Afterwards: The Fourth Tekken Novel

Fathers

Jinpachi Mishima stood with his back to Heihachi. He was a man who was mercilessly imprisoned under Hon-Maru, only to be possessed by a vengeful spirit that not only resurrected him but manipulated him to act against his wishes.
"Fa- Father?" Heihachi called, surprised.
Jinpachi turned to look at him, his long sideburns sharp as they pointed themselves towards the sky. "Mishima Heihachi..."
"How... how long has it been? How have you been?"
"Dead," Jinpachi shrugged. "It's been many years, but I don't remember how long."
Heihachi sighed, his eyes downcast. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Jinpachi chuckled.
"For whatever that happened to you," Heihachi said without looking up.
Jinpachi sighed and lifted his son's chin so that their eyes would meet. "That wasn't you who did any of that."
Heihachi shook his head, then turned away to walk in the other direction. "I don't know if it was or wasn't. I don't know which is me anymore. Because I know that no matter how much I deny being the same Heihachi you raised, the same Heihachi that turned against you, I know that will never be true. Because I am the same Heihachi that you raised and the same one that turned against you."
"You're right about you being the Heihachi that I raised, but you're not the one that turned against me," Heihachi turned to look at his father in surprise when he replied. "Because the Heihachi that turned against me, he wasn't my son. Not one bit. My son had humanity, my son was a good man."
"What changed within him that hadn't changed in me?" Heihachi asked. "I don't want it to happen again."
Jinpachi chuckled slightly. "The lust for power got to him. He found out what the Mishima Zaibatsu was capable of, he wanted to use it to rise to power and turn it to the path of darkness." He met Heihachi's gaze. "But I can see that he had mellowed over the years, some things that changed in him hadn't changed in you. And some things that didn't change in him... changed in you."
Heihachi sighed. "I'm afraid I don't follow. You know that he and I are the exact same thing."
"Well, maybe physically," Jinpachi's eyes twinkled slightly. "The Heihachi that imprisoned me under Hon-Maru wouldn't have apologised to me for what he had done. He showed no mercy, he hadn't an ounce of sympathy."
Heihachi frowned, silent as he regarded his father.
"It was a place so sacred, so pure, but look at what he had done to it," Jinpachi continued, walking towards his son. "It lost all of its holiness the instant he imprisoned me under it, the bad energy alone was enough to attract the demon that once possessed me."
"I'm sorry..." Heihachi sighed.
"I know you are," Jinpachi stated, placing his hands on his shoulders. "Which is why I trust you will mend your ways. You know, the Old Fart you were cloned from was an untrustworthy twit. I want you to show that you can be better than that. Be a better father, show Jun that you can be trusted unlike the man that she had warded her son to. You must prove that you have put everything that your older counterpart had done far behind you."
Heihachi looked at his father, a man that had showed him nothing but love and wisdom as he grew up in his care. He couldn't help but throw his arms around the older man, burying his head in Jinpachi's shoulder.
"I miss being your son," Heihachi murmured as he rested his head against his father's shoulder. "I'm sorry how things turned out for you. If I could go back in time... I would change how everything went."
Jinpachi frowned slightly as he placed a hand on the back of his son's head, his other resting on the small of his back. "I wish we can, but it's too late." He pulled away from the hug and looked at his son, his hands pressed against his shoulders. "My boy, there's no use dwelling the past. You have to move on to become the better man that you intend to be."

