Afterward

Ideas and Breakfast

"Great that no one's drunk," Lars sighed in relief as he slipped behind the wheel. "But I think it's better that I'm driving."
Kazuya giggled in reply beside him.
"Yep..." Lars sighed, shaking his head as he started the car.
Jun chuckled and put a hand on Kazuya's shoulder. "Kazuya isn't drunk, he's just having a good time."
"You sure about that?" Jin snorted.
"I'm not," Lars added in agreement. He slowly pulled out of the parking spot. "You guys wanna go anywhere else?"
"How about a drive around town?" Amber suggested. "I'm so bored just sitting at home."
Kazuya sighed. "She's right. It does feel boring just sitting at home. And we have work tomorrow too." He groaned at that.
"Come on, we've already had a long holiday this week," Jun added. "You guys skipped an entire week of work!"
"We needed the break, Jun," Kazuya reasoned. "It's a lot to process, don't you think?"
"I thought you liked working?" Jin piped up.
"I do, but... Jin, tell me you didn't have a lot on your mind this past week," Kazuya countered.
Jin sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I can barely think straight. I'm just glad that the rest are keeping everything under control."
"You left Nina to do your job again?" Amber said, surprised.
"Nah, she's on holiday too, together with her whole family," Jin said. "Because they're family too."
"They actually are," Lars added. "Because Anna is married to... Excellent... and that makes Nina our sister-in-law too."
"It does," Jun snorted. "Gosh, we're just one big family now, aren't we?"
"We are," Kazuya chuckled. "It feels good to know that we're all connected this way."
"It is," Jun sighed, a smile on her face. "It's been sometime since I spoke to Nina. I'll stop by before going over to Kazuya's tomorrow, okay?"
"Ah, you're coming," Kazuya smiled. "One of the things I look forward to during work."
"Aww," Jun giggled.
They drove on around Tokyo, occasionally discussing about this and that, though silently enjoying the night drive all the while.

Nina yawned as she walked down the stairs. She spotted Adam's parents sitting in the living room, chatting with their grandson, and went over to join them.
"You guys are up early," Nina remarked as she sat down.
"Hi, honey," Harper smiled. "Adam up yet?"
Nina frowned as she shook her head. "Nope. Dead asleep. I give up trying to wake him..."
Jacob chuckled. "Yeah, same. You know how Alisa managed to put a full face of makeup on him and he didn't even flinch, right?"
Nina chuckled. "Yeah, I know that. You guys showed me a picture from that day. Alisa sounds like a fun friend."
"She is," Harper chuckled. "Even back then, she was always disturbing Adam. They were like siblings, the two of them. Even had the signature rivalry about them."
"Yeah, that still exists," Nina smirked. "He sees Steve as one now. And then there's Lee and Kazuya. Lee is my sister's husband, you guys met him at the party the other day?"
Harper nodded. "Oh, yeah. And then that loony man showed up."
Steve snorted. "Loony indeed."
"Is he still on the loose?" Jacob asked. "Because if that's the case... you guys are assassins, right?"
"Not me," Steve pointed out. "Mum and Auntie Anna? Yes."
"Why not just end him, then?" Jacob suggested nonchalantly.
Nina looked at him in surprise. "Wow, it's no wonder Adam had some unhinged ideas..."
"What, you were an assassin for the greater good, right?" Harper added. "This guy is greater bad!"
"Guys, guys," Steve sighed. "It's still not a very bright idea. There are countless times someone tried to end him, yet here he is."
"Like what?" Harper asked.
Nina shrugged as she tried to remember. "Well, Kazuya threw him off a cliff after the first tournament, then Jin threw him off a very high building. That was brutal, by the way, Jin threw him through the wall, the impact broke it, and then he fell a few hundred feet and then Jin fell on him too, and Heihachi just got up like nothing happened."
The old couple was speechless at that.
"That wasn't even the last time," Steve added. "Kazuya left him in a building with like a twenty to a hundred bombs, which all exploded, by the way, and our friend still survived."
"He was buried under the rubble but Heihachi dug himself out weeks later, or so he says," Nina continued. "He's been shot at countless times too, and he somehow caught the bullets with his teeth."
"And then something happened in Tekken 6, I think they beat him up again," Steve went on. "Then Kazuya finally killed him in Tekken 7. He threw him into a volcano, that finally did it."
"And now he's back," Nina ended. "Not the original version. This one's a clone, apparently."
The elderly couple exchanged surprised glances.
"Oh, dear," Harper finally said. "How could one man go through so much and still think of revenge?"
"I would've just retired at that point," Jacob added. "Fly off to some tropical island in the Caribbean or something and stay there."
"With me," Harper added.
"Yeah!" Jacob agreed cheerfully.
"Well, unfortunately, Heihachi didn't know when to give up," Steve shrugged. "He saw his son as a rival, and tried to kill him countless times too."
"Some father he is," Jacob muttered.
Steve snorted. "And I thought I had it bad when I didn't know who my father was."
"Hey," Adam called as he descended the stairs, his hair a mess.
"What, I was about to say that you had a good reason to be away," Steve added.
Adam considered that comment and nodded before coming downstairs. "Fine. What's for breakfast?"
"We were about to make something, but then Grandma and Grandpa suggested that we should just buy something since we had a long night yesterday, and we have work in a few hours," Steve said. "What do you think?"
Adam shrugged. "I'm okay with that. It's been some time since we went out for breakfast, anyway."
"I'll go get ready," Nina said. "Be back in five minutes." She turned to Adam. "You too."
Adam yawned and followed her up the stairs. Everyone dispersed as well.

Heihachi thought about the brief meeting he had with his older self last night as he laid awake during the early hours of the day. Wisps of sunlight snuck into the room through the crack between the curtains, signalling that it was already morning.
What did old Heihachi mean when he said that he was here to finish what he didn't get to? What did that mean?
Heihachi sighed and sat up. There were photos of Kazuya and Jin hanging in the wall before him, photos which he placed there to remind him of his goal to end them each time he woke up. But that goal didn't stand anymore...
But he still kept those pictures there anyway, for a reason that he didn't know yet.
He decided to get out of bed since it was pointless to just stare at the ceiling when the sun was already out. Heihachi got ready in a casual outfit, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, which was an unusual attire for him. Then, he got onto his bike and rode off to a nice cafe for breakfast.
It was a nice feeling, riding around on a bike after whatever he had been through. It gave Heihachi a sense of freedom, the speed and the wind.