TEKKEN 8

Chapter VII: Intoxicating the Prey [Part I]

Rochefort Mansion, 10:26pm

Jin held a glass of wine, swirling the red contents around in the glass. His gaze was filled with intent, thoughtful of the possible outcomes of the night. The leader's sense of threat did not ease, in fact, it only heightened. Having a gut feeling that someone in the crowd was watching him and the other three at his table, he downed the rest of a sweeter-tasting wine. A wine that he deemed best suited for him out of all ten wine bottles that stood on the table.

These bottles were brought by none other than Hwoarang, who whisked the women away into a secluded area (after seeing the dull events occurring at Lili's party) where they can spice up the occasion for the birthday girl. How did he manage to get his hands on that many alcholic drinks? It was a mystery. Jin did not bother to ask.

Instead, he sat in his chair and sipped his wine, staying on guard for the expected enemy, or enemies.

"See, Lili? Isn't this more fun?" The hooded man heard his cousin ask the girl in question. Asuka's cheeks were tinted a light pink, matching her best friend's, who giggled in response. "I admit, it is, but I would prefer not to get in trouble for underaged drinking." Despite her words, the princess finished another glass, and asked for a different flavor.

"You should've gotten stronger drinks, Hwoarang." The Osakan reprimanded, to which the man's jaw dropped in shock. "Excuse me for not wanting you two to become pissed drunk." The Korean snatched away the glasses from the blonde and brunette, causing them to whine and moan in protest. "That's enough for you anyway, ladies."

"No~!" Asuka allowed the word to trail off as she latched on to the man's arm. "I'm sorry, Hwoarang." Her words were indistinct, giving the red head more of a reason to end the wine tasting session. "No more for you, sweetheart."

"Don't call me that!"

"So you want me to call you 'babe' instead?"

"Hell no."

"What do you want me to call you then?"

"Call me by my name, idiot."

"There's no need for name-calling, now is there, Asuka?"

She shot him a glare, then her facial expression softened into a pout that the biker found adorable.

Jin glanced upwards, invisibly showing his contempt for their shameless displays and bickering in front of him. He wished to backhand both of them for wasting time with trivial matters, in his opinion. Alas, knowing he couldn't do such a thing to attract the public eye, he diverted his attention elsewhere to escape the offensive sight.

His eyes landed in Lili, and to his discomfort, she was staring back at him with a haze in her eyes due to the alcohol. The young lady seemed hesitant, as if she was preparing herself to speak to him.

"I want to thank you again for defending me earlier, properly this time." Before he could wonder what she meant by that, the eighteen-year-old placed her hands on his tense shoulders. She smiled a bona fide smile, oblivious to the possible chance that the drinks were influencing her actions. Or maybe she was aware and simply did not mind.

Lili closed the small zone of space between them and kissed Jin on the cheek, smiling genuinely as she did so. Her lips made contact with his mask, of course, making Jin Kazama almost recoil at the unfamiliarity. Almost. He chose to let her do as she pleased for that short moment, reminding himself that she was only expressing her gratitude.

The Zaibatsu leader inwardly sighed in relief when she pulled away. As for Lili, she sat back into her seat, but adjusted her chair to face him at a better angle.

"My apologies, sir, I didn't introduce myself to you before." The princess grabbed his hand into her own and shook it formally. "My name is Emilie De Rochefort, but you may call me Lili."

Jin did not reply as he believed it was pointless for her to introduce herself to a man that came to her birthday party, to begin with, especially since that said man knew much more of her than she may be comfortable with. Not to her knowledge, and he would prefer it to remain that way until he sees fit.

The blonde waited rather patiently for him to give her a name to match his masked face, but it never came.

The man peered behind her head, viewing no brunette or red head with them at the table. They were a distance away, snacking on the rapidly depleting refreshments like pigs.

"Sir? Are you alright?" Lili's face was written in concern as she tapped his shoulder. He nodded his head briefly, his other awaiting answer not said. He 'prayed' to whatever deity to make her previous question be discarded from her memory, for the most crystal clear of reasons.

"Are you sure?" She inquired again, and was presented with the same response--a nod of the head. Does he not have a voice?

"I'm sorry, may you use your words, please?"

The nerve of this woman asking him such an absurd question. Certainly, he couldn't, not in a time or scenario like this. Lili or Asuka shouldn't know their intentions until the moment comes about.

This time, the Devil gene-bearer shook his head with his teeth grinding together, his stoical expression starting to waver behind the black mask.

Her eyebrow raised in skepticism.

The Monegasque knew he was not mute. She heard him say one word, a single word, which stopped that old man from damaging her dignity any further. Yet, her savior wouldn't utter a syllable to her now.

What was his deal?

End of Chapter VII [Part I]

A/N: I know, it's short...Please bear with me here. I had the chapter mostly finished in my notes, and it deleted! :-(
But, I wanted to update. I forgot a lot of what I originally wrote, but it was something like this. I'm sorry!

Hopefully, this wasn't too bad. I'll get back on my game next chapter.

Hold on, one more thing! I said this in the last author's note, but I'll say it again: If there are any instances where you believe a character is acting a bit OOC, it's all for the sake of the plot.

I feel this would apply to this chapter and part two of this chapter.

(I'll be quiet now)

Thank you so much for reading!

-LOVE to ALL~

-Cat, shut up and work on the next chapter!