Tekken Fan Fiction ❯ The Stone Lotus ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter Five

He hated hitchhiking, but for the time being, that was all Kazuya could do. He had been traveling by foot for a couple of days now, and aside from a few people that stopped to give him a lift to gas stations and such, he hadn't had much luck. Of course, his problem was that he didn't know where he was going.

It was raining that day, and he was huddled in a black jacket that a nice couple had donated plus a pair of sneakers a college student had given him as he tried flagging down cars, none of which would stop to for him. In spite of the dismal situation, Kazuya was amused. He was very aware of his appearance, scruffy, dusty-skinned, wild black hair, and dangerous looking with that scar across his face. He pleasantly referred to the look as the escaped mental patient, again amused by close to the truth it was. He waved again at another car, and it sped by.

"Have people no humanity these days?" he chuckled to himself as he began walking once again along seemingly neverending strip of highway.

It was probably two or three hours before Kazuya noticed the gnawing in his stomach, and he grimanced as he walked. Hungry. He hadn't once thought of food since he ran off, due to elation from being free finally. His walk slowed a bit, and he folded his arms tightly around his abdomen, in hopes that would make the aches subside for a bit. Just until he could find a way to get something to eat. Eventually, he ended up sitting on the side of the road, too tired and disheartened to move.

The grey sky darkened into evening as he watched traffic race by, and he sat with his legs crossed indian-style. A few cars honked mockingly at him, though still never stopping to help him.

It stopped raining well into the evening, and the clouds parted some to reveal patches of starry sky above. It was then that Kazuya decided to start moving on again, his hunger finally curbed a bit, and he was rested at least and somewhat dry. Plus, the traffic had slowed, and less cars were passing by, making it useless to flag cars for the evening.

He walked for several hours, cars ocassionally whizzing by him as he trudged forward to his unknown destination. He looked up at a huge road roadside and saw that he had crossed the stateline from Nebraska into Kansas, and he noted that he had been traveling southwest. He laughed a bit, quite puzzled on how he knew his geography but couldn't remember his name or where home was.

As he walked, he hummed to himself. The song was familiar, but he couldn't place a name to it. However, it brought visions of sunny days and children's laughter to him. He smiled as the world around him became more vivid and more pleasant. He saw himself standing on the front lawn of a huge home, a frail woman sitting on porch singing and smiling at him. Running around him were two young boys laughing and playing. The smaller of the two boys stopped in front of Kazuya and peered up, oddly sad, dark eyes that looked up at the man.

Kazuya stopped humming.

"I just wanted company," the little boy said softly.

The world faded again into darkness and the sounds of cars coasting by snapped the tired man back into reality, and he found that it was raining again and that he was soaked. He shivered once and started walking again.

It wasn't long before he saw the emergency lights of a parked small hatchback car and the headlights of a pickup truck flashing in the rain several yards ahead, and he could make a few figures, a woman and two men, in the lights. His walk slowed as he approached, and he could finally hear voices over the drumming of the water.

". . .Look," the woman said sternly, "unless you're going to help me change my tire, I've no business with either of you." Kazuya's heart skipped a beat when he heard the proper Irish tone of the young woman. Yet he still cautiously made his way over to the threesome.

The woman looked to be in her early twenties and was athletic, and her neatly cut auburn hair and clothes were drenched from the rainy weather, which she wore nothing more than sleeveless white blouse and a pair a black denim capris, and her bra showed through the wet, thin fabric of her shirt. However, she had arms crossed as to keep the men from oogling at her breasts.

"Aw, little Miss Foreign Bitch doesn't want our company," the largest of the two men cooed at the woman as he took off his baseball cap and shoved into the backpocket of his jeans. As Kazuya got closer, he stopped and was silent as he watched.

The man that had spoken grabbed at the woman; however, she hit him with swift punch in the stomach and slipped into a defensive stance, her arms out to protect her chest.

"The fuck?!" the injured man gasped as he doubled over in pain and fell to his knees. The other man quickly lunged at the woman, and she quickly sidestepped when he overshot her, and she rammed him in the back with her elbow. The smaller man stumbled forward, cringed, yet turned back around swinging fratically with both his fists in a sloppy, street fighter manner. She easily dodged and blocked each messy punch, and when the man's rhythm faltered, she grabbed his right arm and forcefully twisted it, flipping the man to the ground with ease. He yelped in pain and arched his back up.

The woman looked down at the defeated man and shook her head in pity; however, the larger man had recovered by that time and grabbed her from behind. She screeched in shock and struggled against the strong hands that had her in a headlock, and the second man stood up and faced the woman. He pulled out a switch blade and pointed it at her neck, sneering.

"This one needs to learn her goddamned place," he murmured to himself as he grabbed her from his partner and threw her against the hood of her car. The larger man pulled out his own knife, then flipped the woman over on her stomach, blade aimed at the back of her neck; she whimpered softly. The smaller of the two men began laughing at he watched his friend fondle the woman with his free hand on the hood. However, he felt a tapping on his shoulder.

