Tekken Fan Fiction ❯ The Stone Lotus ❯ Chapter Fourteen ( Chapter 14 )

Chapter Fourteen

"Good morning, Kazuya."

Kazuya awoke to see the Asian lady standing at the foot his bed, her hands holded over one another and resting over her stomach. She had a white sweater jacket thrown over her rose sundress, and as usual her was hair in place neatly and pulled behind a white headband. He sat up slowly then glanced over at the window; it was still raining, though he realized had slept through most of the previous day. He shook his head once and frowned before turning his attention back to his companion.

"What is it?" he asked quietly, bring his legs up to his chest and resting his arms on his knees. The woman was silent for a moment, keeping her gaze steady on Kazuya; as he waited, he realized he had seen the dress she was wearing before

His mother had always worn sundresses with shawls or light jackets in the summertime, but that dress, he remembered in striking detail. The jacket and dress had been soiled with blood, though for why he couldn't quite remember until the image of the little boy scrubbing the bathroom floor flashed in his head. Absentmindly, his hand went to his chest; however, his eyes stayed on the younger woman and narrowed his eyes. It wasn't just that particular dress; his mother had worn every dress that he had seen the Asian woman in.

She smiled sweetly at him, "It's time to go."

"Now?"

"There's a bus station down the road. Your bus leaves in two hours." He was silent and continued to stare blankly at the woman before him. She gave a light, bothersome sigh then placed her hands on her hips.

She added, "You do want to get home, don't you?"

He shook his head, "I'm not sure about that." Cautiously, he stood up, hugging himself. "I have a feeling that if I go 'home' or what have you, I'll regret it in the long run."

The woman chuckled softly, having expected that response from Kazuya. "All I've ever done for you is help, and you still don't trust me."

"I don't even know your name."

"My name is whatever you want it to be."

Kazuya's frown deepened, "Is that so?"

"Yes." The sweetness of her voice had a hint of malice in it; he heard it, and that was far more familiar to him than anything else he had felt from her before. Yet, he still couldn't place the tone of her voice. And for another second, Kazuya Mishima questioned his sanity.

He shook off the notion, however, and cleared his throat, "What did I call you before?"

"It doesn't matter now," she said as she approached him casually. She stopped in front of him and lightly brushed lint off his shoulders with both of her hands. It was silent aside from the noise of rain outside beating down lightly, and the woman finished grooming Kazuya then rested her hands on his shoulders. She then smiled up at him and leaned in to kiss him on the lips. However he hesistated, backing away a bit.

Her grin broadened, and she leaned in again, this time successful as she brushed her lips against his softly then firmly pressed up against him. She then pulled away, still grinning in amusement at Kazuya, who was silent.

"So, home it is," she murmured softly before pecking him on the lips again and pulling away completely.

*****

He was already starting to feel a buzz from drinking; it was definitely too early in the day for that, but Lee didn't care as he packed messily, cigarette dangling from his lips and a bottle of whiskey in one hand. He pulled the cigarette from his mouth to exhale before taking one more swig of his booze then setting the bottle on his hotel nightstand.

However, he still wasn't drunk enough. He was thinking too clearly and was too angry at himself for wanting to deliver Anna's test results in person. He hated how delusional he still was and how much he wanted to make up for Kazuya's actions. Or worse still, he hated what a shitty person he had grown into. Lee sat down on his bed, taking another long drag from his cig.

His plane didn't leave until tomorrow evening, and part of him innocently pointed out that was more than enough time to go and apologize to Anna. Another part of him then retorted that he was just horny and would just go ahead and fuck her if he saw her again that soon. He then frowned and glanced over at his suitcase; everything was actually almost packed, though some of his clothes were on folded neatly on the bed courtesy of the cleaning lady. The silverhaired man's frown deepened, and he swung his legs onto the bed and stretched out, eyes heavy as more of the alcohol worked its way into his system. Lee then reached over and grabbed the bottle on his nightstand. With a hearty sigh, he chugged down what was left of his whiskey, rolled over, then set the bottle on the floor before rolling back on his back, cigarette still hanging from his mouth. Slowly, he finished up his smoke and put out the stub in the ashtray on the nightstand.

Lee nodded off to sleep until the ring of his cell phone woke him with a start. He jumped out of bed and patted himself down until he realized that his phone was ringing from his suitcase, and the silverhaired Mishima stumbled over to his luggage and began digging through his clothes, checking pockets and throwing out anything that turned up empty onto the floor.

*****

Heihachi paced impatiently, his cell phone to his ear as it rang; he was waiting in the lobby of the institution for his next appointment. The elderly Mishima stopped moving and glanced down at his watch for what felt like had to been the millionth time. The front doors opened, and he glanced up; two orderlies entered, escorted by military police. Heihachi frowned and checked his watch again.

Finally, it picked up.

"Hello?" Lee asked, his voice almost inaudible.

Heihachi sighed heavily, "Chaolan? I've been trying to reach you all morning."

"Sorry, I had left my phone in the car," the younger man replied sheepishly. "I take it you're back from your trip?"

"Not at all...but I did get your messages. You needed something?"

"Yeah, a favor." Lee hesistated then continued reluctantly, "You wouldn't happen to still have any records from that cryogenics project? Particularly from when Kaz was running it?"

The older man frowned, "Does this have anything to do with those Williams sisters?"

"Just one of them, and I owe her."

"Both of them agreed to that settlement--"

"--I know, I know," the younger man sighed heavily. "It isn't anything legal, and this is something that all the money in the world couldn't fix."

