Afterwards: The Fourth Tekken Novel

Backfired

Jin walked towards them in slow precise steps, his arms now on his sides. "So, what do I not know about?"
Hwoarang turned to Steve, who gulped as he stared at Jin. The redhead decided it was good to step in.
"Kazama!" He amiably greeted as he got up. "How's work?"
Jin frowned at him, then turned his attention to Steve. "What have you two been doing behind my back?"
Steve desperately searched an answer. Eventually, he sighed. "Jin, I think it's best you don't know about it now."
"No! Don't just give in like that!" Hwoarang groaned. He turned to Jin. "It's nothing big, Kazama. Steve is just... planning a surprise."
"Surprise? What surprise?" Jin looked amused as he tilted his head.
The redhead turned to look at Steve. "Something?" The blond said. "It's to... make up for that crashed party."
Jin looked sceptical for a moment, but then shrugged, a slight smile on his face. "What are you planning?"
"Secret," Hwoarang mysteriously said, his voice almost a whisper. "You'll know soon, so I guess I'll take my leave. Ciao!"
Jin grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Don't think I don't know the reason you're here."
Hwoarang gulped this time. "Real reason? I don't know what you're talking about, Ka-Kazama."
"I know why you came," Jin smirked. "You got wind that Mom made a batch of Getanha, right?"
Hwoarang was confused. "Eh? Getanha? What's that?"
"No, no, he's here to sample some of my grandma's cherry pie!" Steve quickly said, coming towards them and placed his hands on the redhead's shoulder. "I'll see to it, what have you come for?"
Jin remembered why he came and perked up slightly. "Ah, I came to tell you that Doctor B needs you."
"Doctor B?" Steve said, confused. "Why?"
"Who knows?" Jin shrugged. "Go see to it. I was on my way to my office when I received his call."
Steve nodded and pushed the Korean man out. "Can I bring this guy?"
"Do whatever you like," Jin shrugged, exiting the office at their heels. "I need to get back to my office."
"Bye!" Steve waved at him before pushing Hwoarang down the corridor.
Hwoarang stopped him. "What's Getanha?"
"Brown sugar cake," Steve explained. "I'll ask Auntie Jun to give you some later."
"Yum," Hwoarang grinned. "Anyway, what does Doctor B want? You think he'll let us test some gizmos?"
Steve smirked. "I don't know, but I'm hoping for that as well."
Hwoarang laughed at that.

"So how are you gonna tell your husband about this?" Shasha asked as she and Jun sat to have their nails done.
Jun sighed. "Frankly, I have no idea. I haven't even told Lars about this yet."
Shasha frowned. "Maybe you should. You know, maybe he can help you do something?"
"I'm not really sure about that," Jun said. "He's not exactly fond of of Heihachi himself, ya know?"
"So for now... only us, Amber, and Nina's gang knows about this?"
"And Xiao and Asuka," Jun added. "The rest don't."
"This can be pretty chaotic."
"I agree."
Shasha shrugged. "As long as Heihachi stays in his path, I think all should be okay, right?"
Jun nodded. "So long as Kazuya and Jin don't join forces in trying to destroy him. I know for a fact that the two of them won't turn against each other, just that they would work together now."
"Like a tag team?" Shasha smirked.
Jun nodded. "Yes, and probably in their Devil Forms too." She sighed.
Shasha shrugged. "Well, if I were you, I wouldn't actually try this, Auntie. Because like... Heihachi has done some really unforgivable things, even the Japanese government evoked his citizenship, and I don't think your family would actually accept him after all of that. Because... if it was my family, I don't think we would accept a person like that as well."
"Yeah, but... it's a different Heihachi," Jun pointed out. "I can tell that he doesn't have the same energy as the original."
"But yet, he is still the same person, right?" Shasha countered. "Well, I think I can only say one thing. If Mr Kazuya and Jin don't accept him, I don't think you should force it on them. The same goes for Lars and Lee as well. They deserve more."
Jun nodded. "Yeah. I'll just see how it goes. If their relationship doesn't solder still, I'll just leave it that way."
"Let's just hope they don't fry him by then," Shasha added. "After all, Lee looks like he's only too happy to help his brother cook Heihachi in hot oil."
Jun couldn't help but laugh at the thought of them frying Heihachi alive. "Since they can't get molten rock, they use hot oil instead."
"And it's not a funny thought, Auntie," Shasha sighed. "How did I even get into this?"
"By entering just one tournament," Jun smirked. "Welcome to the club."
She was about to lift her hand and shake Shasha's, but the nail artist stopped her.

Steve looked up in surprise when Shasha waltzed into his office. Hwoarang was still there, fooling around with Steve's things while eating the Getanha he got from Amber.
"Shasha!" Steve greeted. "Hey, so how was it?"
Shasha smirked. "Heihachi didn't want to share a room with you. In fact, he wanted a whole chalet all to himself."
That was music to Steve's ears. "Whoa! Really?" He shrugged. "Well, now we won't be getting those spa treatments and that seafood dinner, but that's just a small price to pay compared to sharing a room with that guy."
"Ah, but you are still getting those spa treatments and that seafood dinner," Shasha grinned.
"Really?" Steve gasped. "Auntie Jun agreed to still treat us even though I won't be sharing with Hei?"
Shasha shook her head, fighting a smile. "Nope. Because... Heihachi will still be sharing a room with you, Dude! I managed to convince him!"
Hwoarang nearly spat his mouthful of cake in surprise, his mouth forming a rather stained grin as he tried to hold back his laughter.
"Wait, you're saying that you made him agree to share a room with me when he initially didn't want to?" Steve asked.
Shasha nodded, smiling. "Mmm hmm."
Steve groaned. "Thanks a lot."
"The pleasure is all mine," Shasha smiled. "Also, I need to get going now. Alisa called me to meet her in the lobby. Bye-bye!"
With that, she sauntered out of Steve's office, giggling quietly.
"See what you get?" Hwoarang said, using his spoon to scrape the brown sugar syrup from his plate. "You had a chance of escape, but she didn't let it happen."
Steve groaned and laid his head on the table. " Why?!"
Hwoarang chuckled. "Come on, cheer up, bud. At least you still get those free spa treatments and a seafood feast. Just don't spend much time in your room, spend the whole day out or something. Hang out with us, ya know?"
Steve sat up and nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll do just that."
"Nice," Hwoarang went back to scraping brown sugar syrup from his bowl, eventually resorting to licking it instead.
Steve watched, disgusted. At least it was a paper plate and no one had to deal with washing all that slobber off the plate.