Author's Notes: Ok, I’m trying to add a bit more to the story then just Hwoarang cheating on Julia. Tell me what you think.
**Disclaimer**: Kazuya, Hwoarang, and Julia are not mine. Tom, however, is. But of you want to take Tom off my hands, I don’t mind.
Stuck In My Ways
Chapter 6 - Stay Mine
A click sounded off, startling the young Korean to an unpleasant wake. The cell door slid open and another pig walked in. Only this pig wasn’t fat or bald, but he sure was ugly. What was going on? Was it time for the public hanging already?
Hwoarang didn’t make any move. It was too risky. Maybe the cop was some perverted asshole and was looking for a little fun. Or he just wanted to kick the Korean’s ass. Whatever it was, Hwoarang would rather go back to sleep. Sleep was good. He never did anything wrong when he was sleeping. Never made any mistakes. Never made anyone angry.
“Someone bailed you out,” The pig said in a rather friendly voice.
The Korean quirked a brow at the authority figure. “Who?” He asked, relaxing a little bit. At least this man’s intentions weren’t bad.
The pig shrugged, “Some guy. He bailed you out over the phone, and somebody else handled it so I don’t know a name… Do you need a ride?”
“Thanks man, but,” Hwoarang replied politely, deciding to be honest, since it was the first Nebraskan who had been nice to him, “walking will give me more time to figure out what to say to my girlfriend.”
“Alright,” The man smiled, “Take care now.”
Hwoarang nodded and stepped out of the cell, not feeling all that smiley. He made his way out the front glass doors and into the sunny morning world. As he walked he wondered how long it would take him to piss Julia off more. Being a boyfriend gave you certain responsibilities, and apologizing when you screwed up big time was one of them. Normally Hwoarang wouldn’t think twice about apologizing, but he had never seen her cry before, and he felt extremely guilty about the things that she didn’t even know he did. So what would he say? How does one go about apologizing?
The snow across the street sparkled. It was too tainted on Hwoarang’s side of the road. The tainted snow was dirty and flattened and streaked with random yellow patches. The only thing disrupting the white paradise on the other side was a stomped path cutting through. Dividing the snow with human insensitivity. The untouched snow was trapped with walls of grim and dirt.
Hwoarang shook his head, startled at his own thoughts. Since when did snow care whether it was trapped or not? It wasn’t alive, it was just frozen water. But even though he didn’t want to admit it, he knew he was trapped and confined by walls of his own making.
A few more steps took him by his crystal river. He crossed the street and took a minute to gaze at it. Of course, he was killing time, not wanting to go apologize.
A loud crack was heard. Before Hwoarang could look around to see what it was, he realized he was falling into the snow by the bench. He couldn’t feel anything, and soon his sight abandoned him too. It was hard to tell whether he was conscious or not, but it didn’t matter. There was no guilt in the cold darkness.
/Quite the new friend you’ve got.\
Kazuya looked around in surprise before realizing that it was coming from inside himself. He stepped into the bathroom of his hotel room and looked in the mirror. The Demon stared back at him. Kazuya replied. “Yes… What do you want?”
/I’ve been thinking about our current situation, and I have come up with a way for your new friend to come in handy.\
“I’m not going to use him,” Kazuya growled quietly.
/Hwoarang has certain ties with your son. I imagine he’d be able to lower the boy’s guard very easily.\
The Japanese man quirked a brow, thinking his inner demon had lost its mind, “How could he possibly do that?”
/Same way he softened you.\
The mockery in the Demons silent voice was apparent. Kazuya shook his head, in an attempt to dismiss the cruel idea, “That’s impossible. They hate each other.”
/Hwoarang will see it as a way to humiliate his rival, and he’s got this fire in him that not even a Mishima can resist. We need this, Kazuya.\
Kazuya felt himself begin to panic, “But-”
/I’m sorry, but if I do not have full co-operation, your friend will be eliminated by your own hands.\
“You sick bastard,” Kazuya spat at the mirror.
/Are we understood?\
He paused, but failing to come up with a plan, he answered, “… Yes.”
Pain. Headache. Blinding pain. What happened? Cold. Everything was so cold. Pure snow. Untouched. Sparkling snow. Crystal River. Beautiful River. Cold again. Darkness always follows. Pain. Thoughts! Grasp one! Get one! No… too fast. Too many. Where am I? In the dark. In the cold. Why did the darkness come? A crack. Loud noise. Can a noise alone bring darkness? Falling. Noise, then falling. That’s it! Someone hit me!
Hwoarang groaned through the headache as he made lame attempts at sorting out his chaotic thoughts. His eyes were squeezed shut, almost afraid of what he might find if he opened them. As soon as his thoughts cleared up a bit, he guessed someone must have taken him in, because otherwise, depending on how long he was out, he could have died of hypothermia, or maybe it wasn’t cold enough for that…
The sound of water pouring was a reassuring touch. It was unthreatening. Slowly, it convinced Hwoarang to open his eyes. He gave his vision a few seconds to adjust to the darkness and eventually realized he was in a small hotel room. Not his of course, his was bigger. There was a small table, three chairs, T.V. A cabinet and a counter all in one small space.
He sat up, holding his head in his hands. If Julia knew he got out, and waited for him to get back, he’d been in deep trouble. So who brought him to such a place?
A dark figure silently stepped into the room. At first the Korean didn’t notice that he was not alone. After a moment, it spoke, “Good evening, Blood Talon.”
