DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own any of the characters....
A New Beginning
Chapter 4 - Sorting the Matters Out
Jin was in the underground subway holding the bleeding Hwoarang in his arms. He wasn't about to leave him there. He had slowed the bleeding by using a clothe, but Hwoarang still obviously needed help, and he needed it now. An open wound like this could be life-threatening if left unattended for too long, but they'd already decided that they couldn't go to the hospital, so where could they go for help?
Hwoarang tried not to cough any as he spoke "Look in my back left pocket."
Jin did as he was asked and reached his hand down into the back pocket of Hwoarang's denim jeans. He blushed slightly as he did, but this was no time to worry about anything like that. Jin pulled out a folded piece of paper and there was a motel address along with a telephone number inside.
"Who is this?" Jin asked
"Julia Chang. I have to admit I wasn't really planning on meeting her at all later on, especially like this, but she's not staying too far away and may help."
Oh yeah, Jin remembered her. She was the daughter of Michelle Chang, who had been close friends with his mother during the second tournament. He had talked to Julia before too, but not much. The only one he had ever talked to during either of the tournaments that much at all was Ling Xiaoyu. She had tried to get close to him, but he had never allowed it for some reason. Without thinking this over anymore, he began to rush up the stairs so he and Hwoarang could get the hell out of there before it was too late. Once up the stairs, he headed to hail a taxi cab to the Amethysts Inn Motel.
Hwoarang was pretty weak at this time, but he still didn't like the embarrassment of being held like this, especially in public. Thank god that it was so late that hardly anyone was out. Not to mention, this still was Kazama we're talking about here. He still didn't know why he had done what he just did. He really just didn't know. He didn't feel like thinking on the matter at this time now though. He was in too much pain, but he was trying as hard as he could not to show it.
"Uh, Kazama? I think you can. go a head and put me down for now, I can walk." Hwoarang assured
"No way."
"You heard me, I want you.. to put me down.. now!" Hwoarang attempted to yell, though it didn't come out quite so loud."
"No." Jin simply replied. He then felt Hwoarang start to attempt starting a weak struggle. "Stop it Hwoarang! A cab will be here any second!"
"Exactly!" Hwoarang argued directly before going into a coughing fit.
Jin didn't know what to do. Why did Hwoarang always have to be so damn stubborn? Especially at a time like this. However, Jin still felt Hwoarang try to struggle down, and without really thinking over what he was doing, he moved his right hand down to cup the side of Hwoarang's face to try and catch his attention better and looked calmly into his eyes as he simply spoke "Please, Hwoarang."
What was this? By the way Jin was looking at him, it was almost as if he actually cared or something. But that wasn't possible. No one had ever given a damn about him, other than Baek Doo San, and he was dead. Hwoarang still blamed himself for this.
No less than a second later, a taxi arrived. Jin sure had a fun time opening the door before they finally got in. The man who was driving the cab gave them both a rather odd look, but once he saw Jin wave a hefty amount of yen in the air, he simply said "Where too?" Jin handed him the piece of paper with the address on it after asking if he could make it quick and the man nodded stating that it wouldn't take very long.
Shortly afterwards, Hwoarang realized the position he had been put into. He was on his back, and his head and shoulders were rested on Jin's lap. He began to try and sit up, but he immediately felt Jin press the flat of his palm down on his chest to keep him from doing so.
"You need to lay back, Hwoarang. Sitting up will only speed up the bleeding. My mother taught me that much."
Hwoarang decided not to argue with Jin. It was rather pointless at that, he knew Jin was right. And, the truth was, he didn't mind it all the same. He just didn't want Jin to know that. "Whatever, Kazama.."
Kazama. Why did Hwoarang always have to call him that?
"You know Hwoarang, you can call me Jin." He spoke with a soft smile as he held the clothe down to Hwoarang's wound. Now that Jin took a closer look, it appeared that Hwoarang's collarbone may have suffered some damage too.
"Rivals. don't address each other by their first names."
He had to be kidding
"Oh, then what should I call you then, hm?"
Dammit, Jin was mocking him and he had him there. But Jin had never really addressed his name at all until now, it had always been Hwoarang who addressed Jin as Kazama, and Hwoarang who was always trying to start the fight, and Jin who had always ignored him. Perhaps that was in fact what really pissed Hwoarang off the most?..
