Shadows of the Zaibatsu

Where was Hwoarang? Baek had several answers to get out of that boy, but he hadn't seen him since the guards took him to the Zaibatsu. Finally he had a call where the redhead had said he'd be back in the evening. Well, now it was nine pm and he still hadn't seen a trace of that young man! A scolding was definitely in order.

And then the phone rang. With an annoyed grumble, Baek pushed to his feet, walking over to pick up the phone. "Yes?" He said in an almost hostile tone.

"Master..." The voice on the other line was distracted, and there was a lot of other sounds in the background. "Master, I'm sorry."

An apology was better than nothing. "Hwoarang," Baek said, straining to be patient, "what's going on?"

"I don't know what else to do. I've tried everything and it's all been for nothing, so what am I supposed to do?" Hwoarang's grumblings almost trailed off. After a moment, his tone cleared up. "What would you do?"

What was that about? Had he figured out his girlfriend was to blame for the drugs? There was no other possible explanation for that bit. Still, a phone call was hardly a good way to clear things up. "Hwoarang. Get home here so we can talk about whatever is on your mind."

There was a sad chuckle in response. "I can't do that. The plane's about to start boarding. I have no other choice, Master. I'm going to kill the bitch."

Kill her? That was drastic, but it was hard to condemn it. Sometimes drastic measures were called for. "As long as you've thought this through." Baek sighed. This could lead to a whole lot of trouble. "Be careful, Hwoarang."

"I haven't thought this through at all, but I don't know what else to do! He was right there and he didn't care." There was a long sigh. "They were both playing with me and I can't let them get away with it... Master, will you be there when I come back? I'm tired..."

"I'm going back to the US tomorrow. If you're not back by then, then no." He paused, wondering how to get the obvious message across. "Think it through before you do anything this drastic."

