Shadows of the Zaibatsu

Martial arts tournament finale. What a great excuse to spend more time at the Zaibatsu, and watch that hunk fight! Julia loved it there, even if that damn redhead had secured a place somehow. What happened to the charges? She was sure he was arrested for the drugs she dumped, but apparently that didn't stick, and he wound back there to seduce the head of the Zaibatsu. Oh well, it would just take a little more fighting to get her way and have Jin all to herself. This was not a competition she was going to lose. That punk was not going to get away with touching her man!

After the fight had ended, though, she spotted the man of her dreams heading in Hwoarang's direction. If those two thought she would allow them to be alone together, they had another thing coming! She hurried over, intercepting them before they could so much as greet each other. "You were wonderful, Kazama-sama!" She looked between them as her mind began to form the beginnings of a plan. "I'd like to have a little talk, if you don't mind."

Jin gazed down at his arm, adjusting one of his over-sized fighting gloves. Maybe it had moved to an uncomfortable position? He gazed at Julia and Hwoarang, then blinked slowly. "Okay."

The Korean was watching her a little too carefully. What right did he have to be suspicious? Julia fought back the urge to slap him and simply moved closer to Jin. "I know it's not my place to comment on your personal life, but this is too cruel. I'm sure it was fun at the start, but it's really not fair to Hwoarang to keep up this game."

"Hey," Hwoarang's brow furrowed with confusion and resentment. "What the fuck are you yapping about?"

With a touch of surprise in his expression, the raven-haired man wiped a bit of sweat off his forehead. "What is cruel...?"

"Playing with him like this is cruel. The poor thing is so serious, he's only going to end up getting himself hurt in the end. I think you should break it off before it gets any worse." Julia could practically feel the Korean eyes glaring at her, but it didn't last long. When she looked at the pathetic redhead, his glare was directed at Jin. Yes, it was working!

Jin crossed his arms, quirking a brow at Julia. "What is it that you have heard...?"

She shrugged and watched as Hwoarang shifted uncomfortably. He was already pulling back a little, but he seemed to be uncertain about something. Well, that was fine. She'd keep talking until his ears bled if she had to. "I've heard about the silly game of cat and stalker mouse you two have had going, and that you humoured his delusions last night. This is just my opinion, of course. It would be better for both of you to stop this."

"Have a nice trip, Julia." Jin said with a sigh, then turned around, heading for the building.

Maybe he'd end up thinking about it. Julia frowned after him and once he was out of sight, she flashed an apologetic smile at the Korean. "I'm so sorry about that, Hwoarang. I really don't want to see you get hurt."

"Women make too much noise," Hwoarang concluded. His focus, though, seemed to be somewhere in the distance. With an wounded and dejected expression, he turned around and started wandering aimlessly away.

~~~~~

"Paul!"

Paul Phoenix stopped halfway across the park. There was a brochure in his hand and he was exiting a shrine area. Maybe doing the tourist thing? His eyes landed on Jun immediately and he flashed an amused smirk. "I knew you would come for me eventually, babe. If I had known it would be today, I'd have booked a better hotel room!"

"Should you be talking like that when you're in a relationship?" As cute as that shameless flirting was, Jun wasn't in the mood to joke around. "What happened, Paul? Did you leave those drugs in Baek's apartment for the police to find?"

The question wasn't taken well. The American growled and started stomping away. A group of frightened children scurried out of his way and Jun reluctantly followed behind. He stopped when he noticed her following and spun around to face her. "Is that what that selfish brat told you?! If he thinks he can blame that shit on me, he can think again. I'm not taking the fall for something I didn't do! He brought everything upon himself by stalking that son of yours!"

Well good, now they were getting somewhere. Having Hwoarang arrested like that had been a close call. How were the right two supposed to get together if one was in jail? Thankfully her son fixed that problem himself before she had to intervene, but now she wanted to know exactly how that incident happened so she could prevent it from happening again.

Jun put a reassuring hand on Paul's arm. "I'm not sure what you're speaking of. Does what happened with the drugs have something to do with Jin?"

"Have you even met Hwoarang? Everything that happens to him has something to do with Jin. That new-ager bitch, Chang. She came over to drop something off, and when she thought I wasn't looking, she stuffed something under the couch cushion." Paul pulled a cigarette and a lighter out of his pocket and lit up. His gaze began to drift away as if he were losing interest in what was happening.

So it was Julia who was responsible for what happened? Jun covered her own mouth to stifle a gasp of realisation. She had thought Julia and Jin were friends, but had no idea that young woman was that attracted to her son. Regardless of the feelings between them, it was wrong of Julia to lie to her like that! Such deceit at that crucial time was unforgivable; especially when it was life and death hanging in the balance for Jin and Kazuya. Someone who would so selfishly sabotage efforts for peace was not the type of person Jun wanted for her son.

"I'm sorry, Paul, I have to go. You've helped much more than you realise! I will make it up to you someday!" Jun smiled and broke into a jog in the other direction. There was much to do!


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