Hwoarang jumped to his feet, startled. As soon as he realized it was Kazuya, he groaned and fell back on the bed, closing his eyes. “What the fuck happened?” Hwoarang’s said quietly, not wanting to hurt his head any further, “Who the fuck hit me?”
“I was quite a distance away, but from what I could see, he looked a lot like one of those gentlemen that attacked me.”
“Tom,” Hwoarang hissed with disgust, “I should have guessed. Only Julia’s friends would be dumb enough to attack in broad daylight, and quick enough to get away with it.”
Kazuya flicked on a small lamp in the corner. It wasn’t bright enough to bother Hwoarang too much, but it cast a yellow light over most of the room, making it easier for Kazuya to move around. He grabbed a suitcase from under the table and slipped a toothbrush and toothpaste into a side pocket. The buckles securing the suitcase were pulled tighter.
Hwoarang watched for a few moments before realizing Kazuya was preparing to check out. He got to his feet and grabbed his lover’s arm, “What are you doing?”
The older man turned to Hwoarang, hesitating in order to choose his words strategically, “I have to go back to Japan. The only reason I came to America was to give me a chance to come up with a plan, but I’ve run out of time. I have to go.”
“Oh,” Hwoarang let go and stepped back. His mind came up with a million Manoeuvres to make Kazuya stay but he ignored every one of them. He walked toward the door, “Bye.”
Kazuya grabbed Hwoarang’s waist and turned around, relieved when the redhead didn’t lash out in response. At least he was giving him a chance. They locked eyes and Kazuya spoke, “I know this is a lot to ask, but I want you to come with me.”
There was a pause. “… Man, I don’t know what you Mishima’s do to stay rich even when you’re hiding away from the fucking empire, but you know, some people don’t have that kind of money to blow. I don’t have enough for another fucking plane ticket, and I won’t have until I get back to Korea and do something illegal. And besides, Julia would freak…”
“I’ve always got two tickets because I… prefer to have my space.” Kazuya pulled Hwoarang closer, “As for Julia, from what I hear, it doesn’t take much to make her freak… I’m not asking you to break up with her. I’m asking you to cut your little trip short. Do you honestly want to stay in Nebraska researching me for another week?”
Hwoarang took a deep breath and rested his head on his lover’s shoulder. He closed his eyes and said, “Ok, so what is this plan you’ve come up with? What’s the problem?”
“Actually… I haven’t come up with a plan. Perhaps I’ll just improvise.”
“Man, don’t make me ask again. What’s the problem?”
Kazuya chuckled lightly, and looked down at the man in his arms, “You’re so beautiful when you get demanding.”
Hwoarang opened his eyes and glared up at the possessed Japanese, “Mishima.”
“Ok, ok.” He sighed, “My son has something important to me and I need to get it back. The problem is that he’s always got this guard up that makes it almost impossible to retrieve what’s mine. I need to create some sort of distraction I guess that would get his guard down… but every time he sees me, his guard is stressed…”
Hwoarang straightened up and smirked, “Dude I wasn’t born yesterday. I’ve been involved in this whole tournament crap since before the third tournament. I know what you want from him. And you just made it extremely obvious that you want me to help you,” The Korean walked toward the door, “Since there’s only one way I could possibly get him to lower his guard, your non-existent plan isn’t hard to figure out either… I’ll just go pack. Come get me when you’re ready to go.”
Kazuya watched the redhead leave. Did that mean the boy would do it?
Well it was a bit of a familiar position. Standing outside the hotel room he shared with Julia. Someone had taken his stuff out of the motel room he went to. Tom knew where it was so he probably brought Julia. Hwoarang found himself hoping Julia was asleep. Too bad things weren’t usually that simple.
The door opened slowly with a quiet squeak. The lights were on. Bad sign. He stepped in only to find Julia fast asleep on the floor. It was an adorable sight, and not the kind he’d disturb, for when it came to an end, so would his attempt at taking off peacefully.
His stuff was spread across the bed as if someone had been looking for something. Everything was folded though, or kept in groups. He raised an eyebrow, slightly annoyed and relieved at Julia’s anal retentiveness. At least it’d be easier to pack. Oh well, it didn’t matter.
Hwoarang started packing his things. It was much easier to just toss everything in there, but he supposed if he kept it neat, he’d have more room. A noise came from behind him, and he turned around just in time to see Julia standing there with her arms crossed. “Where were you? Where are you going? Hwoarang, what’s going on here?”
“Uh,” he continued packing, “I suppose since you’re awake I don’t have to write a note… Julia… I’ve only been causing trouble here. You’d get a lot more done if I left. I’m really sorry about what I said, but I’m trying to make a responsible decision here, and staying in this place wouldn’t be responsible. So I’m going to Japan again… We’ll meet up again when you’re out of this place, how bout that?”
Her eyes softened, “You’ve never made a sincere apology before.”
“Yeah, well… I…”
“Hwoarang I’m sorry for trying to change you!” She wiped her eyes, “I love you.”
Hwoarang usually had no problem with lying to her, but that was one thing he refused to say. He put his arms around her and kissed her gently, figuring girls liked those wordless moments, where someone’s actions spoke for them. That way he wouldn’t technically be lying.
He smiled at her, pulling every dirty trick he could to ensure her trust, the one time he knew he didn’t deserve it. “I will call you when I get there.”
Julia smiled and kissed him again, “Ok, promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I promise,” He lied.
TBC…………………………………
A/N: NO! Jin Kazama is not going to be a major part of the story. He’ll be the major part of maybe two chapters, but that’s it!