Tekken Fan Fiction ❯ Half Pure Half Evil ❯ Secretive Devil ( Chapter 4 )

Note from Michelle: The song you see in this chapter is "Running Away" by and copyrighted to Hoobastank.

Half Pure. Half Evil.

Chapter Four: Secreted Devil

By: Michelle

Xiaoyu mindlessly rolled a shiny red apple between her small hands. All morning and afternoon she pondered endlessly about yesterday's mishap in the pavilion with her dark guest. She had barely paid any attention to her professor's lecture from this early morning and because of that, the intimidating math problems that were assigned baffled her immensely. Putting that aside, she followed Emma to the kitchen to busy her hands with something, anything to get her mind of the man who abandoned her during their blissful act. Xiao picked up a knife and began to peel her apple. With her mind elsewhere, her knife slipped and imbedded itself into her finger. She jumped slightly, dropping her knife and stubbornly watched the small stream of blood slide down her slender finger.

"My lady!" Emma dropped the rolling pin and hastily wiped her hands on her apron as she rushed to examine Xiaoyu's bloody hand.

"It-it's just a small cut," Xiao stammered, a little embarrassed at her clumsiness.

"It's that man, isn't it?" Emma shook her head as she washed her mistress's finger and bandaged it carefully. "He has clouded your mind all morning, hasn't he?"

Xiao opened her mouth to object then shut it on second thought; there was no use to argue. She had been pretty obvious all morning and Emma knew her too well to hide anything.

"Go along now, my lady," Emma said as she returned to rolling the dough. "I think its best that you stay out of the kitchen."

Xiaoyu lingered around a bit before she left. It was only late afternoon and already she wished it was night time so she could hide away under her covers. The day was going to be a long one. A long, but beautiful one at least. Outside, the weather was as gorgeous as it had been yesterday except with more clouds littering the skies. Xiao smiled as she thought of Tyson, her beloved stallion. It had been awhile since she has gone horseback riding with Tyson, and today was a perfect day to do so. Happy to have finally thought of something to occupy herself from boredom, she headed towards the stables.

"Miss Ling!" a butler called to her just as she was departing through the back door.

"Yes?"

"Your father would like a word with you," he sounded out of breath, "he's in the west study and claims that it's urgent."

Xiao's pretty face knitted with puzzlement as she hurriedly made her way up to the west wing of the estate to her father's bidding. Her father rarely had any urgent messages for her and she wondered what the problem was. She reached the grand wooden doors to her father's study and opened it quietly. Her father stood behind his desk and he seemed to be conversing with some other person whom she couldn't make out. The person said something and her father laughed, throwing his head back as he chortled loudly. Odd, he doesn't seem too distressed with anything urgent. Mr. Ling looked up to see his daughter's head poking out between the doors and he raised his hand.

"Xiaoyu, love, finally you come at last," her father declared loudly.

"Is something wrong, father?" Xiao asked suspiciously as she walked in.

"Course not," her father sat himself down.

"But you said it was urgent," she was getting impatient. Tyson was waiting for her.

"Ah, yes. What are your plans for today?"

"I was just on my way out to the stables to take Tyson out."

"Excellent," her father proclaimed happily, then turned his attention to the person who sat unnoticeably in the large chair, it's back facing her. "Kazama, why don't you join her and view outside the estates?"

Xiaoyu stiffened when the man in the chair stood up. It was him again. He gave her a knowing smirk as if he knew she felt uneasy with his sudden presence. She felt overwhelmed with an unexpected feeling of timidity and shyness under his smothering gaze. Quickly, she racked her brain for an excuse not to spend the day with this man who made her knees feel like water, "I-I was just going to go out to the forest to study."

"Good, you may enlighten our guest with your studies."

"But-" she began to object.

"What do you say, Kazama?" Mr. Ling interrupted. "For the remainder of the day, my daughter will be your hostess for whatever you wish to see or do."

