Part 8 Part 7 - Part 9
Hands trembling, she jogged out into the field, pants flowing in the slight breeze. She smiled at the people she knew in the crowd and then turned, waiting for the Korean gangster to walk out. Right on cue to the announcer's voice, Hwoarang sauntered out and waved to everyone, and even made a cute little face toward a group of girls that was cheering for him. He winked at Kechara as they both entered their fighting stances.
"Ready? FIGHT!"
Hwoarang immediately rushed her with a long chain of kicks. Kechara managed to block each one, expecting that it would start that way, but started to fall near the end of the chain. He was too strong. This match wouldn't last long.
Kechara tried a new tactic and tried to evade his attacks, saving her strength. She was successful, for even though he tracked his opponent, she had sufficient speed to avoid his assaults. He lagged in between to combos and she countered.
She elbowed him in the face then connected with a roundhouse. To her surprise, he fell to the ground. He feinted fury and got up quickly. He threw a Flying Eagle but Kechara had already moved. She launched herself forward, taking advantage of his recovery time to grab his neck and throw him to the grass. He swore loudly and sat there, rubbing his neck before getting up again. Kechara knew better than to chase him. She wanted to stay as defensive as possible and attack only when she was sure it would count. Otherwise, she side-stepped his kicks.
Hwoarang sprang to his feet and stood back, circling and watching. He threw a single kick then looked deep in thought as she nimbly avoided it.
He suddenly jumped forward, reaching with his arms. Kechara jumped back, but it was not far enough. He caught her for a throw and Kechara felt his foot connect with the back of her skull.
She was on the rebound in a second, with a pounding headache. Hwoarang grinned, staring down at her from his 6-foot height to her 5'3". She didn't let her glance waver off his eyes.
A whistle and a hoot erupted from his girl fan crowd and his gaze was broken.
In his moment of distraction, Kechara attacked. She edged around and hit the back of his knee with her heel. He yelled in surprise and dropped down to one knee. Kechara hit him in the nose with her forearm, kneed him in the stomach, and slammed him to the side by shoving off his shoulder with her foot.
Hwoarang lay on the ground in disbelief at what had just happened. Her forearm had been strong enough that a small stream of blood had started its way down his face. He wiped it off, staining the sleeve of his bright white gi. He glanced down at the spot and then slanted his eyes in anger.
Kechara entered her Hawk Stance, which put her in the best position for countering. She circled warily and then faced the Korean as he got to his feet.
They just stood there, watching each other, Kechara breathing heavily and Hwoarang bouncing lightly on his toes. Hwoarang then threw at her two light kicks, both of which she blocked, then attacked with a heavy right heel which made Kechara stagger when she blocked it. He rushed forward and she could not escape. He put her into a tackle and lay heavily on her. He paused for a moment and asked quietly, "So what are you doing tonight, huh?" He put his hand on her chest.
"Fuck you," Kechara growled. Why were all the guys like this? This same thing had happened at the Paul/Allison match.
"Hmm, I could use one of those," he purred and stroked her neck.
Kechara was in a rage. How the hell could he do something like this in the middle of a fight?! Kechara screeched and rolled him over, using all the strength she had. Hwoarang was surprised to find his back upon the ground and was barely aware, when Kechara slapped him twice then put him in a leg stretch hold.
"Bitch!" he gasped as she pulled. She rolled off of him and stood tall, glaring down on his twisted form. The gangster stumbled to his feet, no longer bouncing, all of his weight resting on the leg she hadn't stretched.
Kechara threw her caution to the wind. Yelling a battle cry, she focused on his good leg and gave him a hard kick to the shin. She then comboed him using a triple spinning punch technique.
Hwoarang had lost hais best weapon and was falling fast. The final uppercut of Kechara's combo launched him into the air. Kechara grabbed his foot while he was still airborne and swung him around into a mini version of King's Giant Swing. The gangster hit the ground, eyes closed as unconsciousness settled upon him.