"Tomorrow? Oh... I guess that means you can't finish scolding me about stalking Jin." Hwoarang laughed lightly and then broke into a yawn. "I'm sorry, Master. I'll speak to you again soon. Goodbye."

~~~~~~

The noise was too loud! Someone was banging on the door, and they weren't stopping. Julia groaned and looked at the clock, What was someone doing at her place at 2 am? If it was trouble, she was more than capable of defending herself, so she sleepily got out of bed and made her way down the stairs. It was much louder down there. On her way, she switched on the living-room light and went over to the door, first peaking through the spyhole.

Hwoarang? What was Hwoarang doing in the country? At least that meant he was far away from Jin! That was enough to bring a smile to her face, but she had to force it back and fake a concerned look as she unlocked and opened the door.

The Korean shoved her out of the way and walked in. There was a pistol in his hand and sweat beaded on his forehead. Julia gawked in shock and looked at the door that led to the kitchen. Her cellphone and her landline were both in there. This was not looking like a good situation at all. "Hwoarang... What are you doing here?"

"Close the door," he grunted. When he wasn't obeyed immediately, he waved the gun at her. "Did you hear me, bitch? Close the fucking door!"

Julia went and did as she was told quickly, but left it unlocked. Maybe a neighbour would have heard his banging and called the police. She could only hope. "This is insanity, Hwoarang. Do you know how much trouble you could be in for invading my home with a weapon like that? They would call this a hostage situation and you'd be -"

"Shut up! I know exactly what crimes I'm committing. Once I'm done with you, keeping a hostage will be the least of the charges."

As strange as the threat was, it was probably wise not to question him. Julia silently watched as the Korean paced back and forth in the living-room. He was obviously troubled by something. Maybe talking it through would buy her some time, but she wasn't about to attempt it as long as he was just pacing. A few minutes passed and his breathing became more shallow and panicked. His eyes were wide and darting all over the room.

Hwoarang stopped suddenly and pointed the gun accusingly at her. "I had a good thing going. I was making progress with him, Chang. I went from staking out the Zaibatsu just to see his face to getting in his fucking pants! No fucking duh, it wasn't perfect! I know I had more work to do to make him really want me, but you ruined it! You just waltzed in there like Queen of Shit-all, and stole from him what I've been trying so hard to get! You took him from me and then you told him to throw me away!"

"What are you planning on doing, Hwoarang? Please, put the gun down. We can talk about this..." Why wasn't she hearing sirens yet? Well, maybe the police were going to sneak up on them. Whatever they had to do, just get that nutcase out of her home.

"I have nothing left to lose. You see, I had a choice. Either I could go on living a normal life and let you have him, or I could commit a crime and wind up in prison for a couple life sentences, You know what? Living normally knowing you have Jin all to yourself would be unbearable, but in prison knowing you're dead... Now that I could live with!"

Julia cringed. He was going to shoot her? She watched, waiting for a weakness so she could strike, but every move she made, he kept his eyes and that gun trained on her. She had to think of something. "I'm sorry, Hwoarang. I didn't mean to take him from you. I really didn't want to see you get hurt... I have seen that side of him too, and I know how addicting the feel of his body can be, so maybe I can help you... You don't want to do this. Baek would be so disappointed in you."

"You fucking bitch! You slept with..." Hwoarang shuddered and sneered with a look of pure repulsion. "You tainted my Kazama with your filthy... You are so fucking dead!" The hammer clicked into place and he aimed the gun at her.

Just as the trigger was being squeezed, Julia threw herself out of the way and screamed as a hole was blown in the wall behind her. The following laughter almost sounding like it was verging on crying for a moment and then another loud bang exploded in her ear as another bullet hit the floor beside her head.

"Hey." A sharp, sinister voice came from behind Hwoarang, and none other than Kazuya Mishima stepped out from the shadows. What on Earth was he doing there? As he moved closer, Hwoarang turned to look.

Hwoarang blinked back what could have been tears and then wiped his eyes with the back of his arm as the hand holding the gun dropped to the side. Julia slowly got to her feet and backed up toward the kitchen door. If Kazuya wanted to interfere, fine, but she was still going to call the police! No one shot at her and got away with it.

As she was about to go through the door, she stopped and watched in shock as the Korean moved closer to the older Japanese and collapsed against him, muttering something in another language.

Julia noticed a gun in Kazuya's hand too, but rather than pointing it anywhere, the Mishima simply let his free hand wander to Hwoarang's, calmly taking the Korean's gun away. Then he turned his head to her. "Get back in here." He said, his voice having a subtle, uneasy shiver.

She thought about going into the kitchen anyway, but who knew how many guys were waiting outside? With a sigh she moved back into the living-room and sat down on the couch. "What's going on, Mishima? Why are you here?"

Kazuya diverted his eyes for a moment, but then focused a glare on her. "You're in no position to ask questions." He said firmly, then wrapped an arm hesitantly around Hwoarang, obviously not quite comfortable about it. "This never happened, Miss Chang." He added darkly.

"He breaks into my home and shoots at me, and you expect me to ignore it?! What about the damages? He should at least have to pay for that! You can't come in here and try to intimidate me like this, Mishima. I need to know that he's going to suffer consequences for this insanity." She scowled and crossed her arms, returning the glare. It was frightening to face that scary man like that, but she didn't want to just back down.

Momentarily, the Japanese face twisted in a distasteful grimace. "I'm sure you earned it." He said angrily. His attention was focused on Julia despite Hwoarang cringing and muttering something, but the redhead still seemed to make him uneasy. "It will have consequences. Now be a good little girl and forget all about this."

"You condescending creep..." She rolled her eyes and looked at the hole in her wall. The sooner those guys got out of her home, the better. "Fine, but I'm sending the repair bill to Baek Doo San. I shouldn't be the only one suffering for his child's jealous rage. If he does it again, I'm going to get the police involved."

"Sure. Good night, Miss Chang." Kazuya attempted to shift, only to have Hwoarang tighten his grip considerably. With a strained swallow, he forced himself to relax, speaking slowly into the Korean's ear. "Let's go, Hwoarang."

The Korean focused on Julia, but it was more like he was looking right through her. It took a moment, but he seemed to loosen his grip a little - not much - and started slowly toward the door. His mumbled voice came out in a language she could understand a little better. "Can I sleep in the car? I think I have jet lag..."

"Yes, you can sleep in the car." The Mishima sighed, putting the guns away under his jacket as he followed Hwoarang out.

~~~~

This is a collab, written together with Chlover. You can find her author profile here: http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/authors.php?no=26260