Tekken Fan Fiction ❯ Clean Slate ❯ Broken Childhood ( Chapter 1 )

A month was a long enough time to let the shock and horror, the trauma and the loss, to wash over the family and fade in its intensity. The silence in the house, the lack of the deep, booming masculine voice, had become quite a bit more bearable than it had been at first, though admittedly, there were several within the family that found the time passing since Kazuya's fall made his absence more and more painful by the day.

Sakura had stayed in bed longer than most days this morning; it was Sunday, after all, what need was there to rise early? The kids were all asleep too, for once, so by eight in the morning there was still no need to get up. On the other side of the Queen-sized bed, the sheets were still neatly folded and unruffled; of course, they'd been unoccupied for a full month now.

Looking upon the unoccupied sheets made her think back to the past, before she met him. How lonely she'd been, not particularly attractive, and not particularly well-off; it would have been unlikely for her to marry a man she truly loved. She'd been incredibly lucky though, in meeting the dark, handsome Kazuya Mishima. The time they'd spent together before marriage was something she didn't think of often, because the time afterward was the time she enjoyed the most.

Lying there on one half of the bed, she closed her eyes, casting her mind back to those first few months. In the mornings, she would wake at dawn just to watch her husband sleep peacefully. To her, he was so beautiful...his unique features, with what would normally be a fearsome face; the squared-off chin was one of her favourite features of his face, along with those dark eyes. They were an endless abyss of pain and suffering, and bore what most people considered cold arrogance...she knew how to look deeper, and see the loneliness, and beyond that, the lust for love. She would lie there, watching the rise and fall of his powerful chest, and sometimes even rest her head against him, feeling the warmth of his solid muscles.

Though they had been happily married - in fact, it had been he that proposed to her - he was never particularly affectionate. She was often left wishing he would kiss her, lusting after his touch, but left without. He had always been a workaholic, and put business before his own pleasure. Still, she never went entirely without his affection...they did have four beautiful children after all...but it left her hungry for more.

Now more than ever she longed for his touch. For so many years she'd tried to change him, to bring him out of his shell, to make people accept him...of late, all she wanted to do was make sure he was happy. Forget the distant motives of healing unhealable wounds, just soothe the pain. It looks like she was too late for even that...with no word from the hospital of late, or this mysterious G-Corporation, she may have lost her last chance to make sure he knew that someone loved him.

So many of her friends had wondered why she stayed with such a cold person over the years, since there were 'plenty of nice men out there'...but none fulfilled that little need within her soul as he did, despite how little he showed his love. She considered herself truly lucky; a man that never raised his voice to her, never dreamed of striking her...he was rare in her circle of friends.

The more she thought about him, the more she missed him. His mere presence was comforting. Without him, she felt empty, vulnerable...

...which was why she shrieked and fell out of bed when the phone beside the bed rang. After a moment of mild panic, she scraped herself up to reach the phone, and answered it.

"Hello? Sakura Mishima speaking...oh yes, hello doctor, good news I hope...oh yes...yes it has been a while, hasn't it?...good progress, that's good to know...we can come and see him? His treatment's over? That's fantastic...yes, we'll be around shortly! Bai bai!"

She slammed the phone down and raced down the hall to wake the children. This was the moment they'd all been waiting for...

***

Sometimes, it seemed, the world would graciously stop turning for just a moment in time, for just long enough to enjoy the happiest moment in your life. Sometimes, they days were just perfect...not a cloud in the sky, warm weather, lush grass and birds in the trees chirping merrily above. And sometimes, a dream might just come true when you least expect it.

At least, it had for Hana. She was having the time of her life, running at top speed through the backyard as if her life depended on it. She giggled as the grass, recently cut short but growing steadily, tickled her bare toes; behind her, a deeper, masculine chuckle echoed her own. She was no match for him, no matter how much youthful energy she bore; he was a warrior, strong and stealthy, slender and powerful...she was just a child.

After a moment, she felt powerful arms grab her around the waist, and she fell to the thick floor of grass, protected within the arms that had captured her. She rolled over to see her father, grinning like he'd never grinned before, leaning over her. He was panting lightly, and his thick raven hair was ruffled considerably. Playfully, Hana reached up to brush aside the black locks and put them over his ears.

As she squirmed beneath him, Kazuya leaned down and kissed his daughter on the cheek. Her arms hugged him tightly around the neck, never wanting to let him go. He didn't let her go either...it was a rare moment when the two could spend time alone together in the large backyard of their home without the others disturbing them. All she ever wanted was a moment of her dear father's time, and to see him smile at her. And here he was, lounging about on the grass outside in his work clothes, playing with his youngest daughter. It was a dream come true.

The dream, so it seemed, was nothing but a dream. Hana awoke to the sounds of her mother rushing around the other end of the hall, shouting something excitedly. Her sleepy mind didn't register the commotion, she simply drifted off into a doze - but a troubled doze. That dream...she'd been having it so often ever since Kazuya had been hospitalised. The one thing she wanted the most was her father's affection, but it seemed now more than ever that she would never, even once in her life, get a moment of his utmost devotion.

She didn't have much room for thought when the door of the twin's room flew open and slammed against the wall beside it, with Sakura racing through a moment later. The overexcited woman raced over to Akako, shaking her violently through the covers, babbling almost too fast to comprehend.

"Akako! Hana! Wake up, the hospital just called! Your father is out of treatment! We can go and see him! Hurry up, get dressed!"