Jin raised his eyebrows at the old man. He should be more careful in how he worded things pertaining to his daughter. Shaking away the dirty thoughts from his mind, Jin looked discreetly over at Xiaoyu. She wore a buttercup-yellow dress with her hair loosely tied back with a matching yellow ribbon. Her sweet face was in a deep frown, as if she was fighting some inner distress. Her emotions played on her face so perceptibly that he found himself drawn to her by some compelling force he could not resist. How could he not spend the day with this enchanting little tid bit?

"Of course," Jin replied coolly.

"Excellent! Xiaoyu, love, do show Mr. Kazama a good time," Mr. Ling insisted gleefully.

Without looking up, she complied, "Yes, father."

~*~

Xiaoyu nervously walked down the corridor that led to the stables with Jin close behind her. They had to stop by her own private study to retrieve her books that she planned on studying since she practically missed the whole lecture her professor gave this morning. The silence made her feel perturbed and her mind screamed at her to think of something to say to him while her stomach constricted itself into tight knots. There was just something about him that made her feel so uneasy and to top it off, he seemed to enjoy it. Why else would he deliberately walk behind her? She clasped her hands in front of her to stop them from fretfully fumbling about. Not a single word was uttered from either Xiao or Jin until they reached the stables.

"I will be taking Tyson out today," Xiao said to the stable boy as she handed him her book bag to saddle with Tyson.

"Who is this Tyson?" Jin asked to start a conversation. He watched her intently as she picked up an apple slice from a bucket and walked up to a stable. The sound of a horse's neigh was heard and the big black nose of the great stallion peeped out from the stable's opening. It playfully nudged Xiao's chin with his muzzle and she squealed with joy, grabbing the mane of the horse with her small little hands. The black stallion returned his joy by mischievously grabbing Xiao's yellow ribbon by his teeth and tugged it free, allowing her hair to cascade down in flowing strands down her back. Her laughter filled the air like music and Jin stood unmoving, completely captivated by her.

Xiao turned to the frozen Jin, her face flushed a pretty pink and she wore a beaming smile on her face. "This is Tyson," she said cheerfully, giving Tyson another apple slice. "Do you ride, Mr. Kazama?"

"Jin," he insisted. "And yes, I have ridden back in my early years with my mother," he paused. "I, uh, may be a bit rusty."

Xiaoyu smiled at that, but quickly turned her attention back to Tyson. "You know you could have just said no."

"Pardon?" he was slightly confused by her sudden change of mood. "No to who?"

"To my father," she turned back to him; her expression was now serious and gone was the playful Xiao he had just witnessed. "If you didn't want to come you should have just told him so."

But I do want to come, he wanted to say, but resisted against it. Instead he said, "It's all right."

Xiaoyu eyed him suspiciously for a moment. Her light brown eyes were almost piercing and Jin was slightly taken back. Why was she looking at him like that? This wasn't the cheerful Xiao he was with yesterday at the pavilion. Then, finally, it dawned on him. She didn't trust him after the way he had quickly abandoned her.

"Very well," she said finally just as the stable boy had finished saddling Tyson. She said something to the boy and he hurried off again, later returning with a large brown steed in tow. "You shall ride Khan," she patted Khan's nose. "He's easy to handle once he gets used to you."

Jin accepted the reigns from the boy, but quickly dropped them as he rushed to Xiaoyu's side when she mounted Tyson. Holding her gently by the waist, he lifted her with ease. Thinking that it was the stable boy who had helped her mount Tyson, Xiao was unaware that it was Jin's lingering hands on her tiny waist. She stretched forward and grabbed her yellow ribbon from Tyson's mouth. Tucking her reigns under chin, Xiao reached behind her neck and gathered her long flowing hair by her nape, tying it back tightly with her ribbon. When finished, she looked over at Jin and saw that he had already mounted and waited patiently. He was watching her intensely again and she felt herself blushing.

"Do try to keep up, Mr. Kazama," Xiao lightly flicked her reigns, "I enjoy speed."