Even before the announcer said a word, Griffin and ling were both standing and cheering and Kechara could see Jin Kazama smiling. He noticed her looking at him and winked, nodding in congratulations.
The announcer finally spoke up and half the crowd cheered. Hwoarang's fan club was absolutely silent, until one of the girls started booing and the rest followed suit. Kechara put them on ignore and enjoyed the glory of her victory, despite the lingering throbbing of her head from Hwoarang's throw.
The paramedics had not arrived yet. Kechara paused in her basking to look at Hwoarang's crumpled body. She decided to be nice and walked over to him. She tried to hoist him up on her shoulders but he was way too heavy.
Jin realized what she was doing and made his way out to her. He took Hwoarang's other limp arm and lifted him up, smiling at Kechara. She thanked him with her eyes and they carried him out of the ring.
They carefully laid him down in a thick patch of grass and waited. Ling and Law came down and chatted with them, congratulating Kechara and setting up a dinner date for the four of them. Kechara teased Jin by pretending to have to think about it, but they arranged that all of them would meet that Friday night. Jin said he could fix something up in the Zaibatsu main building, and they accepted.
"Only the best," he said playfully, and put his arm around Kechara. She giggled and squeezed in close to him.
Griffin Burkhart caught her eye, walking in the near distance. He glanced at her with hurt eyes and turned away.
Shit she thought. of course Griffin didn't want to see her in the arms of someone else. Kechara suddenly felt torn and extremely guilty. She tapped Jin on the shoulder. "I'll be right back," she said quietly. He nodded. She slipped out of his hold and chased after Griffin's retreating form.
"Griffin!" she called, but he kept walking. She ran after him, not stopping until she reached his side.
"Griffin, I'm sorry, I-"
"No, it's okay," he said gruffly. "I get it."
"But-"
"I gotta go."
Kechara respected his wishes not to speak to her and watched him walk away, towards the rooms. She sighed heavily and cursed herself for not being more careful. She slowly turned around and walked back to Jin.
Ling and Law had left, probably to go eat, but Jin had waited for her. She saw the paramedics had finally come and taken Hwoarang. "What do you want to do?" she asked.
"Hungry?"
"A little."
"I'll take you up to my office and maybe we can get something and talk a bit." Jin smiled.
Kechara returned the smile and agreed. They walked to the main building, hand-in-hand, and took the elevator to the sixth floor, where the CEO office took up an entire half floor. Jin recieved some sly looks from the people walking around, most of which he returned with a hi and a smile.
When the elevator dinged on 6 and the doors parted, Kechara's sandals stepped onto a clean green marble floor. She felt guilty for making a mess and took both sandals off since her bare feet were much cleaner. A passing janitor bowed nicely to her.
Giggling, they reached Jin's office. He opened the heavy oak door for her and as she stepped through the doorway, her eyes were again dazzled.
There wasn't just one word to describe it, but huge helps. The ceiling was vaulted and boasted a large mosaic of a dragon and a phoenix. The light from a giant picture window framed a huge wooden desk, graced by many small ornaments and a pair of red fighting gloves. In the center of the room, a long black meeting table stood. Pictures of previous Tournament participants hung on the walls. Kechara noticed that the largest picture was of Jun Kazama, which hung over a beautifully crafted marble fireplace, with two marble griffins (Kechara felt even guiltier) as supports.
Kechara slowly walked over to the fireplace in awe. She felt down the griffins' smooth beaks and traced her finger along an intricate pattern of zigzags and swirls on the front of the mantle. A gleam of gold caught her eye.
Kechara had to stand on her toes to see what the gold could possibly be. It was a delicate locket. Jin, noticing her interest, walked over and handed the locket to Kechara. She carefully fingered the catch and it sprung open. A small picture of jin, when he was young, and his mother filled the space inside. Kechara looked at the picture sadly, remembering her moments with Jin two days before. She turned to face him, but he had wandered to the giant window, looking out with his hands behind his back. Kechara slowly clicked the locket closed, and was about to go over to him, but as she placed the golden charm but on the mantle, her hand brushed something else. She stood on her toes again and surveyed the plane.