When he turned around, he was punched square in the face by Kazuya, knocking the other man face down into the muddy ground. The larger man turned around, knife still in hand, and when he saw his partner on the ground, he pulled away from the woman and charged at Kazuya. With a swift roundhouse, however, Kazuya knocked the switchblade from the large man's hand and then kicked him again with scissor kick on the the shoulder; the thug fell to his knees in pain, but before he stand back up, he was kneed in the face. The smaller man stood up finally, after struggling a bit and ran at Kazuya, who moved out of the way, and the man headed straight towards the woman, who had recomposed herself by then. She decked him with a clean uppercut that sent him flying back on to his partner.

In a panic, the smaller man scrambled to stand up and frantically nudged his friend, who was still in a daze, before taking off to their truck and leaving his still disoriented partner behind. He jumped in the pickup and without bothering to shut his door, sped off, the driver's door still flapping open as it sped away. Finally, the deserted man came to his senses and stood up and blinked, holding his now broken nose. When he saw that both Kazuya and the woman he had attacked were both standing ready to pounce him, he took off running desperately in the direction his friend had drove off in.

The woman relaxed, sighed heavily with relief, and turned to Kazuya, "Thank you, I owe you one." She squinted a bit when her eyes met his and frowned. Her forehead had wrinkled up with thought as she stared at the man before her. Absentmindedly, she slicked her wet hair out of her eyes.

When he saw her eyes, he smiled at her, a geniue, relaxed smile.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I should had came to help sooner." He glanced over at her car.

"So," he started again, "You need help with your tire?"

She nodded, "Well...I can change it myself, but help would be nice."

"I think I can do that for you."

The rain made changing her tire a tad more difficult than it should had been, yet she was thankful that Kazuya had stayed to help her. However, she said little aside from what was needed and avoided eye contact with him.

He watched silently as she threw the blown out tire and her jack in her trunk.

"Do you need a ride back to your car?" she asked as she slammed the trunk shut. She leaned back on her car and crossed her arms, again trying to cover herself.

"Don't have one," he replied casually, also crossing his arms. The rain started to beat down harder around the two.

She blinked and pulled away from her car, "You've just been walking?"

"Pretty much," he shrugged.

"The last town was thirty miles north of here."

"I know." Her frown deepened at that response, and she sighed heavily.

"I run a bed and breakfast. I can give you a room to stay in for the night and a warm meal," she finally offered reluctantly.

Kazuya shook his head, "Thank you, but--"

"--You saved my life," the woman sighed, uncrossing her arms. "Not to mention, you stayed here and helped fixed my car. It's the least I can do." With that, she beckoned at Kazuya and and got into her car. Cautiously, he obeyed and got in the passenger side and closed the door in one sweeping motion. In the dry air inside of the tiny hatchback, it was then he realized how cold and wet he was, and he started shivering a bit.

As she started the car, the woman said, "By the way, I'm Anna." He straightened up when he heard her voice trail off in the sounds of the engine. An alarm went off inside of him, and stared over at the younger woman in disbelief. However, he saw that sitting between them was the woman that he had met the night he fled the hospital.

She sat looking forward, very properly and very stiff, her thin hands resting on her skirt covered knees.

"Well, isn't this convenient?" the Asian woman murmured sardonically as she straightened the white headband in her hair. She then looked over at Kazuya and frowned disapprovingly. He blinked once, and she vanished.

He shook his head violently and looked forward when he felt the car move.

"Anna, you say?" he responded, trying to make conversation.

"Yes, Anna."

He smiled to himself and glanced back at his companion, "That's a pretty name."

"Thank you." The younger woman glanced over at Kazuya, "What about you?"

He lifted a brow, "Hm?"

"Your name." He was silent and looked forward; the windshield wipers clicked back and forth lazily.

Finally, he answered quietly, "I'm nobody." Again, there was an awkward silence as Anna tried to think of something to reply with. She sighed heavily when she noticed an exit road sign appear, and she changed lanes.

"I have a hard time believing that you're nobody," she managed to say after several minutes of digging for the right words.

Kazuya chuckled a bit, "Well, I woke up one day and found that I didn't have a place in the world anymore. So...I'm nobody."

"...I think I can relate." She glanced over at him again and smiled weakly. "Just waking up one day to find out that the world just...left you behind."

His grin grew a little, "Yeah."

It wasn't long before she turned off of the highway and onto a gravel road, and soon a large home surrounded by a white pickett fence came into view, lit up by its porchlight and a single washed out streetlight. The road wound towards the home then turned into driveway and lead up to a garage that had been added on recently. Anna parked on the driveway.

The home itself was Victorian, one that had obviously been completely white when originally built, but during restoration had been painted bold, bright colors of olive green, marigold, and poppy red. There were Corinthian columns that formed the entry way on the spacious, open porch, and there was a weathered wood barrel that had been turned into a planter sitting in the far corner of the porch, away from the olive front front door. Like the house, the flowers in there were bright and bold; marigolds and tulips of red and gold, which florished beautifully from being well-tended, inspite of the mostly dry weather that summer. A wooden sign hung over the front door and read: "Dorothy's Rest".