Jin followed Xiaoyu's lead by flicking his reigns as well, but Khan reared and leaned back, kicking his front feet high in the air. Xiao snapped her attention to Jin who was trying to calm down the angry stallion. Alarmed, Xiao tried to stretch her arm over to stroke Khan's nose to calm him, but the mare wouldn't stop his thrashing, he wildly shook his head about. Any minute now she expected Jin to dismount the wild stallion and tromp back to the mansion. However, to her utter amazement, Jin remained calm and relaxed.

"Easy now…easy," he soothed, slightly loosening the reigns of the horse when Khan lowered his head to buck. "Easy…" he coaxed as he gently stroked the livid horse's mane, and very, very slowly Khan steadied. The low soothing voice calmed the horse's raging temper and little by little Khan recuperated back to his alleviate mood.

Xiao sat and watched the episode unfold before her with eyes as bright as pearls. Everybody, even her own father, feared the ancient and violent Khan. Known for his bad temper and mood swings, Khan rarely allowed anyone to control him. He never took a liking to anyone and Xiao was his only exception, but even with her he still bucked and reared disobediently.

"Looks like I haven't completely lost my touch," Jin gave barely audible sigh as he petted Khan.

"I-I should of warned you that Khan has a bit of a temper," Xiao stammered.

Jin held up his free hand, "Let us be on our way before Khan gets riled up again and fling me off like he almost did."

Hiding her smile, Xiao tugged on Tyson's reigns and lead the way.

Jin must admit; the country side away from the estate was tremendously beautiful that it nearly rivaled the lush gardens he had perceived yesterday. But the best of all of it was the forest they had entered. Slowly, Jin carefully led Khan behind Xiao and he sat utterly amazed by his surroundings. It looked almost too familiar to the forest he had spent his childhood in while living with his mother. The canopy that consisted of large branches of trees seemed to spread on forever, little beams of light escaping through the openings. The sound of rushing water can be heard and from far away, he could see a visible mist that added onto the lush green scenery.

"This is my favorite spot to study," Xiao said as she led him down a small hill and through a small path that lead to a stream of rushing water. Jin nearly gasped at the beautiful sight of nature that he was deprived from all these years of living in the city. A small waterfall cascaded down into the stream high above large rocks heaped by nature. Jin closed his eyes, loving the feel of the light mist from the waterfall on his face.

"It's magnificent," he breathed.

Xiao smiled delightfully, happy that he enjoyed her own private place as well. Seeing that he was in a state of contemplation with his closed eyes, she quietly dismounted. Her feet dangled a foot off the ground with her rear end stuck out as she slowly slid off of Tyson bit by bit. She felt her dress get caught on the saddle and began riding up her backside and she winced, hoping that Jin's eyes were still closed so he wouldn't witness her exposed bollocks. Finally, the tips of her toes touched the ground and she allowed the rest of her to slide off Tyson with ease. She composed herself and smoothed her dress down before she turned to see Jin…grinning broadly.

"Don't be shy to ask for assistance, my lady," he said, laughing lightheartedly.

She felt her face grow hot with embarrassment and quickly turned away from his intense stare. She wanted to kick herself for humiliating herself with her own blunder. No more embarrassments for today! Quickly, she unlatched her book bag from her saddle and tied Tyson's reigns to a low tree branch.

"I must say you are matching it up quite nicely today," Jin teased from up top Khan, "Yellow dress with yellow panties."

Xiaoyu snapped her head towards him and gasped. Before she had any control of her reflexes, she threw a small book in Jin's direction. The second she threw it she regretted it immediately. Instead of hitting him square in the shoulder as she had aimed for, it had barely grazed his arm and slapped Khan on the backside. Khan neighed piercingly and angrily reared. Xiao fell over backward in fright before Khan's hooves could trample her. She heard Jin utter savage curses that she had never heard before as he tried to maneuver Khan's dangerous hooves away from Xiao. It only took Jin a moment to get Khan's beastly temper under control. Once he did, he dismounted quickly and tied Khan's reigns next to Tyson's.