Neither twin needed a second order or a second's hesitation; they both flew out of bed and bolted toward the wardrobe, pulling off their pyjamas and throwing on whatever clothes they could find.

Within ten minutes, almost everyone was downstairs by one of the cars. They would take the sedan, since there were five of them today. The only one not present was Leiko, and the rest of the family was growing impatient very quickly - this was not the time to fuss with presentation! She finally tottered down, however, dressed in a short leather skirt, platform sandals, and a halter neck shirt. Her face was heavily made up too, with sultry dark eye shadow and lipstick.

Sakura scowled. "What do you think your father will say if he sees you dressed like that, young lady?!"

She simply shrugged nonchalantly and stepped into the front passenger seat of the sedan. Rolling her eyes, Akako climbed through the back seat to the far side, and sat down; Hiroshi followed through and sat in the middle, and Hana sat on the last seat left, closing the door as she went.

Within a moment Sakura drove down the long driveway and onto the road, heading for the hospital at barely within the speed limit. Luckily rush hour was over, and the hospital was close; within a quarter of an hour they were racing in the front doors and toward the hospital reception.

The receptionist recognised the family after spotting Hiroshi; the tell-tale Mishima eyebrows were most prominent on him out of all the children. She smiled, and pointed down the hall. "You'll find him in ward 3A, just around that next bend on your right."

Without hesitation - though Leiko almost fell over a few times in her ridiculous shoes - they scampered down the hall, and found the doctor standing outside the door of the ward, waiting for them.

"Ah, Mrs Mishima, I've been expecting you." He was standing in front of a closed door. "Before you go in, I want to give you a brief run-through of what the G-Corporation has done."

He waved the family toward a row of seats in the hall, and stood before them as they sat down. "After discovering the brain damage that resulted from that fall to the concrete floor under such force, we decided the only way to save him was to rebuild the damaged tissue with a new, previously un-tested method of therapy. The G-Corporation has technology that, using an existing DNA template, rebuilds damaged tissue according to the template. The best DNA to use is that from the early twenties, because it is from full adulthood, but is also as young as possible, thus limiting the risk of a slower than expected recovery.

"The procedure was a success, as you have heard, but has yielded some unexpected results. The first is a positive one, from most points of view. The technology is more useful than anyone predicted, and within the time that Mr Mishima was being treated, his entire body had been rebuilt to match the 24-year-old DNA sample we used."

Sakura quickly realised that it meant that he looked younger than he was a month ago...definitely not a bad thing.

"The second result is a little less positive. The damage, whilst it has been healed, has been replaced by new tissue. We don't know for certain whether existing brain functions in the repaired areas are still there, or if certain parts of his mind have been completely wiped..."

"You mean..." Sakura's hand gripped Hiroshi's painfully tightly.

The doctor shrugged. "We don't know anything for certain yet. He doesn't need life support, so his vital functions are undamaged...but he's not woken up yet, so it's impossible to tell the extend of the damage, if there was any lasting result at all..."

The Mishima family glanced nervously from one to another.

"But you're welcome to come in and see him now, he's just sleeping. He could wake up at any moment..." He turned and opened the door to the ward, and stood aside to let them inside.

Sakura went in first, her children following hesitantly behind her. Lying on the single bed in the room was the man they'd come to see, sleeping peacefully beneath the white sheets.

Nervously, Sakura sat down on the chair beside the bed, and stared down at her beloved's face. What a surprise...the doctor hadn't been exaggerating at all! He looked at least 24 years old, if not younger; the fine lines around his eyes were gone, his cheekbones weren't as obvious as they were before, his lips were softer and fuller, and his hairline had returned to its original place further down his forehead. He was the same as when she first met him, and she felt herself very quickly falling in love with him all over again.

Akako stood beside the bedside, and looked directly downward, to see Kazuya's hand. It didn't seem as bony as before, but that was clearly because he looked so much younger. There was a drip jammed into the back of his hand too...the idea of having a large needle shoved into her hand made her shudder.

Leiko ran a hand through his thick black hair. "Wow, Dad actually looks kinda hot now. Wait yuck, that sounded so wrong..."

Hiroshi giggled and rested his arms against the bed. "Is Daddy gonna be okay, Okaasan?"

"I don't know." She stroked the back of her hand over his pale face...lack of sunlight, nutrition and life had left him looking a little...dead. "We'll find out when he wakes up..."

***

There were voices all around him, but he couldn't tell where they were coming from. Everything was so dark, so cold, so empty. What had happened? Where was he?

The darkness bore no answers for his questions.

Slowly, he became aware of his surroundings. There was the stench of disinfectant, hanging in cold air. He was lying down on a bed somewhere. The back of his left hand hurt a little as he tried to move it...

***

"Okaasan, his hand is moving!" Akako pointed excitedly. "Otousan, wake up! Wake up, wake up!" She shook his arm firmly with both little hands.

***

That made his hand sting rather than just hurt. What the heck was going on?

He forced his eyes open, but was met with blinding white light. He squinted, and the light eventually became tolerable. When he looked about, five faces stared down intently at him. It was a surprise to say the least, pleasant or not.

A middle-aged woman smiled to the point of almost exploding with happiness, and squeezed his shoulder affectionately with a hand. "How are you, sweetheart?"

What the Hell?

Only one thing for it. "Who are you?"