TEKKEN 8

Chapter VII: Intoxicating the Prey [Part II]

Rochefort Mansion, 10:47pm

Hwoarang assisted his drunken Osakan woman to the refreshments table with the goal of sobering her up as much as he could've. After handing her a glass of water, he frowned, seeing her gulp down the water in two seconds. Although this was apart of his poorly organized plan, he regretted every minute of it. He had taken a liking to Asuka and Lili in the span of a half hour, and knowing the impending results of this night, he could only feel as if he betrayed them already.

He ate to his heart's content with her, inhaling any food in his arm's reach, but it would not change anything. If Jin Kazama asked the women himself to work for him, they would explode. Yell, scream, object, threaten--for sure--attack him. Anyone knew that. What would happen if they somehow do end up in the Mishima Zaibatsu? How would things go from there?

The red head glanced behind his shoulder to see Jin from their corner, finding a rare sight. Lili was kissing Jin on his cheek (his mask)!

Hwoarang could not believe his eye. His jaw could not have held itself up, his body felt paralyzed. It was as if his hand had a mind of its own--it picked up his phone and snapped a picture before they could separate in time. A rather dramatic reaction, yes, as a little kiss would not kill Jin, but for an unexpected situation he was not prepared to witness. Worry not, his unrequited interests were aimed at a certain 'lady' Kazama. Another question popped in his head about the interaction between those two, but he shrugged it off after giving it some thought, deciding to blame the alcohol.

"Biker boy." The man sent a playful look to Asuka's way in reply to her call. "Yes, Busty?" He countered her name for him with a name of his own for her. The female Kazama punched his shoulder, her cheeks painted red. "Pervert! I hate you!"

"I hate you, too." He spat at her with such malice, it made her pink face turn pale.

"You do?" Her inner eyebrows slanted, sadness and fear in her eyes. The view of a dejected Asuka made him feel at fault for pulling a joke on her like this.

"Hell no." He chuckled when she turned furious. "You idiot! You scared me!" He blocked several attacks from the woman, finding amusement in her reaction.

Hwoarang roped her in with an arm and pulled her close. She turned her nose up at his apology, crossing her arms in his one-sided hug. He comically protruded his lips at her refusal to acknowledge him.

"Oh c'mon, Asuka, I said I'm sorr--"

An abrupt dark flash escaped from their peripheral vision, causing them to jolt, as they have not noticed this before. The sense of a figure watching them cut off their contact, both withdrawing from each other in unison. They scanned the area and the masked individuals with their eyes, doing their best to be subtle. What the hell was that?

"Asuka, did you feel that, too? Or was it just me?" He whispered in her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist to give off the impression that he was merely embracing her.

"No, I felt it. Someone was staring directly at us." She caught on with his idea and circled her arms around the nape of his neck.

His gut feeling from earlier was correct, he feared.

And Asuka was now conscious of that damn mole. Would this benefit his plan-as-he-goes in some way? He doubted it. All he saw was more complications that could jeopardize these people.