Dazed for a moment, Xiaoyu sat on the ground with her pretty yellow dress surrounding her in a halo miasma. She gasped when she saw Jin's big figure stomping in her direction, his face was blackened with fury. She held her hands up to her face, fearing that he would strike her but instead he tucked his large hands under her armpits and lifted her high above the ground.

"Do you have any idea what could have happened to you if I hadn't steered Khan's lashing hooves away from you in time?!" he demanded and shook her slightly, his voice low and thunderous.

Xiao swallowed nervously, not knowing what to say. She looked down at him, he looked so angry that she wanted to hide away from him like a child. But he had her tightly held high above the ground by her underarms, her feet dangling a couple feet off the ground and there was no way for her to get out of this predicament. "I-I didn't know what's come over me," she said softly once she had found her voice, "that was childish thing to do."

Jin's face quickly softened and he clasped her tiny body to his in a tight embrace, nearly crushing her. "You scared me, little one," he said quietly into her hair.

Realizing that she was still being held suspended off the ground by him, he swiftly tucked his arm under her knees and carried her off. He sat down by the nearest tree with her settled neatly in his lap. She had her face deliberately turned away from him and he cupped her chin with his palm, bringing her face to meet his. What he saw was nothing he had expected. Large drops of tears came streaming down her face in waterfalls that couldn't possibly be hidden or stopped. Xiao tried to stand up but his arms tightened around her. She struggled against him again but he held her firmly and his hand lifted to pull her face to his chest. Very gently, he smoothed her hair back and rubbed her back as if he was soothing a child. The tenderness of his caresses and his unexpected gentleness as he soothed her made her cry even harder. No one had ever held her as she cried and her shoulder shook as sobs racked her body. She cried until his shirt was drenched with her tears. When there were no more tears left, Xiaoyu lifted her head from his tear soaked shirt and sniffled, her nose red and her eyes puffy.

"What's wrong, little one?" he asked gently.

The closeness of him and the deep tenderness in his voice nearly set her off again but she held it in and blurted, "Every time I'm around you something goes wrong and I behave like a raving lunatic."

She felt him chuckle deep within his chest and she turned away from him again, biting her lower lip to keep from bursting into tears again. Gently, he held out his hand again and traced the elegant line of her jaw, bringing her face back to meet his laughing brown eyes. She made the mistake of making contact with those striking eyes of his and she sat mesmerized for a minute. They looked so warm and so sincere…and before she knew what she was doing, she started babbling again.

"I-I'm awfully sorry I let you ride a meanie like Khan, I should have known his temper was awful. You can ride Tyson if you like," she offered looking back up at him hopefully, "and I'm sorry for throwing my book at you and I-"

"Shh, no more," Jin leaned forward and lightly grazed his lips over hers and she silenced immediately. "It's over, completely forgotten, and you are safe with me," his breath was hot against her mouth, taunting them to open.

She shivered. How can he be so forgiving? So caring after her childish act? But her thoughts didn't mingle too long in her mind. Her shameful mood was now replaced with coyness when she realized that she was in the same position with him was they were yesterday. And she remembered how it had ended. With that unpleasant memoir in mind, she leaned back from him and looked at him intently.

"Please, release me," she murmured.

His eyes were halfway closed, halfway smitten by the light delicate touch of her lips that sent the fire roaring within him to an uncontrollable force. "Do you really want me to," he breathed, his hand crept to her lower back, lightly pressing her closer to him.

Xiao gulped as she neared his face again and braced herself. But instead of kissing her lips as she had expected him to do, he buried his face into the softness of her neck. Leaning her head back to give him further access, she closed her eyes as he lightly teased her with his tongue, nipping her with his teeth and kissing a hot trail up to her earlobe. His breath was hot against her and she whimpered at his exquisite feel. He felt her shiver and he lifted her tighter to him. Her arms instinctively twined about his neck, hands buried in the thick dark mass of his hair.