"Uhh.." Hwoarang groaned beginning to feel a little dizzy. "I guess Doo San. Though for the moment I don't really give a shit what you call me."
"Ok Hwoarang."
Upon reaching the motel, the driver stepped out to open the door for them and Jin carried Hwoarang in his arms once more as he walked to the motel room that Julia was supposedly staying in.
Julia was fast asleep at this time. She awoke though as she heard the intruding knock upon the door. "Uuhh.." She looked at the clock, nearly 3:30 in the morning. "Now who could that be at his hour?" She turned the lamp on next to the bed and stood up as she stretched to answer the door. Upon reaching it, she looked through the magnifying lens in the door to see who it was. However, the porch light was out so she didn't get a good enough look. Julia checked to make sure she had the chain locked before cautiously cracking open the door. She didn't even have her contacts in, or her glasses on, so she couldn't even see that well either. "Who is it?"
"Julia? It's Jin Kazama. I've got Hwoarang here with me and he needs your help. He's been shot."
Julia squinted a little more. It was Jin! And was that Hwoarang he was carrying? And what did he just say?!! "Oh my god!" Julia exclaimed as she hurriedly unlocked to chain and opened the door. Jin stepped in with Hwoarang, who had grown much paler, shortly afterwards.
"Hurry and lay him on the bed Jin, I'll get out my medics kit." She then handed Jin a fresh handkerchief before putting on her glasses. "Here, and now you need to put more pressure on the wound."
Jin did as he was told as Julia pulled a case out from under her bed. Hwoarang just stared as Julia now pulled out something that kind of looked like pliers of some sort. The truth was, he didn't like what he saw.
"We have to get that shirt off first thing." She carefully tried to pull his gi top off, but the belt was holding it in place.
"It's ok, Julia. I got it." Jin replied as he began to undo Hwoarang's black belt.
Hwoarang thought for a second. Did this make him uncomfortable? No, it really didn't. He then felt Jin lean down to slide his gi top off, while Julia helped to hold him up.
"Hwoarang, I'm going to need you to stay perfectly still. We have to get that bullet out of you." She then turned to Jin. "You hold him down, just in case." She made sure that she whispered this, but of course Hwoarang heard none the less.
She then carefully and slowly began to dig the bullet out that was apparently stuck right underneath Hwoarang's collarbone. He flinched at the pain, but he found himself staring up into Jin's eyes the whole while. Every single time he tried to look away, he just found himself meeting Jin's gaze on him a second later.
"Got it!" Julia stated as she pulled out the bullet. "Now Jin, apply more pressure."
Julia quickly god out some peroxide, gauze, and bandages. She then took a better look at the wound. The bleeding had picked up a bit since she had removed the bullet.
"I'll do my best to fix this up for now, but I still think you may want to consider stitches for this as soon as possible later on."
Jin nodded. "Ok."
Ok, wait a minute. So now Jin was speaking for Hwoarang too? What business did he think it was of his anyways? Thought Hwoarang, however he didn't feel like saying anything at the moment, not to mention the peroxide wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling. "You got any aspirin?" He asked
"Yes." She responded as she finished with the bandages. "Just let me run to the bathroom and get it." When she came back, she had the bottle along with a cup of water.
Hwoarang instantly grabbed the bottle of medicine and took out at least seven aspirin before gulping them down. Julia didn't approve of this.
"Um, I think you weren't supposed to take more than four, Hwoarang. That'll make you pretty drowsy.."
Hwoarang looked up after swallowing them. "Oh well."
Well, now that this had been taken care of, for now at least, Julia was rather curious as to how this had happened in the first place. "So, how did this happen again?" She asked as she went over and sat down on the couch. She knew that Hwoarang had a knack for getting himself into trouble due to his attitude most of the time, but she was still attracted to him all the same. She didn't know how to tell him though. The address was meant to be a hint.
"Does it matter?" Hwoarang groaned. He didn't have much longer before he passed out. He also wasn't really sure if he really wanted anyone else to know about what he had done. He felt for a hint of pride and shame at the same time, and maybe even something else, though he didn't know what at the moment. Jin then went over and sat down next to Julia to attempt an explanation.
