Afterwards: The Fourth Tekken Novel

Hair Appointment

Heihachi had been sitting in his room with a book, which was recommended by most of those around him, when someone rapped onto the door.
"Just come in," Heihachi called, flipping the page of his book.
The door opened and Amber stepped in. Her gaze fell on Heihachi, then swept across the room. "Where's Jin?"
Heihachi shrugged. "Who knows. He's out with his father and gang."
Amber nodded, remembering the fact that the other guys were out. She closed the door and made her way to Jin's bed, seating herself to face Heihachi.
"You're here to ask me something?" Heihachi closed his book and placed it on his bedside table.
Amber hesitated slightly, but nodded. "Yeah."
"What is it?"
"I heard that you're planning a party to make up for the one you... crashed last time," Amber began.
Heihachi nodded. "I am. You have any objections for that."
"Wait, no, I don't," Amber shook her head. "I just came to ask if you needed my help."
Heihachi was mildly surprised at her offer, but shrugged. "Sure."
Amber frowned as she leaned forward. "What are your plans so far?"
"There hasn't been any plans yet," Heihachi sighed. "I spoke to Jin, Lars, and Steve about it last night and they suggested that... that..." he frowned. "Come to think of it, they didn't really suggest anything. Besides the fact that Hwoarang and Shasha should help me with the shopping."
"They suggested that?" Amber sighed. "Without even asking the two of them first?"
Heihachi nodded. "I'm not even sure if they have agreed, it didn't seem like they had asked them first."
Amber shrugged. "Knowing them, they probably didn't even ask, knowing that they would come anyway." She looked at him, a slight frown on her face. "But I'll be coming with you. That's a guarantee."
"This isn't a setup or anything, right?" Heihachi gave her a look of mock suspicion. "You're not just coming to keep an eye on me, are you?"
"Not this time," Amber got up. "I just feel like contributing something to this party since I feel like I haven't done much before." She nodded at him. "We'll discuss this later with Jin."
Heihachi nodded and watched as she exited the room, closing the door in her wake. That was an unexpected encounter...
But at least it seemed like she wasn't out to get him anymore, there was some trust between them.

Jin turned Steve while Lars brought Kazuya to the counter to order something. They had no idea why he chose to tag along, seeing how everyone else went their separate ways, but maybe it was because Kazuya had grown too bored to wait for Jun's hair treatment to end. It was coincidentally nearby as well, and he practically lit up when he spotted the three of them walking past the salon. It was a good thing Lars noticed and quickly worked on distracting his brother to let the other two discuss.
"Did you ask them about it?" Jin asked.
Steve nodded. "I have. They both agreed, but have named a price each."
"How much?" Jin groaned. "This is bribery at this point."
"You should have thought about that before pulling them into the picture without reason," Steve pointed out. "You should have asked them first, Jin."
Jin sighed. "How much do they want? Fifty million? Yen or USD? Or ringgit or won or whatever their currencies are?"
Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Is that all you know of them? They didn't ask for monetary funds, Jin."
"Then what?" Jin said, confused. But then he realised. "It's food isn't it?"
"For Shasha, yes, she asked to go to a five-star high tea with us," Steve nodded. "But Hwo, on the other hand, wants a day at the spa."
Jin relaxed, nodding. "Right. I should have seen that coming."
Steve shook his head. "And to think you thought they asked for money." He smirked. "I'm telling them about this."
"No, please don't," Jin pleaded, much to Steve's surprise. "They might not help us."
"Okay," Steve smirked. "But what do I get in return?"
"You sound like such a gold digger, do you know that?"
"You're asking free help from us, what about that?" Steve pointed out with a frown on his face. "But yeah, the only thing I'm asking of you is to pay for the high-tea since you're the one who brought her into the discussion. I'll pay for Hwoarang's spa day. We're going later."
Jin stared at him for a moment and sighed. "Alright." He gazed at him again. "Sorry I called you a gold digger."
"It's fine, but don't do it again or I'll consider not helping you in your personal affairs," Steve warned. "That was a pretty mean thing to say."
Jin chuckled and put an arm around the blond, pulling him close. "Alright, alright. You're no gold digger. Aight?"
Steve smirked. "Ah, I'm just messing with ya. I don't actually want anything in return from helping you. You do know that your personal affairs are technically mine as well, right?"
"Yeah, you're right about that," Jin nodded. "Our families are too intertwined." He noticed how Kazuya and Lars were coming over with trays of food. "Keep it down, they're coming."
Kazuya placed the tray down in front of them and sat down. "We got soba and udon, tonkotsu just like you guys asked. Lars wanted yakisoba instead since he doesn't like stuff that's..." he frowned and turned to his brother, "swimming around in a pot? Seriously, Lars?"
"Reminds me too much of nabemono," Lars explained as he sat down beside Kazuya. "And all the bad memories that comes with it." He glared at Kazuya and Jin.
Jin grabbed his chopsticks and pulled his udon soup towards him. "Nice."
"The soup smells really good," Steve said, inhaling the aroma of his tonkotsu soba. "What did you get?"
Kazuya nodded towards his bowl. "Same as yours. Been some time since we ate soba."
"How long till Mom's hair appointment is over?" Jin suddenly piped up.
"I'm not actually sure," Kazuya frowned. "She actually fell asleep while the hairdresser was massaging the... the soapy stuff into her scalp, he had to wake her before bringing her over to the wash station."
"Soapy stuff?" Steve snorted. "Don't you mean shampoo?"
Kazuya shook his head. "No, it's the stuff they put on your head before the shampoo."
"What is she even doing?" Lars sighed, seeing how said hair appointment was keeping them from properly making their plans.
Kazuya shrugged. "I'm not really sure. Something about conditioner."
"Couldn't she just buy her own conditioner and wash her hair with it at home?" Jin frowned.
"If she wants to have her hair done once in a while, let her," Kazuya frowned at him. "It's not every day she gets to relax like this, give her a break."
Jin fell silent and turned back to his meal. "Sorry about that."
Kazuya sighed. "Don't act like you don't go to the salon once in a while as well."
"Fine, fine I do," Jin smiled slightly.
Lars chuckled. He nudged Kazuya. "Did she tell you anything?"
Kazuya shook his head as he checked his phone before picking up his chopsticks. "Nope."