Along the entire mantle was scattered photographs, storybooks, pieces of paper, charms, and even clothing. Al of it was in some way related to Jun Kazama.
Kechara sniffed. He missed his mom so much. She walked over to the window. He turned his deep eyes upon her and she wrapped her arms around his neck in a gentle hug. They stayed that way for a couple moments, she whispering comforting words in his ear, and he stroking her hair while listening.
Then suddenly, Jin broke free. "Come on," he said, "what's done is done, and nothing can change it." He sighed and put on his famous sneering expression. "I don't even know why I still have those things. They're useless." He turned his back on the shrine and Kechara and sat in his desk chair, still facing the giant window/
Kechara knew the memoirs of Jun weren't useless, and were instead what probably helped keep Jin going, but said nothing.
Jin spun around in his chair to face her. "Ready to eat?" Kechara nodded, and Jin pressed a small button, then said into a small box, "It's Kazama-san. I'm going to be eating in my office this evening. Send up a menu." He released the button and eyed Kechara. "I hope you like Japanese food because that's pretty much what fills the menu."
Kechara had turned back towards the fireplace and nodded when she was spoken to. Jin didn't notice anything odd, and went about toying with the small objects on his desk.
That was a quick modd change, Kechara thought. It's as if he were possessed-
Right as that thought passed through her mind, Kechara whirled around. There was a faint red light emanating from behind the back of the chair. She took the warning.
She dashed across the office calling, "I'll be right back!," not glancing behnd her, knowing how the Devil could capture her eyes and thoughts. She rushed through the oak doorway and heaved a deep sigh of relief as she shut it behind her.
A young Japanese man bumped into her. "Oh, sumi masen, miss," he said, bowing apollogetically. "I was just going to see Kazama-san." He held up a menu.
She smiled as nicely as she could. "Um, I would advise that you not go in there, sir," she said shakily.
"Miss, is everything alright?" the young man asked, concerned.
She ran her fingers through her bangs. "Please forgive, Kazama-san is not to be bothered at the moment," she warned.
"But he-"
"Godammit, if you value your soul, stay out!" she yelled.
The young man was taken aback, and beat a hasty retreat. Kechara stayed, leaning up against the oak door. She pressed her ear up against it and listened. She heard a muffled whmipering and a small scream. Jin... She noticed a passing tekkenshu. Mind blinded by worry, she grabbed the gun out of the surprised guard's hands, and threw open the door.
A bright purple cloud had descended on Jin, who was writhing uncontrollably on the meeting table. A bright red eye focused on her and Jin stopped squirming. The Devil watched her in the doorway.
Suddenly, overcome with fury, she screeched and charged the table. With no idea of what to do, she jumped onto the table and pointed the gun at the cloud.
A deep chuckle arose from the mist and then it disappeared into thin air.
Kechara finally realized how foolish she had been but immediately focused all of her attention on Jin Kazama.
He lay in a pool of blood, staining his clean white shirt, and did not respond to her touching his forehead where a cluster of black marks was fading. Her hand moved to his chest, where the blood spouted. Ignoring the warm thickness of the liquid, she took his shirt off and wrapped it around that section of his body.
That done, she inhaled deeply and screamed as loud as possible, "HELP!"
The Tekkenshu she had stolen the gun from stood in the doorway. He had watched the entire show. Worried for his boss's life, he pressed a grey button that was net to the door and rapidly spoke Japanese into a small speaker. He rushed to Kechara and Jin and patted her on the back. They sat there on the table, waiting.
A crowd of people, led by the old amn in the suit, rushed in and gasped as they saw the three beings on the table, two covered in thick red blood and the other looking sick even through his mask. "This has happened before," the old man said gravely. "He barely lived."
Kechara watched as four men carried Jin away. A spot of red distracted her and she again looked at the Devil's eye, floating up around the ceiling. Overcome with anger, she dipped her hand in Jin's blood and curled her fist to the Devil. His eye clouded and then vanished.
Kechara ran out of the office.