Author's Notes: Hey everyone... this is my next story. It’s JinxHwoarang and MiharuxXiaoyu, a fic I have been planning on doing for quite some time. It seems now my life has taken an interesting turn, and I felt the urge to write this. I suppose you could say I am relating some of the events in this story to my own life (The M/X especially) because I am going through a tough time with my own best-friend to girlfriend and then lost again... And the writing always seems to help me. I was always one who wrote to please others, or I only cared what others thought about my writing, and not me. Maybe I’ve finally gotten to the point where I am writing for myself in a way...
I wanted to get this fic up (The first chapter, at least) for I knew if I didn’t do it, then somebody else eventually would. For now, I am still concentrating the most on finishing ‘The Past is the Past’, since it is the one I have the most completed to, but I have still been working on others.
This is also probably a Romance/Drama/Humour/Angst all in one...lol... Too bad ff.net doesn’t allow you to pick more than two categories, so I’ll tell you here.
Anyway, hope you enjoy this! You can also bet the rating to this will go up later on, as well.
Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own any of the characters. ::curses::
From Here to There and Back Again
Chapter 1 - Acquaintances in the Making
“You’re thinking about him again, aren’t you?” Miharu teased as she sat in the spinning chair to Xiaoyu’s hardwood nightstand.
“Oh, huh?” Xiaoyu replied from her tranquil spot on the tinted pink comforter of her bed.
Miharu sighed, spinning slightly in her chair once more as she did so. “Did you even hear me, Xiao? I know that look. You’re thinking about Jin again.”
Ling straightened up on the full-sized bed, giving a sarcastic smirk. “So?”
They then both started to giggle slightly at this. “Oh, and so you’re going to tell me you haven’t been thinking about Hwoarang at all?” Xiaoyu derisively asked.
“Hmm, maybe a little.”
“Sure, uh huh,” Ling sighed.
During the fourth tournament, Ling Xiaoyu and Jin Kazama had seemingly fallen for each other, maybe even the same with Miharu Hirano and Hwoarang. Now, nearly two months after the tournament’s end, Jin and Hwoarang were finally going to meet up with the two girls once again. Only neither Jin, nor Hwoarang, knew they would be meeting up with each other, too...
“Xiao, are you sure it’s a good idea to even bring Hwoarang and Jin within range of each other?” Miharu inquired, “I mean, it wasn’t exactly too hard to see they didn’t get along very well during the tournament...”
“True,” Xiaoyu nodded, “But I already asked Jin about Hwoarang before, and he said he could just care less about the guy. Jin doesn’t hate Hwoarang; he said Hwoarang hates him because of the fact that Hwoarang’s a jealous loser.”
“That’s not— well, maybe it is a little true,” Miharu contemplated, “But you can’t blame someone who doesn’t like to lose. I know I don’t.”
“You and me both,” Xiaoyu assured, “Jin is just... such a dream,” she sighed in a casual way, “So strong, loving, generous, and handsome.”
“He’s not that big a deal,” Miharu whispered in a barely evident tone.
“What was that?” Ling quickly asked.
The other girl shook her head. “Oh nothing. I just know tomorrow will be a looooong day.”
“Yet a fun one,” Xiaoyu giggled, but then noted Miharu looked like something was troubling her. “Oh, come on Miharu. I know you’re still worried about the whole college thing. Look on the bright side; we’re finally out of school, and now we’ve got some free time to actually have some fun. And, we can’t forget the hot guys,” she winked.
“No— you’re right, we can’t,” Miharu replied nonchalantly.
“We’re going to have the greatest time ever while you’re staying here this week,” Ling brightly smiled.
“And I’m really glad it turned out that way,” Hirano sighed, “I don’t think my parents can stand me anyhow...”
“Don’t say that. You know that’s not true,” Xiaoyu insisted.
“I think you know it is,” Miharu sighed once more, “They keep saying they’re not ashamed of me, but more ‘disappointed’, well, to me it’s the same thing. My mom thinks I’m an immature, stupid goof-off who only wants to party, and my dad is always complaining about my grades and how I’m a troublemaker who ‘needs to stop living life in the fast lane’.”
“But still, that doesn’t mean they don’t love you.”
“Love and respect are two different things, Xiao,” Miharu shrugged, “I’m eighteen years old, yet my parents still see me as a little kid in whose the word ‘mature’ is missing from her vocabulary.”
