Yours Till Dawn

It pained Jun to see what Jin was going through. Really, it did. But she had always done what she had to, and no sacrifice had ever been too big. Destiny first.

When she first discovered Jin and Hwoarang having at least some feelings for each other, it had surprised her. At the time, she assumed they would drift apart again with a two year break, but since it was still there when they met again, she figured it was worth a shot. Jin couldn't be allowed to join up with Ling Xiaoyu. They couldn't have a quarter-angel, quarter-devil child which could easily be taken away from them by the evil that was so near. Jun had cried herself to sleep the night she had made the decision, but there was no other option. She had to make sure her son ended up with that redhead.

Despite Hwoarang being the only option, he was actually a good fit. There were mostly three things that made him suitable for the task. Of all the young men in the world, it was fortunate that this one was greatly capable in martial arts, had military special forces training and great dedication to whoever got under his skin - at least judging by his respectful attitude towards Baek, and to a surprisingly similar extent, her son. She felt a bit sorry for him too; that aggression and insecurity coupled with great faith in his ability were usually certain signs of a bad childhood. Perhaps the man didn't even have parents...

Her plan's first obstacle had been Jin's seemingly limitless willpower and self-confidence. Sure, she had spent 15 years of her life cultivating it; there was no surprise involved. But if this was ever going to work, she needed emotions to surface. A cold, unfeeling exterior would never appeal to anyone.

Jun had tried the nice ways first. The easy options, the gentle options, the acceptable options. But they were no use. Jin was Jin, which meant he was half Kazama and half Mishima. She recognized a lot of herself in that man, but also a lot of his father, Kazuya. It was hopeless to get there by herself when nothing could faze him.

So she had started stressing the good nature, appealing to the upbringing she herself had instilled in Jin. Slowly but surely, Jin's hatred for Heihachi had become a hatred for the entire Mishima bloodline, and he gradually built up a denial of what he himself was. Watching it was heartbreaking for a loving mother, but as always, she carried through with what was necessary.

As the fourth tournament came to an end, she had to meddle to prevent Jin from finishing the task he had set for himself. Killing his father, his grandfather and himself... Jun shuddered at the thought. If only anyone knew what that would leave the world with, completely unchecked... but she could sense not even Heihachi knew. Not Kazuya either. And she didn't plan on telling Jin before the time was right, if that time would ever come.

After that tournament - the fourth, when Jin abandoned his goal - he had turned to meditation. A lot of time had gone into honing his morals, despite how fragile they were with the fires burning inside him. His hatred soon extended to the results of evil; to war, suffering and destruction. The denial had reached such a degree that the young Japanese was sleepless every night, terrible nightmares ravaging his mind as his ego suppressed half of what made him him. Jun had watched over him every night with a lump in her throat, seeing the earlier cold surface shatter with involuntary emotions. Indeed a terrible failure for her only son, and to a great extent her fault, but it was unavoidable. At least it would let Jin do his part to make the world a better place... eventually.

She wondered how long Jin would need to forgive her if he found out. Having taken every opportunity to tell him how love would defeat the devil, when that wasn't why Jin needed the love, she knew he could very well interpret that as deceit. And she knew her son hated deceit. Still, she had done it with only the best intentions in mind. Nothing of this was for personal gain; she would never deceive anyone unless it was right. Only one thing made her actions right and bearable; that in the long run, it was all for the good of Jin, Hwoarang and the world.

With the first step accomplished, the second step was to bring her son and Hwoarang together. The timing seemed right when the redhead returned with Baek. He seemed a lot more mature and less insecure than earlier. So she had set the plan into motion, and after nudging them together every chance she got, they had finally eaten dinner together. But then... why did the Korean suddenly turn all insecure and childish again? Apparently, Jin meant a whole lot more to Hwoarang than the young man himself was willing to admit. So much, in fact, that Jun was almost certain the Korean would be miserable if he actually defeated Jin - that admiration shattering could very well break the fragile heart under that aggressive surface.

When the training hall scene took place, Jun had feared it was all over, but she had to try one last approach; meddling in Hwoarang's mind. It was amazing how easily that solved things. Now, later the same day, they were already lovers. And Jin hadn't talked about Xiaoyu for a year. This was going in the right direction.