Kazuya shoved his hands in his pockets as Anna lead him through the dark house and into the kitchen, which then was she finally turned on a few lights, which were wan and isolated in the dark. The kitchen was completely done in white, aside from a few bright accents of citrus fruit, and there were canisters sitting out neatly on the counter. It almost didn't look like it had been lived in, though a tell-tale post-it note on the fridge gave the room a bit of humanity. He sat down at the kitchen table and looked up at his hostess.

"Wait here for a moment," she said as she turned her back and disappeared into the dark. He watched were she had left, and listened. Anna had a quiet step, and eventually, he couldn't hear her moving around anymore. Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he could see a desk near the front door with a guestbook sitting open on it and a telephone, then he could make out what what he assumed to be the living room, which, like the kitchen, was immaculately clean; a staircase lead up to the second floor from there. The faint sounds of footsteps began again, and he straightened up in his seat when Anna emerged from the dark holding a pile of folded clothes in her arms.

She smiled wearily, "My ex left a few things last year. I figured you would like some dry clothes." Kazuya nodded once weakly at the younger woman as he stood up. She handed him the clothing, "And I'll show you to your room."

He followed her silently through the living room and up the stairs. She had already turned on the lights on the next floor, and she led him past several closed doors down the hallway to an opened door at the end. She then turned around and gestured at the older man behind her to enter the room.

Like the rest of the house, the bedroom was spacious and very clean. A large bed was sitting the corner, neatly made up with a citrus printed bedspread, and there a matching vanity set in the room with a large mirror.

Kazuya cautiously set the clothing he had been carrying on the bed.

"Alright," Anna said as she entered herself. "The bathroom and shower are over here," she explained as she strolled over another door, opened it, then reached inside to turn on the light, revealing the rather large bathroom. "There's a linen closet in there with clean towels." She then turned back towards her guest; he nodded at her.

"I'm going to freshen up myself, then I'll start dinner," she added as she went back to the door. She then smiled sheepishly, "I'm sure you're as hungry as I am." With that, she left Kazuya alone.

He almost felt terrible that he had to use the shower since the bathroom was spotless, but he was filthy and exhausted. He shed his clothes and folded them neatly on top of the closed toilet seat. He then opened the glass doors to the shower and reached into turn on the warm water before stepping in.

He was certain now that he knew Anna. The name sounded too familiar, and her face was one that he recalled clearly; her large, sad eyes were something that one wouldn't easily forget. Whenever he looked at her, a rush of emotions came to him, a mix of overwhelming joy but also regret and shame. As he scrubbed himself clean, however, he couldn't remember exactly why he would feel the way he did, and as he tried to recall something about her, nothing concrete came to mind. He shut off the water.

When he stepped out of the shower, Kazuya went over to the vanity mirror to wash his face. He splashed cold water onto his skin and rubbed his temples painfully as he looked at himself in the mirror, and his view was fixated on the scar that marred his cheeks, then the huge one that slashed across his chest. Behind his reflection, he noticed a shirtless little boy, the one he saw on the highway, scrubbing the floor, and it startled Kazuya.

The man jerked around and saw that there was no one behind him.

There was a soft knock on the door, again startling Kazuya, and he whipped up his head towards the door.

"Are you alright, love?" Anna's voice called from behind the door. He glanced over at the linen closet then went over to find a towel. For some unknown reason, he didn't want to keep her waiting as a terrible sense of dejá-vù came over him.

When he opened the door, he was still tying his towel around his waist, and he smiled sincerely at her, "I'm fine."

"Oh, well, dinner's almost finished," she said, forcing a smile. She had changed into a red short-sleeved dress, and Kazuya found himself idly recalling that Anna had always looked nice in red. He noticed that her eyes were fixated on the scar on his chest, and his smile faded.

"Anna?" he asked cautiously. She shook her hear once and looked up.

"I'm sorry, I'll let you have your privacy." She blushed and turned away to leave, yet he gently grabbed her arm. Anna turned back around slowly, her eyes meeting his.

She frowned, "Yes?"

He released her arm, "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

He replied , "I'm not sure why, but...I need to." Anna's frown deepened as he said this, and she turned around fully to face the man. She held a back a real smile, this time, as she looked him over discreetly.

His towel hung low on his waist, and despite all the scars, she was impressed with how fit he was, and she found that she was attracted the dark, olive color of his skin. And his face. He was a very handsome man and had a boyish charm to his looks, regardless of the scar carved on his countenance. He frowned at her silence and crossed his arms slowly.

She smiled painfully, "No worries."

His frown softened and he stepped towards her and placed both of his hands on her shoulders, and he gazed down at her, unsure what made him do that or what was making him act this way. His hands gently, yet cautiously moved from her shoulders and he cupped her face before he leaned in, closed hie eyes, and hesitantly brushed his lips against hers.

When she didn't respond, he kissed her again, this time more sure. She pulled away, frightened, yet she didn't fight back when he wrapped an arm around her slender waist and pulled her close again.

"Kazuya?" she whispered, almost afraid to say his name out loud.

With eyes still closed, he grinned and kissed her once more.