“My parents used to treat me that way,” Xiaoyu replied, “But they seem like they’ve accepted me as more of an adult now.”
“But you have changed,” Miharu spoke, “I mean, since the fourth tournament’s end. Or should I say ‘have become more mature’, as the elders like to put it.”
“Everyone has been telling me that the past few weeks now. But what I do know is that tournament was quite some experience,” Ling guaranteed.
Miharu nodded. “You’re definitely right there.”
Xiaoyu looked down temporarily in reminiscence. “It’s just... so sad. The whole tournament and all the people in it. Everyone just had such a depressing life. Everyone I talked to; Christie, Lei, King, Steve, Hwoarang, Jin... and even everyone else, too.”
“And let’s not forget the whole thing with Jin’s supposedly-dead father, Kazuya. That’s pretty damn creepy.”
“Yes, Jin’s had a hard life,” Ling replied, “But you can’t help but admire him for it,” she gloated.
Miharu then sighed once more, wondering if she should go for a ‘sigh record’.
“And of course Hwoarang has too,” Xiaoyu abruptly followed up, “I’m still pretty curious as to how he ever got out of the AWOL situation.”
“Well, guess they haven’t caught him yet,” Miharu giggled slightly.
Xiaoyu then giggled too, but then glanced at the clock, knowing they needed to get to bed if they were to be fully prepared for the guys the following day. “It—”
“It’s time to go to bed, I know, I know,” Miharu assured, “But I agree; we must be ready for Hwoarang and Jin’s arrival. And of course, what they are going to say when they see each other...”
“I bet it will all go well,” Xiaoyu smiled, though actually worrying a great deal on the issue, as she had been all week. Just as long as they don’t kill each other...
The following morning, Jin Kazama now found himself looking at a map as he sat in the seat of his brand new blue Cavalier. It had been a present, well, a ‘bet-loss’ from his uncle, Lee Chaolan. During the tournament, Jin and Chaolan had made a bet on rather Kazuya would kick Jin’s ass or not, and Jin won, for the final match had ended in a draw. Heihachi had thankfully gone down in the process; Kazuya and Lee taking control of the Mishima Zaibatsu once more while the still-wealthy elder Heihachi had supposedly flown off to some fancy resort in shame, but Jin had the feeling he wasn’t gone for good...
“Stupid map,” Jin sighed as he looked back and fourth between the unfolded piece of paper, and the street before him, “Let’s see... left here, then... dangit! That was a right!”
Jin then heard the loud honking of a car, as he abruptly looked back up through the transparent windshield, quickly grasping the steering wheel in one rapid motion and swerving to the left.
“Okay... I guess I was a little too far over in the other lane.” Jin Kazama honestly wasn’t the best of drivers, though. Back in Brisbane, he hadn’t owned a car, much less driven one. He hadn’t talked to anyone, and those he had talked to never even learned his real name...
After a few more minutes, Jin finally came upon the familiar neighbourhood he had once lived in. He even passed Mishima High, which he didn’t want to remember... All of the students had been scared of him, while all the teachers were constantly at his throat. Jin couldn’t deny that he had become known for having quite some temper in class a few times. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was seen as a ‘Mishima’ in the staff’s eyes, he could have gotten into some serious trouble at that.
And then he came to Ling Xiaoyu; one of the few students there who had actually been nice to him. Jin hadn’t shown her much attention at first, but it seemed she wasn’t one to give up. Even in chemistry, he could still remember how he hated having to ‘pair up’, for the fact that everyone was too scared to partner with him. Xiaoyu was different. She had asked Jin to be her lab partner those several years ago, and while he didn’t show it, it had meant something to him. He knew Ling evidently had a crush on him, and that this would most likely be the week when things could finally take a step in a relationship’s direction. Was Jin ready for this though? He swore he was...
Yes... the tournament had really been something alright. Kazama Jin had run into a few faces he knew he didn’t want to see again. Like Craig Marduk, for one. Being the respectful person Jin was, he wasn’t joyful to learn of how Craig had won a free trip to the hospital’s emergency clinic during the tournament, but he wasn’t exactly too sorry for the guy, either.