"God, you're sweet," he groaned achingly against her neck and Xiao felt a rush cascade through her body.

Tracing her pouty bottom lip with his thumb, he looked deeply into those darling brown eyes and saw exactly what he wanted in a woman. Genuine and purity. He adored her fiery spirit and her innocent freshness; her headstrong persona, witty humor, and sheer sweetness. She was like a cool drink after a long rough day and he wanted to loose himself in her.

"Tell me your thoughts," he implored, curious of what her little mind was up to.

"I was just wondering how long this pleasant moment will last before you leave me," she said directly, her eyes searching his.

Quite taken back at her bluntness, Jin felt a sharp pang of guilt deep within his gut. Obviously he had hurt her yesterday and she hadn't quite mended from the incident. He realized that her trust for him was gone and it was up to him to gain it back. But how could he? How could he tell her what kind of man he really was? If his secret was revealed, she would probably turn away from him in fright or even worse, in disgust. No, he can't let that happen. He had to keep his secret undisclosed for his own sake; he couldn't bear to be scorned away by this delicate angel. He had already revealed too much of himself during yesterday's episode and he must stop before it happened again. With a heavy heart, he reached behind his neck, grabbed her arms, and started to pull them away.

"Jin, no!" Xiao cried out, locking her hands tightly behind his neck.

Her soft cry slashed across his heart and clenched his eyes shut, resisting her tender plea. Maybe if he hurt her she would let go, he thought as his grip on her arms tightened and tugged.

"Oh, please, Jin, don't! Tell me what's wrong!" Newly formed tears began to slip down her soft pale cheeks and she tried hard to disregard the pain he had inflicted on her small arms. She leaned forward and kissed him, molding her lips onto his but his was unmoving.

He leaned his head back but the tree blocked him from moving any further away from her. Jin moved his hands to her waist to shove her away but she was so fully wrapped up with him that he couldn't. Already he felt himself growing hot with her intimacy, her delicious body pressed up firmly against him. His mind screamed for him to stop her before she unleashed the demon within him that he was trying so hard to defy.

Timidly, Xiaoyu touched her tongue to his mouth, remembering that he had liked that and she felt him so rigid. Every muscle in his body tensed, his chest hardened against her soft one. He was resisting her! Breathing heavily, she slowly traced her tongue across his bottom lip, slowly eased into his mouth… and then suddenly she felt his violent response. His strong arms circled around her waist and fiercely crushed her to him. His mouth opened aggressively over hers as he took her with the all urgency he felt, taking her lips in a brutal, devouring kiss. The hand behind her nape forcefully pressed her closer to him, his teeth crushing against her lips. Xiao winced in pain at his brutal kiss but he pressed on, wanting to satisfy himself completely.

And then, without warning, he stopped. The beastly urge within him and formed too quickly and he could not resist any longer. It pounded in his loins and tempted his hands to shove her to the ground and take her right then and there. Then, just as he did yesterday, he left her.

Xiaoyu sat alone where he had left her, looking down at her hands in disgrace and remorse. For the second time already she allowed him to get the best of her. Both times he had taken what he wanted and left her as quickly as he had obtained it. Xiao felt sick with herself. She sat alone and sobbed quietly in self-loathing, damning the entire male race, but most of all, damning Jin Kazama.

Brushing away the annoying tears that wouldn't cease in escaping from her eyes, she stood up with all the dignity she could muster to retrieve her fallen book bag. However, it took much more than just studying to rid her mind of that aberrant man.

~*~

I don't want you to give it all up,

And leave your own life collecting dust.

I don't want you to feel sorry for me.

You never gave us a chance to be.

I just wanted you to tell me the truth.

You know I'd do that for you.

So, why are you running away?

Why are you running away?

I did enough to show you that I was willing to give and sacrifice.

But when I get close, you turn away.

There's nothing that I can do or say.

So, now I need you to tell me the truth.

