Afterwards: The Fourth Tekken Novel

Errands

Heihachi was taken by surprise when Kiara told him that she would no longer be working for him starting from the next day.
"But why?" Heihachi asked. "Am I a bad boss?"
Kiara shook her head. "No, Sir. It's not you. It's the house."
Heihachi couldn't help but snort. "Why, is it haunted? I won't be surprised if it is."
"No, the problem is not exactly the house, Sir, more like Alixi," Kiara explained.
"What did she do?" Kazuya's words from just a few hours prior played in rhythmic tune on Heihachi's mind. "Did the lights go out, scary music, locked doors?"
Kiara nodded. "She went into lockdown since these guys forgot to leave the safety key behind. And I was stranded here alone."
Heihachi groaned. "Gosh, why did I get that upgrade in the first place?" He sighed when he looked at Kiara. "I'll take the system down first thing in the morning. Will you still be leaving?"
"Well..." Kiara turned to look at the other servants, all of whom were giving her pleading looks, then sighed as she turned back to Heihachi. "Fine, I'll stay if you take Alixi down. Maybe limit her to your phone?"
Heihachi shrugged. "Nah, I don't actually fancy having an Artificial Intelligence friend."
Alixi made a sound.
"Yeah, I'll take her down right now," Heihachi said as he proceeded towards the control panel and turned the house's system off. "I think she heard what Kazuya said," he remarked.
"Yeah, your family members must've given her ideas, Sir," Kiara sighed. "I think you should tell them about this, they would have a good laugh."
"I'm sure they would," Heihachi shrugged. He regarded her for a moment and bowed slightly. "I apologise for whatever Alixi caused."
Kiara shook her head and bowed back. "It's okay, Sir. It wasn't your fault."
Heihachi nodded, a slight smile on his face. "Get some rest, Kiara. We've got some stuff to do tomorrow."
"Alright, Sir," Kiara nodded. "Goodnight."

Shasha came home earlier than Anna and Lee had after going out with her friends.
"So how was dinner?" Shasha asked.
Lee shrugged. "It was okay. Heihachi was there."
Shasha snorted. "Makes me glad to know that I wasn't."
"Lucky you," Anna sighed. "Anyway, you got any plans tomorrow? You can follow us to work, ya know?"
"Well, I do," Shasha sighed. "Xiao asked me to help her with some project."
"What project?" Lee asked, curious to know what the pigtailed young woman was up to.
Shasha shrugged. "I dunno, some shelf, I think? Requires teamwork, but Miharu's out of town and her parents would be out too. Alisa's coming too."
When there weren't any more questions, Shasha went up to her room. She suddenly felt like a teen being questioned by her parents. Then again, Lee and Anna weren't that far off. She decided to write for a bit, then turned in for the night.

Heihachi told the rest that he would be a little late for their 'planning spree' since he had another errand to run.
"I will only be home in the evening," Heihachi told Kiara at breakfast. "So don't wait for me at lunch."
Kiara nodded. "Noted, Sir."
"By the way, has the incense supplies arrived?" Heihachi asked next, using a dainty little spoon to scrape what's left of his bread pudding in the bowl.
Kiara regretfully shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Sir. They said they provided same-day delivery, but that apparently it only applies if you order their goods before three."
Heihachi sighed, but nodded. "I take it they're coming today?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Alright," Heihachi nodded. He frowned at her slightly, remembering her horrific encounter from the night before. "Are you alright? After whatever that happened yesterday?"
Kiara shrugged. "Well, it does kinda haunt me whenever I turns the phone on and I see Libra, you know, the assistant on the phone?"
Heihachi nodded slowly. "Yes, I suppose it must be hard to move on from that. Tell you what, why don't you take some days off?"
Kiara looked at him in surprise. "But... Sir... I don't think I have anything to do on the break..."
"Maybe you can take the time to go shopping?" Heihachi suggested. "Or a walk on the beach? Eat out? You didn't even go out yesterday when the others did."
Kiara shrugged. "Just want to do my job since the security gang were out too."
"You should have just left, seeing how Alixi was perfectly capable of keeping intruders out," Heihachi frowned. "Go on, take a day off. Look around Tokyo a bit, live a little."
"I'm sorry, but I think I'll pass on that," Kiara shook her head. "Maybe I'll look forward to the holiday in the future."
Heihachi finished his meal, carefully thinking all the while, then got up. "How about this? You can come with me."
"Where are we going?" Kiara asked, a little confused since Heihachi never once invited anyone of his staff to go out with him. Even the driver was needed a lot less now and was spending more time chatting up the security guards.
"To run a few errands," Heihachi said. "Maybe I'll take the limo out, seeing how I technically have to be in style for this one."
Kiara's eyes gleamed for a moment, though she tried her best to hide it. Who wouldn't flinch at the thought of riding in a limousine?
"Sure, Sir," she said at last. "I'll tell Hilda about the incense you'll be receiving."
Heihachi nodded as he stepped away from the table, pushing the chair back in. "I'll go get ready, you want to change into something else?"
'Why would I?' Kiara wanted to say, but didn't. Though the confused movement of her eyes did give it away.
"Alright, come however you want," Heihachi left the room.
Isla, the maid that had come to clean the dining table, gave the dumbfounded Kiara a nudge. "Look at you, standing here like a statue." She smirked. "Come on, you're looking forward to this, right?"
Kiara's face reddened in embarrassment. "What do you mean?" She was afraid of what it might look like, seeing how even one of Heihachi's... friends thought she was dating him too. She still had no idea what their relationship was with Heihachi. Kiara could tell that the whole jing-bang that came in the day before were related to him, seeing how the men all shared the same kind of bushy brows and funky hair. They weren't the same hairstyle, but they were all miraculously defying the laws of gravity.
Kiara turned to Isla, still expecting a reply since she was smiling to herself, chuckling slightly, while she cleaned the table. She looked up at Kiara and started laughing again.
"What's the joke?" Kiara sighed. "Come on, Isla."
"Well, the boss must've taken pity on you, seeing how you've been sitting here like a house mouse instead of accepting the day off like any of us," Isla explained. "You didn't even come with us to dinner last night and ended up facing the wrath of Evil Alixi." She gave her a concerned look. "You alright?"
Kiara shrugged. "I guess. But he wants to take me out today. Well, I guess it's good that I'm going out after quite some time."
Isla cackled. "You're such a House Mouse, Lass."
Kiara couldn't help but smile at that. "Can you tell Hilda about the package that's coming? Unbox it too."
"Sure thing," Isla nodded. "Go on, go powder your nose a bit."
Kiara shook her head and went off to her chamber to freshen up a bit and get some things before following Heihachi to whatever errand that he was planning to run.