Tekken Fan Fiction ❯ Heartfelt Request ❯ Chapter 1

Yakushima

It was a breathtaking sight, a glorious end to a glorious day; a day when the flowers were in full bloom and the honey flowed thick and sweet; a day when a soft silence nurtured the ears, to be punctuated by the gentle trickle of water, the lilting harmony of birdsong, and the timid padding of creatures of the wood; a day to be spent in thoughtful repose. In short, a typical summer day in this quiet mountain retreat.

The blazing disc of orange continued on its westward descent as the sky was bathed in brilliant shades of gold and carmine. Pink and purple streaks tinged the horizon, as though they were added there by an impassioned artist, on a sudden stroke of inspiration. Silence reigned supreme, for all were in awe at this majestic portrait, the product of a divine hand.

Kazuya Mishima sighed and attempted to swallow the painful lump that constricted his throat. Throughout his life, he had shunned sunsets, dismissing them as sights fit to be witnessed by sentimental fools. Now, however, he found himself succumbing to their captivating beauty. Of course, there was nothing in this world or any other that he found more breathtakingly beautiful than the young woman who now rested in his lap, her head tucked neatly into his broad chest.

Jun. The simple country girl whom he had taken as a wife; the one who had extinguished his smouldering rage, stolen his cold, unyielding heart, and mellowed his cruel, sarcastic tongue. Needless to say, she was his guardian angel, the bane of his existence, and since he had always had trouble expressing his feelings into words, he had resorted to other means of communicating his love and devotion.

The fruit of their love was the child that now resided in Jun's womb. Already three months pregnant, Jun had gone through great hardships, and Kazuya had been plagued with worries over her health, his mind spinning awful scenarios of his beloved's death, not unlike his mother's. So anxious he had been, in fact, that he had gone and read up on pregnancy, threatened a prescription of calcium and folic acid out of a doctor who had been about to give it anyway, and kept his mouth firmly shut when Jun had been sick all over his new dress shirt. He had even endured the abrupt mood swings, when Jun would be laughing one minute and sobbing against his shoulder the next.

But those symptoms were greatly alleviated when Kazuya had decided to relocate to a two-room cabin in Yakushima, hoping that a change of venue would do her good. And here he was, sitting with his back to a tree with Jun in his arms, watching the twilit sky. He suddenly had an uncontrollable urge to stroke her, and he acted out on this impulse, gently caressing the soft swells of her curvy figure, eliciting an innocent, almost childlike laugh from her.

"Kazuya! Not out in the open!" she chided gently.

" And why not? This is my estate," he replied, in an almost seductive whisper.

She laughed again and playfully jabbed his arm, before she let out a sharp intake of breath.

" Something wrong?" he asked with slight alarm.

" I think he just kicked, Kazuya!" she said, gesturing towards her belly.

Kazuya frowned. " How can you tell if it's a he?"

" A mother always knows, Kazuya," she replied, smiling." I know from the way he kicks he'll be just like you. I think we should call him Jin."

Kazuya pulled a funny expression, almost like a pout. " And why should you get to name him after yourself?"

Jun chuckled." Because I'm the one going through this pregnancy business, silly!"

He smiled. " And just who has to put up with your discomfort? The next door neighbours?"

She pouted. “ You’re right, I am a bit unpleasant at times, aren’t I ?” she said, referring to her mood swings.

He sighed. “ Giddy little girl one minute, human hosepipe the next. Nothing I can’t handle, though, as long as it’s not purple, winged or horned.” He grimaced at his own jibe.

Jun was not amused. “ Please, Kazuya, don’t joke about things like that.”

An uncomfortable silence fell between them, and they sat there watching as the first few stars made their entrance into the steadily darkening sky. Jun broke the tension by pointing out the North Star to him.

“ I remember my brother telling me that it’s the most constant of stars,” she remarked, and Kazuya was surprised to see her eying him so solemnly.

“ You know, “ she went on, “ That’s how I always want you to be, Kazuya. As powerful and as constant as the North Star. So please don’t ever change.” Her arms went around his neck and her fingers twined his raven hair as she kissed him with abandon. Before he could begin to respond in kind, she had drawn back, her bottom lip quivering.

“ I… I want to ask you something else, Kazuya,” she began tentatively.

Although the confusion and disappointment were evident on his face, he nevertheless reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring tug.

“ Ask away then…”

She sighed heavily. “ My brother and I… we grew up in great unhappiness, with a stepmother we’ve never loved. I… I don’t want the same fate for my Jin, so I need you to promise that, if something should ever happen to me, you wouldn’t remarry, and you’d raise him to the best of your ability…”

Kazuya looked at Jun as though he were plainly seeing her for the first time. He released her hand and shook his head. “ What the hell are you on about?!”

She grabbed his hands. “ Promise me you’ll be both mother and father to him! Please!” she implored, her eyes already beginning to swim with tears.

He could not bear to watch her torment any longer. “ Fine!” He roughly pushed her away and turned his back on her. “ I can’t believe you have such little faith in me…”

“ I… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… I don’t know what’s happening to me…” she sobbed.

Hormones, Kazuya thought as he turned back to face her again. Despite the warmth of the evening, she was shivering, and goosebumps covered her flesh.

He picked up the coat he had previously discarded, and gently wrapped her in it.

He sighed and forced on a smile, willing himself to dismiss the sense of foreboding and unease that was the result of Jun’s words.

“Let’s get you home.”