Now to keep them from breaking apart again...

~~~~~~~~~

It was amazing how easily relaxation came after that. Jin greatly appreciated the lack of internal meddling, even if he was not quite sure what caused the radio silence. Maybe it was just waiting for something to dig into him over. Well, he'd deal with that cruel spirit later. Right now all he wanted was to sleep - he hadn't had a good night's worth for a month, and his mind was suffering for it - but there was no way he'd sleep away much of this day. Hwoarang's promise, whether exaggerated or genuine, was certainly worth more hours in a clouded state of mind. Besides, there was no guarantee the nightmares wouldn't resume the very second he closed his eyes...

Jin let out a soft sigh, smiling vaguely down at Hwoarang. Taking one of his companion's arms in his hands, stroking and caressing it, he pulled slowly out of the body he loved. "Ready for next round, fighter?"

"I am." The Korean sounded curious, but not quite comfortable. Maybe it was the mess on their torsos? The raven-haired man didn't know, and figured guessing wouldn't be worth the effort.

Pushing to his feet, the Japanese pulled Hwoarang up by the arm he held in his hands. He reached into a cupboard, pulling out a generous amount of tissue paper. Handing half of it to the Korean, he started to wipe the other's torso with the rest. The raven-haired man smiled as the other opted for starting with cleaning his erection before moving on to his stomach. Despite his manhood softening, that felt good, and the reverence it was treated with was heartwarming.

When they were as clean as they could get through this method, Jin placed a soft kiss on his companion's cheek. After a nod over towards the bathroom door, the Korean followed him, and they flushed the paper down the toilet. With a smirk, Jin tugged the redhead towards the kitchen, and Hwoarang moaned at him. "It's the bowls now, right?"

Jin laughed heartily. Maybe it was childish, but he still felt rather inspired for suggesting the dishwashing. What better turn on in a situation like that? He brought an arm around behind the redhead's back, stroking it lightly. "No, not exactly what I had in mind..."

"So it's the fucking plates, then." Hwoarang concluded, chuckling.

Jin proceeded to tap water into a kettle, leaving it on the stove. What they just did had left him thirsty, and dealing with that seemed a good way of passing the time until they could do it again. All the better when he could sit watching his lover while doing it...

Rinsing off two of the cups Hwoarang had cleaned under running water, the Japanese felt Hwoarang's warm torso against his back, and a light wet flicker against his ear gave away the location of the Korean's tongue. The attention sent a chill down his spine; the only times he had another body that close for the last years had been during fighting. It had used to mean inflicting pain; now it probably meant they were still good to go, and that he could soon claim it as his yet again.

"I could help you with that, y'know..."

Jin turned around, sporting a broad smile with a touch of surprise. He hadn't thought help would be offered, and was more comfortable not receiving any. Didn't think saying so directly would do wonders for the mood, though. "You don't have to", he added amicably, then took Hwoarang's head in his hands, licking the lips to be invited in. Their arms stroked each other's back slowly, and after a quick, soft kiss they stood there smiling at each other, as if entranced.

Perhaps that was exactly what they were.

The spell was broken when the water started boiling. Pouring hot water into the cups, Jin added his personal tea mixture and stirred idly, all the time using his other arm to run back and forth over Hwoarang's back and left arm. Finally letting go, he brought both cups to the kitchen table and had a seat. Just as they had sat down, Hwoarang adressed him.

"Jin, you got any honey...?"

Jin raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Sure, no problem."

Didn't think the Korean would need to sweet things up with all that beer drinking, but tea apparently wasn't the redhead's favourite drink. Retrieving his honey jar from the cupboard, the raven-haired man added a spoon from his drawer and left it by Hwoarang on the table. Sitting down and having a sip of his own tea, he watched Hwoarang's arms at work sweetening the tea. After the redhead had tested his beverage, he grimaced.

"How about... sugar?"

"Okay." It was hard not to laugh. Perhaps next time he wanted to give Hwoarang a treat, he should go for candy? Managing to keep a straight face, he pushed to his feet and retrieved the sugar from the same cupboard, adding another spoon on the way. "Anything else?" He asked with a smirk, still standing next to the redhead and letting his dreamy gaze wander over the neck. His tongue hadn't had nearly enough of that surface yet, he concluded.

"Hey, I can't ask you before you're seated and comfy, now can I?"

With that, Hwoarang started laughing, and Jin joined him. It was great to see the guy confident; the Japanese had more than enough of what came out of that mouth when he wasn't, so hoping to preserve the state of mind, he responded jokingly. "That's the last fucking thing you're getting for your tea, you know!"

Hwoarang's eyes almost rolled out of his head, then seeing Jin's cocky smile, he returned the broadest smile he could muster. "Jin, you swore! You said fucking!"

Jin laughed back at him. Since when was that anything special? He wasn't sure he even knew anyone except his mother who didn't. If that was how he was coming across to the Korean, perhaps it was about time the guy heard it... "Well, isn't that what we're doing, anyway?" He added with an innocent smile.

"We, certainly. I doubt the sugar and the honey are enjoying themselves..."

Jin gave a glance from the food on the table and back at the cupboard. Then, he spoke with a knowing nod. "You never know."

A moment of silence ensued, before they both erupted into laughter.

They relaxed over their teacups for a while, smiling in silence. When he had finished his, Jin got to his feet and poured himself another. Noticing Hwoarang wouldn't be wanting more anytime soon, he attempted to figure out how best to start his explanation of what he wanted them to do.

~~~~~~~~~

Alright, that's chapter 12! Thanks a lot to Chlover for betaing :)

La Petite: Very nice review :) I don't know if you're still following it, but I will try to pick up speed again now. Time will tell whether I succeed.

Kaoru: We've gotten to the first action bit. The happy-end... it might take a while before they get that far, whether it's happy or not... the tournament hasn't even started yet!

Rowan: Well, good to hear it's a bit different after all - this fic is greatly fanfic-leaning, especially in the early parts. I was new to things and conformed more than I wanted to. If you want to read a fic where the characters are closer to how they are in Namco's material, you can check out Twisted Affair. That's a collab between me and Chlover.

Racoona: More yaoi coming... real soon... but I dunno if you're still around of course.

alaze: Not gay? Well, if you look at official material from Namco, I guess you'd say that Jin is bi, since he's both a gay seme plus has interest in Xiaoyu. I don't think Hwoarang has any official "romantic interest" beyond wanting to be Jin's uke - if there's something else from Namco, feel free to drop me an email :)

jayree05: Glad you enjoyed it! I hope to post updates more frequently (at least every month) from now on, but it depends on inspiration and also other projects.

Dark Toy: For your sake, I hope your reference to your humour is Hwoarang's when he's comfortable, not when he's insecure and just looking for a way out by hurting someone else :)

Dr. Neverland: Hey, thanks :) Yeah, they really enjoy each other in this fic, that much is certain...