Afterwards: The Fourth Tekken Novel

Predicament

Adam's eye twitched when Jin finished whatever he had to say. The blond just stared at him in horror.
"What?!" Adam finally exclaimed, hands gripping onto his head. "What the what?! And you're only telling me this now?!"
Jin shrugged. "Even we only got to know of this only two days ago." He sighed. "Such short notice, isn't it. As if it isn't enough that that we just had an extreme comeback. We're having another."
Adam groaned. "Jin, you know how serious this is, right?! Heihachi coming back... that's predictable. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually managed to survive the lava."
"Please don't say that," Jin sighed. "This younger much nicer clones was enough to give us nightmares as it is."
"Exactly!" Adam groaned again. "Jin, she's the real deal! Oh, what will I tell Nina?"
"Nothing," Jin said, leaning back in his office chair. "She's planning to make it a surprise."
Adam shook his head. "You know how bad this is gonna be, right? And you guys are planning to do it in Lee's mansion too. Does he know about this?"
Jin nodded. "Our friends have already informed him. Even Heihachi knows about this."
"And Nina doesn't," Adam sighed. "Jin, I'm not sure how I can hide this from her. There's almost a week left for this. It's gonna feel like... like I'm cheating on her or something."
"You're exaggerating, man," Jin chuckled, leaning forward. "I'll try to help. Maybe send you out on a business trip or something."
Adam shook his head. "You know she's gonna want to come with me."
Jin nodded. "I know." He sighed. "Can't you just keep your mouth shut about it."
"Even if I don't say anything, she's gonna know," Adam frowned, pointing at his face. "You see this face, lad? She's gonna take one look at it and know that I'm hiding something. And I'll probably tell her that I'm cheating on her because somehow that seems like a safer option right now, compared to the real reason."
"Enough with the cheating story," Jin groaned, getting up. He walked over to Adam. "Just think of it as a surprise gift for her. You're good at hiding those things from her, right?"
Adam shrugged. "Well, yeah. That's because I know she'll love that. Is she going to love this? Possibly not. Imagine the pain she went through, Jin. She's not going to take this lightly, I'm sure."
Jin frowned as he averted his gaze. "And that's what scares me too."
He looked at Adam worriedly sitting in front of his desk, fidgeting and pulling at his fingers. Jin noticed that was a habit of his whenever he wasn't sure of something, but there was another thing he noticed of him. Adam acted fast when it came to sticky situations and somehow he manages to get out of things. More times than he could count.
"You know what, Adam, I think you can handle this," Jin finally said. "You're good at this sort of thing."
"What?" Adam said in surprise.
Jin chuckled. "You're like that guy from Bullet Train, they call him Ladybug."
"I don't think I read that book," Adam sighed. "But I'm guessing his a nervous piece of work."
"Yep," Jin snorted. "But he knows how to get out of critical situations. Like you."
Adam scoffed. "Do I? I moped for years after Anna framed me for cheating on Nina all those years ago. I didn't know how to get out of that now, did I?"
"You managed to push her off, rejected her advances too," Jin reminded. "And I'm glad Anna respected that. But you were scared to confront Nina and tell her everything, and that's understandable. Nina is scary."
Adam couldn't help but smile at that. "You're right about that. She really is scary, but she's my scary. I didn't know how to explain to her since what she saw would confirm the opposite of whatever I'd say. So, I didn't confront her since it would only hurt her more."
"But I think you know what to do now," Jin placed a hand on Adam's shoulder as he walked past his chair before returning to the other side of the desk. "I have faith in you for staying calm and keeping this from her."
"You make it sound so easy," Adam groaned. "But I guess I can try." He nodded slowly. "Alright. But maybe just give me a reason to stay longer at work so that I don't have to face her at home."
Jin tilted his head in surprise. "Don't you guys come to work together? You guys came in Steve's car today, didn't you?"
Adam nodded. "His Aston. But yes, I need a reason to stay away from home a little."
"Just go sit in another room," Jin simply said. "That mansion of yours is huge. Or maybe cook for her? That's enough of a reason to avoid her too, right?"
"I guess," Adam sighed. "Alright, I'll try to hide it from her. That is... provided that it doesn't eat me up first. Then I would just burst."
Jin sighed. "Where's the gag order when you need one?"
Adam shook his head. "Gag orders don't work when you sleep in the same bed with the person you're supposed to keep it from."
A knock sounded on the door, so Jin got up and went to answer it. To Adam's dismay, it was Nina.
"Why is it locked?" She asked as she brushed past Jin. "You know, usually we can just waltz right in." Her gaze fell on her husband sitting in front of Jin's desk. "Are you two up to something?"
Adam got a sudden idea and got up. "Yes! Jin was just telling me about some top secret... project that he's working on."
"What kinda project?" Nina smiled, interested to learn what it was as well.
"It's still in the works," Adam quickly said. "So... we can't tell anyone about this yet. Not until it's confirmed, at least."
Jin smiled to himself. 'There he is, working his magic.' He thought. Jin turned to Nina and nodded curtly, making himself seem serious like the boss he was. "You will be the first to know once it's out."
Nina scratched he head and shrugged. "Okay..." she handed a file to Jin. "This should go to Kazuya. Some stuff for the G Corp."
Jin nodded and took it. "I'll pass it to him when he gets home."
Nina nodded, bowed slightly, then gave Adam a smack on the back before leaving. "Alright, continue your discussion. I'm out."
And just like that she was out.
"Saw what I meant?" Jin smirked. "You got us out of it in a flash."
Adam couldn't help but grin at that. "Right, I'm the guy that arranged all of that in Yakushima. I'm sure I have a few more tricks up my sleeve."
He dismissed himself, smiling, but the smile faded as soon as he left Jin's office. As much as he can get out of it, he can't do it forever. Adam sighed as he entered his office, meaning to write all of this down in his work journal so that he wouldn't burst.