Monday morning... He then looked up slowly, then over his shoulder out past the dojo onto the lands and road that led out from his home and frowned.

Lee spent the afternoon in his room, reading quieting, which was something he rarely did these days. He had nothing to say to his father at the moment. That, and with Kazuya gone for the day and no car, he had nothing better to do. Occasionally, he would get up to look out of his bedroom window, hoping that maybe he would see his older brother trotting down the driveway. A part of Lee knew better than to get his hopes up. This was something he felt was long overdue.

As a child, Kazuya had always had a temper. He wasn't particularly mean to Lee, however; in fact, their mother was surprised by how well the older boy had taken to Lee when they had brought home the toddler. But it was other things. The older Mishima boy was known for his terrible tantrums and violent tendencies.

It wasn't until he came home wounded that he changed, forced smiles and passiveness. It was as if Kazuya blamed his anger for his disfigured chest. And over the years, he had become that person. As the two boys grew older, that vibe that Kazuya gave off was mixed with a fake optimism that the younger boy grew to despise. Lee wouldn't lie to anyone about that: he had wanted Kazuya to finally just crack, regardless of what the consequences would be.

He looked up again from his book as his bedroom door opened, and Heihachi poked his head in.

"May I?" the older man asked as he stepped into the room fully and gestured to bed. Lee shifted to make room for his father sit and marked his spot in his book before shutting it. The older man quietly latched the door behind him then sat down on the bed.

"You shouldn't worry," Lee began quietly. "He'll come home."

"I'm not worried about that," the older Mishima replied as he shook his head. "I know he will." Lee frowned and glanced over at the window. The sky was starting to cloud up, and the sunlight was vanishing and reappearing as the clouds moved and hid the sun. The boy sighed heavily then went back to his reading. Heihachi, however, kept his head forward and didn't look at his son at all but instead at the scattered clothing all over the floor and the mess of papers and trinkets on the dresser. The only thing that the older man could see clearly was a photograph on the corner of his son's vanity mirror on his dresser. It was of Lee when he was about three years old with his biological parents, taken in Taiwan right before they had migrated to the United States. The older man dropped his eyes.

"She thought it was a blessing," Heihachi began again softly. Lee lifted his head slowly and arched a brow. "When she was found out that she was pregnant...God, I was so frightened. She wasn't supposed to be able to have children."

"Mama, you mean?" the younger man asked.

His father nodded once slowly, "I tried so hard to believe the same thing. I just couldn't. Kazuya, he just--" He stopped and hung his head, rubbing his temples.

"Dad?"

"He shouldn't exist." Lee bit his bottom lip nervously after his father said those last words. Heihachi finally turned his head and gazed sadly at his youngest son. "That day when he returned from the hills--"

"--You fucked him up for life," the younger man replied calmly. "Now he goes around thinking it's best for him just smile, then everything's going to be okay." Lee narrowed his eyes, "Don't tell me you thought that was normal." Heihachi let out a chuckle at Lee's response and stood up.

"Of course not," said the older man. "Though, you changed that day, too."

"I know. Thanks to you, I've spent the past ten years wondering who's going to kill me first: you or Kaz after he snaps."

"I wouldn't do that," Heihachi shook his head and placed his hands on his hips. "If only you'd learn to fight back."

Lee stood up as well, "And when I finally do, you plan on dropping me off of a cliff too?" Heihachi hit Lee in the face with a closed fist in response to that remark. The younger man fell backward on to his bed, holding his jaw; his bottom lip had caught on one of his front teeth and was busted open and bleeding. However, he just glared back up at his father, who waited for Lee to say something or retaliate.

When the boy didn't, the older man grabbed the younger man by his shirt collar and dragged him up.

"Fight back!" he screamed at the boy as he threw his son onto the floor. Lee kept silent through, and he attempted to sit up. However, he was kicked in the stomach, and the boy laid back down, hugging himself. He still refused to say anything or throw a punch. With a little groan, Lee began to crawl over to his bedroom door. Heihachi grabbed Lee again by the collar before the he could make it, however, and the older man slammed the boy against the wall; Lee's head whipped forward from the impact of the back of his skull.

"All you have to do is fight back," the older man hissed before releasing his son, and the silver haired boy slumped down to the ground and blinked before passing out.

Lee awoke to find that it was evening, and his room was dark aside from the dim light coming from his window. He stood up painfully and rubbed the back of his head. It was still hurting a bit, but if anything it was were he had been kicked that was bothering the silver haired boy the most. He cringed and grabbed his stomach, then slowly made he way to the bathroom to shower.

When he was in the bathroom, the boy pulled off the t-shirt he was wearing and looked down at his stomach. He clicked the roof of his mouth and rolled his eyes. As he expected, there was a purple bruise across it, though it wasn't as big as he thought it would be. The young man sighed and finished undressing before turning on the water and stepping into the shower.

The warm water felt pleasant massaging itself onto the boy's skin, and he closed his eyes and just let it beat down on him. It seemed to be helping the pain in his stomach at least, and the boy rubbed the back of his neck. He bit his bottom lip, however, as the image of his older brother and Anna fucking in the den faded into his mind until it was a vivid film projecting onto his closed eyelids, something loud, obscene, and beautiful. He could still hear his ex moaning, her legs wrapped around Kazuya the way they used to be wrapped around him, and even just the way that the older boy had been touching and kissing her was obnoxiously perfect.

With eyes still closed, Lee slowly slid his hand down from his neck and down his torso to between his legs and wrapped around the base of his erection.

