Afterwards: The Fourth Tekken Novel

Morning Talks

Amber didn't sleep the whole night after her conversation with Heihachi. Xiaoyu found her hugging her legs on her bed the next morning.
"You're up early," Xiaoyu yawned as she sat up. "Had a good night?"
"Hardly," Amber said, staring straight at her.
Xiaoyu gasped. "Oh darn, did I snore too much or something?"
Amber shook her head. "No, you hardly disturbed me at all."
"Then what's up?" Xiaoyu asked, getting up to go over. "Coffee? Late night tea?"
"Nothing like that," Amber sighed. "Just had a... late-night rendezvous."
"Rendezvous?" Xiaoyu repeated, tilting her head in surprise. "With whom?"
"Heihachi."
Xiaoyu groaned. "What?! Come on, what happened this time?"
Amber turned to look at the younger woman as she sat herself in front of her, crossing her legs as she did. "It's nothing." She sighed, not wanting to worry Xiaoyu with her troubles.
Xiaoyu frowned. "No, it is not nothing. What did Heihachi do?"
"Well, I'm not really sure how I should say it, but he told me that I was like a daughter to him too," Amber said, unable to believe what she was saying herself.
"When did this happen?" Xiaoyu asked. "Did he like... come here in the night or something?"
Amber shook her head. "Nah. I was in the back deck."
"What were you even doing in the back deck?"
"Nothing in particular? I couldn't sleep so I decided to try and check on Jin," Amber sighed. "He's sharing a room with him, after all."
Xiaoyu groaned. "Amber, really?" She shook her head. "How did Heihachi end up with you, then?"
"He says that he heard a sound when he went to the bathroom and saw someone—me—standing on the deck, so he suspected that it was a burglar and ambushed me."
"Ambush you? Are you okay?" Xiaoyu asked, looking concerned as she touched Amber's arm.
Amber nodded. "Sure, I'm fine. He brought me inside and told me that when I said I still don't trust him."
"And then?"
"He just left me there and I came back to sleep. And then I couldn't get even a wink of sleep."
Xiaoyu sighed and got off the bed, walking over to give her a hug. "I'm sorry for whatever you're going through, but you should know that this Heihachi isn't the same as the one that created you."
"I do," Amber sighed as she leaned into her embrace. "But I'm not sure how to feel about this."
"Well, I guess it's best if you just sit aside and see what unfolds," Xiaoyu pulled away and smiled at her. "And besides, that's about the only thing we can do anyway."
Amber nodded, a slight smile on her face. "You're right about that too."
Xiaoyu gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Try not to think about it too much too. It only makes you..." she frowned as she tried to think of the correct word to use. "I'm not really sure how to say it, but in Mandarin we say hulihudu." Amber couldn't help but laugh at that reference. "I know, it's a famous book quote, isn't it? But that's the only way I can describe your situation now." Xiaoyu chuckled. "Also, we should get ready."
Amber nodded and gently pushed her away to get up. "Yeah, we should."

Jin was a little surprised to see Heihachi in the bed beside his instead of Hwoarang. But then, he realised they switched places the day before, nodding to himself as he got out of bed and went out of the room.
The first thing he spotted was his parents sitting there, all dressed up and staring at their phones. Jin yawned as he plopped down on the armchair and looked at them.
"Where's Heihachi?" Jun asked without looking up from her phone.
"Still asleep," Jin sighed as he scratched his neck. "Anyway, what are we doing today?"
"First, you get ready," Kazuya said, tapping on his phone. "We need to get breakfast first."
Jin shrugged. "Come on, gimme a sec. I just woke up."
"We should go before the good food runs out, Jin," Jun added. "Go. Go get dressed."
"Geez, it's like you guys are trying to have me kicked out," Jin grumbled as he got up and walked away. "Boo! And we're on holiday now too."
Kazuya sighed. "Just get ready. And wake that other guy up too."
Jin smirked as he turned to see him. "What other guy? The guys next door? Steve? Hwoarang? Lars? Excellent?"
"You know who I'm talking about," Kazuya scowled. "I just don't wanna say his name, he shares it with the Old Fart. Together with his face."
"Right, right," Jin remarked, walking away while nodding.
When he entered the room, Jin found Heihachi standing in front of the vanity mirror. It was evident that he had just dragged himself out of bed too, seeing how his yukata was at the brink of coming undone.
"Do you think I should shave?" Heihachi asked without looking at Jin, more keen on inspecting his face from various angles. He turned to look at the speechless Jin when he received no reply. "Hmm? What do you think? Would I look good with a clean shave?"
Jin tried to imagine that, got no image, and shrugged. "I'm not sure." He finally said.
Heihachi chuckled, adjusting his yukata. "Come on, what do you think? I need your advice, kid."
Jin sighed and tried to imagine again. He got one, one that was rather unsightly, and quickly shook his head with a shudder. "I don't think you should. Nope."
Heihachi frowned and turned back to the mirror to regard himself again. "How about a haircut?"
"I don't think you should do anything," Jin immediately said, closing the door. "You look fine to me."
"You sure about that?" Heihachi gave him a knowing frown. "Because I heard what your father said."
Jin sighed as he looked at him. "You heard that?"
"Your father isn't the most soft-spoken person," Heihachi shrugged. "Well, I don't blame him. This is the face he saw at the Precipice of Fate."
Jin shrugged as he made a beeline for the bathroom. "Well. But at least he knows that you're a separate person."
Heihachi sighed, realising that he was too late to use the bathroom as he dolefully watched Jin enter. "Yeah, he does."
"Yep," Jin slammed the bathroom door shut right after saying that.
"Aand he occupied the bathroom," Heihachi shook his head before leaving the room.
Kazuya and Jun were there, still scrolling through their phones.
"You're up," Jun said. "Slept well?"
Heihachi shrugged, remembering the Amber incident. "More or less."
Jun placed her phone down on the table and frowned at him. "What happened? Did Jin do anything?"
"Why would he do anything?" Heihachi frowned.
"I don't know," Jun shrugged. "I sense that you're hiding something."
Kazuya was immediately alerted. "What is it? What do you sense, Jun?"
Jun sighed and shook her head as she turned to her husband. "No, not that sort of thing, Kazuya." She frowned slightly as she turned back to Heihachi. "You're upset about something. What is it?"
"I don't think I should say it," Heihachi turned his gaze away.
"This doesn't have anything to do with the Old Fart, right?" Kazuya frowned, suspecting that it was a nightmare or something like that.
Heihachi shrugged. "Well, maybe it does. I'm not really sure."
"Dude, you're not helping," Kazuya sighed. "What did you do?"
Amber came out of her room and nervously regarded them. Heihachi spotted her worried look and sighed before turning back to the couple.
"I'm actually not sure why I feel this way, it's just... there's just something bothering me, I just don't know what," Heihachi said. He got up. "I'm gonna go see if Jin is out of the bathroom yet."
With that, he retreated into his room, leaving the three of them to stare after him in surprise. Amber turned to look at Jun and realised that she was giving her a look that saw right through her.