"I was on my way down to the subway, and when I got down there, I saw Hwoarang surrounded by the military with their guns raised at him. I, I only wanted to help him. I took half of them out as Hwoarang did too at the same time. But, somehow one managed to get away. He shot at me, but Hwoarang-." Jin stopped here. He couldn't speak anymore of it, and Julia understood. She still didn't quite get it though. She though that they hated each other. She knew Hwoarang sure hated Jin during the third tournament. She also wondered as to why Hwoarang would have the military after him in the first place, but she decided now was not the time to ask.
"I think you guys both need to get some rest." She suggested
Jin was glad he wasn't asked to continue anymore of the incident. "Yeah, I think you're right."
"I'll sleep here on the couch, and you can share the bed with Hwoarang."
Jin's eyes widened a bit. "Um, do you think he would mind though?"
"No, I don't think so. He's out of it anyway."
Jin nodded but went to go take off his jacket and wash his hands. They were covered in blood now. He also realized how he had actually killed a man. He, Jin Kazama, killed a man, after he had sworn to his mother that he would never result to such violence. He didn't want to think about this right now though, he was too tired.
When he opened to bathroom door and turned out the light, it looked like Julia was already close to being fast asleep and Hwoarang definitely was. He walked over to the side of the bed and removed his shoes before sliding into the bed. Of course it would have to be 'full sized'. But the thing was, he really didn't mind if it had been twin. Ah! What was he thinking?! He shouldn't worry about this. Why was he so nervous? As he laid down to go to sleep, he made sure it was on his right side so he could face toward Hwoarang. Come to think of it, had he ever slept in a bed with somebody else? As he drifted off to sleep, he already knew it was going to be a very long, long day.
Meanwhile, Heihachi didn't sleep at all. He hardly ever slept. He felt it was a waste of time, and this was no time to be sleeping. He was determined to get both Jin and Kazuya back in his grasp, and he would do it. He had sent his men out everywhere. Hospitals, travel agencies, and of course, the airports. He would at least make sure they didn't leave the island of Japan.
Thing were getting even more crucial at the Zaibatsu. In fact, Heihachi had already come up with a new plan. Abel had discovered that if Heihachi was to get both Jin and Kazuya, that their devil genes could be extracted and then combined along with Ogres' DNA to form the ultimate being, which would be him. He had also decided on sending some of his men out to make sure none of the fighters from the recent tournament knew anything themselves. The hotels and addresses were being checked at that very moment. He decided that Ling Xiaoyu would be a prime target to keep an eye on. But who else should he check first? He didn't know of anyone Kazuya would contact, or so he thought.. He knew that Paul, Bryan, and Hwoarang were definitely unlikely though, from what he had seen on the cameras thus far. Come to think of it, he hadn't really paid that much attention to the any of the fighter's profiles, other that his son's and grandson's, because theirs were the only ones that had really mattered at the time.
He decided to flip through the character's profiles, which contained information like name, age, nationality, height, weight, fighting style, and blood type. He recognized some them instantly like Paul Phoenix and Nina Williams. He didn't really know too much about Steve Fox, Miharu Hirano, Craig Marduk, or Christie Montiero though. But wait a second, who was this 'Violet' guy? Heihachi remembered he had mad the finals, so that meant he had to be pretty good, but he didn't know who he was at all, or did he? He took a better look at the picture and profile. 35, N/A, 5'10", 142 , various, and A positive. This sounded VERY familiar to Heihachi, and he decided to try and find out more.
He searched the videotape shelves in his office for the finals tape that contained the match that had been between Violet and Jin. When he found it, in put it into the VCR and proceeded to look at the monitor. From how he was dressed, he looked like he was from Hollywood, Ca! As the fight began, he noticed that this looked awfully familiar. Heihachi's attention was then caught by a back-flip kick as well as a series of continuous ones. This guy was also left handed and extremely fast, just not very powerful.
Just then, his brows furrowed in a look of surprise and shock. He quickly picked the profile book off of his desk and took another look at Violet's bio, before glancing back up at the monitors. His eyes narrowed as he grinned slightly.
"Lee Chaolan.. Looks like you've decided to join in on my little game as well."
It looks like Heihachi had another target to add to the list..
A/N: Well, I really hope you all like my story so far! Please tell me what you think, just plz don't flame me.. I'm trying really hard. I'll try to get the next chapters up sooner if I'm encouraged too! ^_^