Heihachi gave a frustrated huff; he glanced up as the front doors opened again, this time a middled aged man walked in. The man was wearing a black blazer over his white button-down shirt and blue jeans, and on his head he wore a black cowboy hat over his long grey and white hair, which was pulled back in a ponytail. Like the orderlies, he was escorted by two soldiers. One of the soldiers pointed to Heihachi and nodded at the man in the cowboy hat. Heihachi frowned and turned away to end his conversation.

Lee started again, "Dad, I've never asked for much from you, and--"

"--I know. I won't be back in New Mexico for at least another week, but I can have access granted for you. And you know you're always welcomed to stay at the manor."

"Thank you. I really appreciate this."

Heihachi glanced over at the man, "Chaolan, I have to go. Take care." Quickly, he flipped the lid to his phone closed and tucked the phone in the inside pocket of his blazer. The elderly man then turned his attention back to the man who approached him.

Heihachi nodded and smiled uneasily, "Mr. Daniel Blackwolf?" The man in the cowboy hat nodded once and tipped his hat at the older man. "I'm sorry, I know this was such short notice and all."

Daniel shrugged as he extended his hand, "I don't mind. Though, I'm sure this is a mistake. And I figured you'd like to keep your money." Heihachi shook it firmly then gestured for Daniel and the two soldiers to follow him, and he began to lead his guest through the halls of the institution.

*****

Kazuya felt out of place on the bus, though somewhat relieved that he wasn't the only person that wasn't sure of his destination. He was sitting next to a teenaged girl that seemed eager to strike up conversation with him. As he watched the world speed past his window, he half-listened to her ramble, picking up that the girl was a runaway. Several times, he stopped himself from asking her why she left home and instead he would politely nod as a response then urge her to continue. Despite what little he said, Kazuya rather enjoyed the background noise, the girl's high-pitched whiney voice, the sounds of other conversations buzzing around him, and sound and feel of the bus engine.

Yet he was still afraid of what he would see when he made it to the end of his trip, but at the same time there was hope. Ocassionally, he glanced down at the bus ticket stub that he clutched to and read the print that was already rubbing away from where his thumb and index finger were clamped to it. He looked over at the girl sitting next to him and smiled, nodding as she continued speaking.

It would only be a few more hours, then he would be home.

*****

Steve didn't bother going back to the locker room; instead, he hastily went past all the reporters, declining from interviews politely and smiling shyly for photographs before marching past the press. He stopped only to sign a few autographs from stray fans that had given up any hope of seeing him leave, much to their surprise.

It wasn't long before he was alone and wandering the empty halls of the arena, his gloves tied and slung over his shoulder. His walk slowed to a relaxed pace, and he looked around carefully, hoping to find a courtesy phone or a payphone. As he strolled past a set of restrooms, he hummed the finale to Dvorak's New World Symphony to himself then stopped when he noticed ahead of him one of the men in the black suits; the man had his back to Steve and was speaking on a cell phone.

Quietly, the boxer slipped into the women's restroom. Luckily, there was no one in the room, and Steve stood by the door and listened. It was silent, until he heard footsteps echoing outside the restroom. His heart starting racing as the footsteps trudged past the door, pausing then going into the men's room next door. The blond sighed with relief when he heard the toilet flush then running water, and the footsteps started again; he waited until the sound faded into silence, and the boxer cautiously opened the restroom door and peeked out.

After looking both ways, Steve stepped out of the restroom and began his search again. Without missing a beat, he started humming again, picking up where he had stopped in his song, though now he was careful of how much noise he made.

*****

Heihachi had sincerely hoped that they had been mistaken, however as he watched from afar, he sensed that he unfortunately had the right family. The elderly man leaned in the doorway and watched, his hands in the pockets of his trousers.

For a moment, his thoughts flashed back to the paper folded inside his coat pocket, and the elderly man was troubled. They did never find a contact for the escapee or any clue as to where he had went. Any surveillance tapes had been destroyed before the government had fully finished their seizure of the institution, resulting in many of the former G-Tech employees to be incarcerated.

He chuckled a bit as he recalled what that young soldier had suggested the other day; his son being alive was so far-fetched, though a small part of him wanted that and had so for years. However, for the most part he was relieved that Kazuya was gone. There had been little he was able to do then, and the old man feared what his son would had turned into if he had been left alone any longer. Heihachi then frowned as another thought came him; Kazuya had been thoroughly taken care of, however his problems were far from being over. The Mishima shook his head and looked forward into the room and nodded at Daniel who approached him slowly.

"Well?" the old man asked.

Daniel frowned, "She looks like her, but..." He then glanced over his shoulder at the mute woman; she was staring at the picture that Heihachi had given her. She glanced up at one of the windows then curled her legs onto the bed, making herself more comfortable before going back to the photo of Jin. Her lips curled into a slight smile as she continued to ignore the two older men.

The younger man sighed heavily and shook his head before turning back to Heihachi, "My sister's been dead for over twenty years now. It just can't be her."

"I understand. It was just that your family was one of the few bits of info we were able to find on this young woman--" Heihachi stopped and looked over at the catatonic woman again. "Your sister didn't happen to have any children, did she?"

"Nope, not at all."

"I see..." Heihachi moved to the side as the other man pushed past him hastily out of the patient's room and marched down the hall. The elderly man frowned and watched as Daniel turned a corner, then Heihachi turned his attention back to the young woman. With a frustrated huff, he pulled the door shut; the LED light on the lock turned red, and the lock clicked shut.

The woman never looked up.