Kazuya heard a rap on the chalet's front door and looked through the peephole to see who the caller was, expecting to see Lars or Lee. But then he groaned, realising that it was Heihachi and slowly backed away from the door. Kazuya walked off in the other direction and quietly sat in the living area, ignoring the continuous rapping until Heihachi would eventually give up and leave.
The knocking didn't stop and eventually, Hwoarang came out of his room and heard it.
"Who could that be?" Hwoarang asked as he went over to answer it.
Kazuya ran to stop him. "Hwoarang, no! Don't open it!"
"Why not?" Hwoarang asked, confused. "It might be Steve. It might be Lars or even Lee."
"It's neither of them," Kazuya scowled.
Hwoarang opened the peephole and took a look. "Oh..." he snorted as he pulled away from it. "Come on, Uncle. It can't be too bad..."
Kazuya shook his head. "Please don't let him in."
"Oi, Kazuya!" Heihachi exclaimed from behind the door. "What's taking you so long?"
Kazuya groaned, his hands on his head. He turned to Hwoarang and urgently spoke to him. "Boy, I'm gonna run through the back door. Open it only after I'm out and tell him that I have packed my bags and taken off, never to come to Chigasaki again."
"I don't think he's gonna believe that," Hwoarang said, and immediately the rapping intensified.
"Just do that," Kazuya pushed the younger man towards the door before running off.
Hwoarang was amused to see him bolting away, but then shrugged and opened the door to a grinning Heihachi. "Hey, man. What's up? Calling us down for breakfast or something?"
"Where's Kazuya?" Heihachi asked.
Hwoarang frowned, not sure what he should say. "I'm not really sure..." he froze when he spotted Kazuya running off to Lee's chalet, behind Heihachi, still dressed in his nightclothes. It was a funny sight, making Hwoarang snort.
That reaction caused Heihachi to turn around and look as well. To his surprise, he spotted Kazuya running away in a faded blue tank top and red plaid pyjama pants. "Kazuya...? Where is he going?"
"I honestly have no idea," Hwoarang said. He brought Heihachi into the chalet. "You should come in, have some... tea or something?"
Heihachi shook his head. "No, I need to speak to Kazuya."
Hwoarang groaned. "Come on, why does everyone make me the middleman?"
"Is everything alright?" The two men turned to see Jun standing there, her hair still damp from a shower.
"Your husband just ran away," Heihachi remarked.
Jun looked at him in surprise. "What?"
Hwoarang pointed to Kazuya as he snuck over to Lee's chalet. Jun sighed and used her powers to stop him, much to Kazuya's surprise, and calmly walked over to him. Kazuya stared at her in dismay, realising that he had been caught trying to escape meeting with Heihachi.
"Kazuya, seriously?!" Jun exclaimed as she walked towards him.
"Jun, please, don't force me to hang out with him," Kazuya begged as he tried to wriggle out of her telekinetic grasp. "It's so awkward and agonising, don't put me through that again. Please?"
Jun sighed and let go of him. As soon as she was near enough, she took his hand. "Kazuya, I know it's hard for you, but can you at least try? Do it for me?"
Kazuya groaned. "Please, don't make this about you."
"But it is," Jun sighed, taking his other hand as well. "Anything that concerns you, concerns me as well. We're in this together, Kazuya, and we can deal with this."
Kazuya sighed. "What does he want now?"
Jun shrugged, a slight smile on her face. "I dunno, you should ask him."
By then, Heihachi had already come up to them, much to Kazuya's dismay. He never thought there would come a time where his father would try to reconcile with him. Somehow, this was much worse than trying to fight him.
"Good morning, Kazuya," Heihachi greeted.
Kazuya sighed and mumbled a reply, refusing to meet his gaze.
"So... I actually came to speak to you about something," Heihachi added.
"What do you want?" Kazuya grumbled.
"To take my sons, and grandson, out on a spa day!" Heihachi cheerfully said, much to Kazuya's shock.
"A spa day?" Kazuya grimaced at the thought of that. "With you? Eww!"
"Kazuya..." Jun suggestively said.
"I don't wanna go to the spa with him!" Kazuya whined like a child. "Jun!"
"You won't be going alone, Lee and Lars would be coming, Jin as well," Jun added.
Kazuya groaned. "Is this compulsory?"
Heihachi smirked. "This ain't a school event."
"It sure seems like it," Kazuya grumbled.
"Just go, Kazuya," Jun urged.
Kazuya groaned at that.