He emerged from upstairs, pulling a navy t-shirt over his wet hair. Lee stopped halfway down the stairs, however. Like the rest of the house, the lights were off downstairs, yet he could see glittering weakly in the evening light more broken glass; the coffee tabletop in the living room had been broken like the mirror in the bathroom. He proceeded carefully down the stairs and into the kitchen.

The door leading to the garage was open, as was the garage itself. Lee stopped and stared at the open door and listened to the sounds of crickets echoing from inside the garage. Heihachi's car was gone.

"Heihachi?" Lee called cautiously as he made his way closer to the door. "Kaz?" He frowned and strained his ears to listen for a response. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

The younger boy yelped as he spun around and saw his brother, who blinked at Lee then grinned a bit.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Kazuya said as he pulled his hand away. Lee turned around fully to face his brother and frowned.

He looked the same, long sleeved gray t-shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, khaki cargo pants, a pair of black sandals, and friendly smile. Kazuya's right hand, however, was no longer bandaged up, and Lee could see all the nicks and cuts. The knuckles were still bleeding a bit as well. In that injured hand, Kazuya was jingling his car keys.

Lee was silent for moment before asking, "Where's Dad?"

"He hasn't been home yet?" the older boy asked.

"He got back this morning." Kazuya nodded and smiled again at his brother. "Where were you?"

"I went for a walk," the dark-haired boy shrugged. "It was nice out. Still is." He glanced over at the open door. "Sorry about leaving the door opened. I was just running in to get my keys." He then turned his attention back to his little brother. "Wanna go for a ride?"

Lee didn't answer but stared confused at the older man then hugged himself slowly. Kazuya frowned at the silence, then narrowed his eyes as he finally noticed the cut on Lee's lip and the bruise that had darkened on the side of the boy's face.

"He never hits you in the face," the older boy said quietly.

"I had it coming."

Kazuya's frown deepened at that reply, and he shook his head, "I hardly believe that. Coming or not?"

"Yeah," Lee shrugged, his arms still crossed. Kazuya smiled and went ahead of Lee, turning only to beckon to his younger brother to join him. Lee followed reluctantly, and the two of them got into Kazuya's car and drove off.

They were both silent as they drove down the down the road. The moon was peeking through the clouds that were breaking up finally that day. Lee was glaring over at Kazuya, who kept his gaze fixated forward. The older boy was humming softly to himself as he drove, seemingly oblivious to his younger brother's contempt.

"Where did you go?" Lee repeated quietly.

"I told you, for a walk." Kazuya glanced over his brother.

The younger man frowned, "I mean, where? You were gone all day."

"Ever wonder why you were put on this earth?" the older man chuckled, ignoring the question. "You know, I woke up this morning, and everything was just so clear finally," Kazuya continued. He then pulled over to the side of the road, stepped on the brakes, and put the car in park. Kazuya looked over at his little brother. When their eyes met, Lee's mouth dropped opened from shock, and he pushed as far away from his brother the best he could.

The older boy frowned, "What's wrong, Chaolan?"

"Your eyes! Jesus fucking Christ, Kaz!" Kazuya blinked once, confused, to which Lee blinked and nervously leaned in closer to better look at his brother's face; Kazuya's irises were normal looking. The younger boy slumped back into his seat, his eyes wide with fear.

Kazuya lifted a brow, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...I guess I was just seeing things," the younger man responded shakily. He squinted again in the dark at Kazuya. Still he saw nothing wrong, and his brother smiled at him again.

"You sure?" Kazuya chuckled. Lee was silent and nodded once stiffly. Kazuya turned off the car, then shifted in his seat to better look at Lee.

"I wanted to ask you last night, if I took over Mishima, would you work with me?" he started quietly. His face became solemn as he said this, and he waited quietly for a response from his younger brother, who was still twitching nervously.

Lee slowly crossed his arms over his stomach and stammered, "T-took over, as in how soon?"

"Not for awhile." Kazuya glanced over at windshield and let out a heavy huff. "I was thinking last night, how much I'd miss you if you left. I know...I tease you about running away all the time. I don't mean it, you know."

"I know."

Kazuya sighed and looked back at his brother, "I want you to be happy, you know? Last night, after you left, it didn't really occur to me until then that I--" He stopped and smiled weakly at Lee then lifted a hand and gingerly touched the bruise on Lee's face. The younger man kept his gaze on Kazuya, never flinching as the bloodied hand stroked his cheek repeatedly. "I've been really inconsiderate."

"It's your life," Lee responded quietly. He felt his stomach tightening as his brother's hand stopped and rested on his cheek. The sudden affection he was receiving was unnerving, especially after sixteen years of Kazuya pushing him away when it came to being that intimate. The younger boy soon found that he couldn't look Kazuya in the eye any longer and looked down.

"Besides," he started again, "It's not like we're kids anymore, Kaz. And you've always looked out for me. Even though I know you have hate me as much as I hate you."

Kazuya began chuckling at that comment, then busted fully into laughter as he pulled away his hand. Lee kept his head down and listened.

"Me hate you?" The older boy turned back and placed a hand the wheel, still laughing. He then started the car and put it in drive. "Me hating you," he repeated to himself, amused, as he pulled out back onto the road and started driving again.

Lee looked up, "Now where are we going?"

"You'll see." With his eyes still on the road, Kazuya chuckled, "Heh, me hating you. You know, Chaolan, I could kiss you sometimes."