And of course, there was no way Jin could ever forget that arrogant Korean Hwoarang... Jin felt he had some serious issues to work out. It was true, Jin didn’t hate him; he just felt a sense of distasteful apathy towards the guy. He didn’t have a problem with Hwoarang, so why the hell did Hwoarang have such a deal with him? The Karate fighter didn’t even have to question this, though. He could still remember that first match they had ever fought in the streets, and how it had ended in a draw. Jin put this behind him, yet for some reason, Hwoarang hadn’t. What was the big deal about that one stupid match? Hwoarang had lost to others in the third and fourth tournaments, and Jin didn’t see Hwoarang plotting lifelong revenge against them, so why should Jin be any different?
“Oh well...” Jin sighed, “It’s not like I’ll be seeing Hwoarang again anytime soon.”
“Watch where you’re going, slow-ass!” Hwoarang yelled as he sped around the blue Cavalier on his Harley. “Damn, people who actually drive the speed limit piss the hell outta me. I wonder who could have been driving that slow?”
Hwoarang just shrugged it off, though. He was actually looking forward to the week ahead of him with Miharu and Xiaoyu, especially Miharu. Hwoarang couldn’t lie that he had been quite some flirt with the girls at the tournament. Miharu, Xiaoyu, Christie, Nina, Julia. Yep, he had flirted with pretty much everyone, just for the soul purpose of it, and of course to piss off some of the guys like Paul, Lei, and Steve, whom he all hated. Oh, and he couldn’t forget Jin Kazama. Hwoarang had tried to hit on Ling as much as he possibly could in Jin’s presence, though it really meant nothing. Xiaoyu and he honestly didn’t see eye-to-eye that well, and they basically didn’t do much else besides annoy each other to get right down to it.
Miharu Hirano, on the other hand, was a different story. Hwoarang and she seemed to have quite a good deal in common. Hwoarang was a definite party-animal, and he could tell Miharu was too. None of the other women at the tournament had seemed this way period. Either that or they were just apparently too caught up in their own life affairs to think about anything else. During the ceremonies, he and Miharu had hung out quite a bit and done some dancing, even to Heihachi’s horrible choice in music. Maybe something was possible between them?
Hwoarang continued to think this over as he sustained speeding down the highway towards Xiaoyu’s residence. He already knew where it was, even though he hadn’t been there before. Hwoarang had never left Japan for Korea following the tournament’s end, but he knew those fuckers from the Korean Army were still after him. They wouldn’t catch him, though. Oh no, Hwoarang wasn’t about to let this happen. He had actually learned of how the soldiers who had come to Japan to arrest him had most likely left after hearing a rumour of how Hwoarang ‘had’ gotten off the island of Japan. Just not through the airport, where they had been waiting for him. The Tae Kwon Do fighter still wished he could have seen the expressions on their faces when he didn’t show. Hwoarang had been a lot smarter than they had figured. This was why Hwoarang knew the streets so well, after being in the area for over a month. He loved to ride on his Harley, and he was great with remembering the streets.
He still knew he couldn’t avoid going back to Korea much longer if things didn’t take a turn for the better pretty soon. Hwoarang had just lost his temporary apartment after failing to pay the rent on time, and if it wasn’t for Xiaoyu and Miharu’s invite to stay the week with Ling’s family, he would be in pretty deep trouble at the moment. What Hwoarang still couldn’t pin though, was how the hell would an eighteen year old girl’s family allow a twenty-one year old guy such as himself to stay the week with the two girls? It’s not like any other guys would be around, so he figured Xiaoyu must have one damn credulous family, not that he had any problem with it.
“Finally,” Hwoarang sighed upon seeing Xiaoyu’s large house coming into view at the end of the street. Wang Jinrey had apparently left them a pretty good place at that. This place even had its own personal dojo along with it.
When Hwoarang came to a screeching halt in front of the large house, it wasn’t too long before he was greeted by none other than Miharu Hirano and Xiaoyu Ling.
“Hey Hwoarang!” Miharu happily smiled.
“Hey Miharu, glad to see ya again,” Hwoarang replied, before hearing the slight growl from Ling, “Oh, and of course you too, Xiaoyu,” he assured, wondering if this was actually true.
“We’re all going to have a great week,” Xiaoyu excitedly stated, “The four of us will have a lot of fun!”
Hwoarang arched a brow. “Four?”
The redhead then heard the sound of a door shutting from behind, as he abruptly turned around...
“Kazama??!! What the fuck?!”
<<*>><<*>><<*>>
A/N: Well, hope this doesn’t suck. (I always end up saying that...) And now I must go work some more on other fics. I’m still worried about what is to come today... very worried, so there’s no way I’m going to sleep anytime soon... Well, thanks for reading, and hope you review.