Afterwards: The Fourth Tekken Novel

A Pact

Shasha stretched her arms and smiled as the three of them left the spa. "Gosh, that was so good!" She chuckled. "The massage was amazing."
"Aromatherapy shiatsu," Jun smiled. "Anyway, the rest aren't done yet. You guys wanna get some bubble tea or something?"
Shasha shrugged. "Sure, but maybe not bubble tea. Where are we going?"
"Posiden Coffee or Sundeer?" Amber asked.
"Posiden Coffee!" Jun gasped. "I heard they have this new rose drink or something."
"Rose?" Shasha perked up at that. "We should it out."
The three of them ended up walking over to the nearby Posiden Coffee outlet and went to the counter to order.
"Alright, they have the rose," Amber gleefully said. "But I'm wondering now. Should I take it or should I take the matcha coco?"
"What do you feel like?" Jun asked.
Amber shrugged. "Both, actually."
Shasha smirked. "Well, I'm taking the rose frappé. Looks delicious, don't you think."
"Mmm yeah..." Amber's mouth watered as she looked at the picture on the screen above them. "It's topped with chopped rose petals too."
"Which is why I'm taking it," Shasha grinned. "Auntie? What you taking?"
"Same thing," Jun nodded. "But maybe I won't take the frappé. Too much cream and ice."
"I'll take that," Amber said. "Looks kinda good."
Jun shrugged and stepped forward to start ordering. Shasha nearly bumped into someone, someone that struck her as oddly familiar. She looked at the young woman in surprise as she casually exited.
"Was that Ella? That girl looked like Ella," Shasha frowned as she turned back to the others.
Amber shrugged. "I'm not sure, but it did kinda look like her. She radiated a nervous energy too."
"It was the look on her face," Shasha pursed her lips. "It seemed like she was kinda avoiding me."
Jun sighed. "Well, if it really was her, it's kinda cold of her to just walk by without looking once."
Shasha shrugged. "Let her be lah. What can I do?"
Their drinks were made pretty quickly, and Kazuya was soon informing Jun that they were done. That made he snort. "Now I feel kinda bad for not getting him a drink."
"Why don't we call them here?" Shasha suggested. "We can sit around, maybe occupy the whole shop, and have drinks together, right?"
Jun nodded slowly, realising that it was a good idea. "Alright, I'll call them over."

When the rest came over, Jun was shocked to see Jin and Kazuya acting normal with Heihachi. In this case, the normal was abnormal, especially with the way they were acting just that morning.
"Did something happen?" Jun smirked when they joined them at the pushed-together tables. "Or did this spa session finally work."
Lars poked a straw into his strawberry cream cheese frappé. "They had a 'naked relationship' together."
Shasha nearly spat her drink out. "Yerr!"
Jun snorted. "As inappropriate as that might sound, it's actually not. It's basically just a fancy term for a heart-to-heart during an onsen session."
"Oh," Shasha quickly nodded. "Okay, that makes more sense."
Kazuya sighed. "Yeah, we spoke quite a lot. Kinda made me realise that this guy is a victim of Old Fart too."
Heihachi nodded. "Yeah, that Old Fart was ruthless without good reason."
"I still blame Kazumi..." Jun frowned as she sipped her rose latte.
Jin shook his head. "Actually, she only turned on him after the Hon-Maru incident."
"Which Hon-Maru incident?" Amber smirked as she regarded them.
Jin sighed. "The Jinpachi one."
"Oh," Amber nodded, going back to sipping her frappé. "So that means... Old Fart was... always a fart?" She glared at the young Heihachi that sat before her.
Shasha couldn't help but snort at that. "Okay, I'm sorry I laughed. It borderline feels like I'm invading something, actually." She got up. "I'll just go sit with Nina and gang."
But before she could take a step, Amber caught her arm and pulled her down to her seat. "No, you're staying here."
Shasha groaned inwardly and awkwardly turned back to her drink.
"Well, my mother wasn't truly a saint either, she had been out to get me as well," Kazuya shrugged. "Eh, at least they're both gone now." He frowned slightly as he regarded Heihachi. "Almost gone..."
"No, they're truly gone," Heihachi shook his head. "I'm not the same as that Old Fart, and you know that."
Jin shrugged. "Yeah, he wouldn't have had any regrets had he come back."
Lars nodded. "Yep. A proud mess he was."
Shasha got up again. "You know what, Imma go sit with Nina's gang instead."
She quickly stepped her way through and speed-walked to Nina's table, pulling herself a chair just before reaching them. Jun shook her head in amusement and turned back to her husband. "So... you're willing to give Heihachi another chance?"
Kazuya shrugged. "Sure. This is a chance on its own." He looked at Heihachi. "I trust that you will not try to harm my family again."
Heihachi nodded. "And I'm not willing to break that trust."
"Good," Kazuya softly said with a nod. "Because if you do, I will break you."
"Brutal," Amber smirked. "But I like it. I'll smash you in a Mizuchi Claw too."
"Well, as much as I can't believe what about to say, I absolutely agree with you two," Jun nodding. "I will be joining you as well."
Heihachi shrugged. "Fair enough."
Jin nodded. "If you prove that you're a better father and grandfather than the Old Fart, I'm okay with this as well."
"First, you should focus on teaching your father to play the electric guitar," Heihachi said. "And to read music."
Kazuya looked at him in surprise. "Wait, you want me to read music too? But that's like a whole different language!"
"Well, he isn't wrong," Jin added. "Because how will you read sheet music if you can't read music?"
"By playing music and listening to music?" Kazuya said, much to their surprise. "I mean, that's how lots of people play, right?"
Heihachi shook his head. "Mmm mmm. Nope. Jin, I don't think Kazuya wants to actually become a rockstar."
Kazuya quickly shook his head. "No, wait. I will, okay? I have always wanted to play the electric guitar and the closest I've gotten is watching Jin play in his room or in one of the Zaibatsu music rooms or onstage. I've finally got the motivation to play as well, I don't wanna stop now. I want to be there to play with Jin."
"Aww," Jin couldn't help but say.
"Great," Heihachi grinned. "Because I feel like playing now as well."
Lars stared at him in surprise, bug-eyed. "Wow, that's a sight I wanna see."
He finally realised that Lee wasn't with them and found him sitting with Nina's gang as well, holding his child as he amiably spoke with the rest. Lars shrugged and started imagining what it would look like for Heihachi, Kazuya, and Jin to be playing onstage together, grinning and laughing as they did. What would they even play? Lars wanted to know that too.