You know I would do that for you.

So, why are you running away?

Why are you running away?

Is it me? Is it you?

There's nothing that,

I can do,

To make you…change your mind?

Is it me? Is it you?

Nothing that,

I can do.

Is this a waste of time?

So, why are you running away?

Why are you running away?

What is it I have to say…?

To make you admit you're afraid?

Xiaoyu sat quietly by her desk, staring at the neatly folded piece of paper before her. By her feet and around her desk laid numerous amounts of crumpled up letters. For the past hour, she had scribbled all her thoughts and emotions down on paper, venting her anger and confusion. She leaned back and sighed, she did feel a little bit better now, actually.

Jin's hasty departure yesterday and his resistance today in the forest drove Xiaoyu to two conclusions. 1) He was suppressing a secret from her in which she had nearly drove herself mad in trying to figure out what it was. Though, she did realize that it was hard to do so with the lack of proof. They had only seen each other on several occasions and been together alone even less, and during all those times she had only witnessed the flash of red in his eyes. And 2) He was revolted by her after their intimate kiss, thus explaining his hasty departure.

But he seemed so caring during both days; treating her and holding her with such care that Xiao didn't know what to assume of his actions. One minute he was gentle and caressing her, the next he was a hungry man for her kisses. But today's episode had been more than just clear. With his quick departure and resistance, Xiaoyu found herself leaning closer to her second conclusion. It was clear that he wanted nothing to do with her, and it that conclusion struck her hard.

She swallowed, feeling her body heat up with humiliation once again and she gripped the front of her dress with tightly clenched fists. She wasn't going to waste her time anymore with him since he had shown her with clear signals that he had no interest for her whatsoever. Hastily, she picked up all the crumpled papers on the floor and shoved them in the trash bin before she stomped out of her bed chamber. But the neatly folded note that she had forgotten still rested on her desk. And written in front, in her perfect little handwriting, was the name Jin.

~*~

"Where is Xiao?" Jin demanded as he stormed into the kitchen, the doors slammed against the walls with harsh force that he had compelled upon it.

Frightened maids looked up at him in bewilderment, but none uttered a single word to their angry lord. Feeling the tension rise within the kitchen, Emma stood up and spoke clearly.

"Lady Xiaoyu is not here, Sir Kazama," she said quietly and calmly, "last time I saw her she was in her bed room."

Jin felt himself calm down and he nodded, then turned to exit. He mounted the stairs two at a time as he headed towards the third floor to her bed chamber, his heart raced at the thought of seeing her lovely face again. He had felt horrible, horrible for leaving her when she had protested against it, but he had to do it for both their sake.

After he had left her in the forest, he rode back to the mansion and tried intensely to busy himself with written documents that he had gone over with Ling during the afternoon. Instead of concentrating on his papers, his mind kept racing back to the angel he had abandoned, yet again, in the forest. A sudden realization hit him. What could be more unbearable than disgust was her hate? And it was this that he had become conscious to his appalling mistake: leaving her without an explanation. He prayed that in her sweet heart she would forgive him, but with the actions he had taken today, the chances were highly unlikely.

Jin composed himself, straightening his coat jacket and running a shaky hand through his hair when he stood in front of her door. He knocked twice. No answer. Carefully and gradually, he cracked the door open a notch just to peer inside to see if she was asleep. The bed was perfectly made and he slowly opened the door widely.

"Xiao?" he called, but there was no answer.

The room was dark and cold as if no one had been in it all day. He uttered a silent curse to that dishonest maid from the kitchen but then his breath caught when he saw a small lit candle on her desk. He flipped on the light switch and walked over to the large desk across the room. On it was a small envelope that was left unsealed. Flipping it over, he saw to his complete amazement that it was made out to him. Without a thought, he placed the letter in his inner coat pocket and quickly left the room. Tonight after dinner he will apologize for his behavior. And tomorrow he will tell her everything. Because tomorrow…he will be returning home to Japan.