Crimson

Chapter 9: Saturated

***

It had been quite some time since the discussion between the two reunited brothers had concluded, and Kazuya was now walking around aimlessly in the pouring rain.

He knew Nina and Jin hadn’t gone too far. Somehow. Lee had buggered off home, thank god, but he’d given him some valuable information all the same, so that was worth sparing him for now. Apparently, the authorities knew of the Mishima Zaibatsu’s past, so there were intense watches over affairs presently, which weren’t likely to end for a long time; mainly to ensure the winner’s safety. Actually, the winner hadn’t been named yet, since the semi-finals were a stalemate. The rules indicated that a rematch had to be scheduled if the contestants didn’t decide amongst themselves who would continue on to the final to challenge Heihachi. Which meant, indeed, that Heihachi would want to have both of the contenders annihilated. And that was why the authorities had stepped in; to avoid letting the Tekkenshu do any dirty work.

Being the way he was, the wet weather didn’t bother him as much as it might have in the past. Though his ripped and torn shirt was completely saturated, as were his trousers and everything beneath them, and he could hear his shoes squelching with every step, though his hair was plastered down against his skull in a thick raven sheet, partially clouding his vision where he hadn’t bothered to shift it from his face, he felt fine. A little cold, admittedly, but otherwise just fine.

After another circuit around the block, he paused and leaned against a street lamp. His pale skin was bathed in an orange glow from the light above. Through the darkness of the incoming evening, he could have sword he saw a flash of golden hair down the street. He looked again, and it was gone.

With a soft sigh, he went back to staring at his shoes, and began wondering what he’d do with himself this evening. Last night they were lucky to stumble across a hotel, but tonight, since his apartment had been ransacked by the Tekkenshu, he had nowhere to go. Ah well, he told himself, Vampires are Creatures of the Night for a reason.

As he drifted off into his own little world, suddenly the light level cut out, and the rain stopped pelting down on his head. His damp, cold arm felt something a little warmer rest against it. He glanced to the side, and saw Nina staring back at him with a slight smirk, holding a black umbrella over the both of them. This time, she was dressed in a thick grey turtleneck and a pair of dark figure-hugging trousers.

“Fancy meeting you here, Dracula,” She said, grinning, “Are you going to go inside out of the rain or stay out here and brood all night?”

One eyebrow perked. A second later, he smiled slightly. He didn’t even notice he was doing it. The funny thing was, lately, he’d been doing so much more smiling than usual, and half the time he didn’t even notice. It seemed his real self was starting to be exposed through his façade. Erosion was wearing back the old, weathered rock, and the diamond inside was being exposed. Though such an analogy would earn a good thumping from him, in his opinion.

She smiled back. “Has anyone ever told you that you look very handsome when you smile?”

He rolled his eyes, but a slight hint of pink crossed his cheeks. “Whatever.” Compliments were one thing that he would never get used to, or know how to take.

A small, warm hand grasped his. His free hand slicked quickly through his hair to get it out of his face, then he glanced down at Nina. “I’ve found a hotel that’s relatively safe just down the road. I’ve already got Jin in a room, and I have another for myself. How’s about you come back and get out of this downpour?”

He offered no resistance, and simply nodded. “Alright…” Still holding his hand with her free hand, she led him down the street, holding the umbrella above their heads with the other. The whole walk back to the hotel, he didn’t notice he was still holding onto her hand, but he did notice, after a while, that she was staying awfully close to his arm. It was nice though, since a lot of her heat was absorbing into his arm.

Nina had never imagined feeling so weak. She was simply holding onto his hand and arm, and suddenly, she felt like she could barely walk. There was so much definite light muscle under that shirt sleeve. His hand, though icy cold in her grip, was so soft and smooth. Unlike any fighter’s hand she’d ever touched, it was so…nice. The hand was much larger than hers, but his fingers were still so slender, so delicate-looking. She’d always thought of him as such a cold, rough, hard person, but his features were so fine, so perfectly chiselled, he might have been a statue of a Greek god: perfect.

It was only a few minutes walk before they reached the front steps of the hotel she mentioned. It wasn’t nearly as classy as the one last night, but at this point, Kazuya was past caring if he had anywhere to sleep at night at all; it was just a vague curiosity. But here he was. She led him in through the lobby after taking down the umbrella and shaking it off at the front door. Of course, as she was doing that, he took the time to wring some of the wetness out of his shirt. On the way up in the elevator, she handed him a key-card.

“You might need this to get into your room. Jin will probably be messing about in there; I doubt he’d be anywhere else.”

Kazuya just nodded in reply, and fiddled with the card in his hand. The lift ride was a long one; thirty floors, and the lift was a slow one. Being in an enclosed environment with an old associate wasn’t exactly something he wanted to do right now. Particularly as he’d only realised, after a few hours’ thought that evening, that he’d had a crush on her in the past. Yes, Kazuya Mishima with a crush! It’d taken him so long to figure it out, too. All through the tournaments he’d been involved in, he’d wanted to see Nina out of the fighting industry, and in a more casual setting. He’d wanted her to stop trying to kill him. And, he’d only just admitted this one too, but he wanted to see her shirtless. Of course, that was one secret no one would ever know. And now he felt uncomfortable, because all those boyish feelings were rushing back to him.

Finally, the lift opened. Nina stepped out, and Kazuya followed behind. Room 3008, so the card in his hand stated. She headed straight for the room across the hall from it, and he flipped the key around to jam it into the door to his room and get inside. Before he could though, Nina interrupted.

“Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention…I have an extra key to my room if you’d like that too…” She smirked playfully, and waggled a second key about between two fingers.

Honestly, he didn’t know what to say to that at all. He blinked, and tried to think of something to say, but nothing came. Surely she wasn’t offering sex! He heavily doubted it. Maybe she was offering companionship. Maybe it was a trap. Or a joke.

After the few seconds, she broke the silence again. “Just in case you want a snack.”

He arched a brow. “You know?”

She nodded. “You can blame your son for that.”

Wow, what a weird day. Two rare people who’ve wanted him to take from them. Bizarre. “Hm. Well, thanks, I guess.” Saying nothing more, he opened his room door, and walked inside. Disappointed, Nina retreated to her room as well.

A loud yawn caught his attention. Apparently, Jin had hit the sack early, and was about to go to sleep when Kazuya wandered inside.

“Hey you…whoa, did you get caught in the rain or somethin’?” His voice was groggy, since he was tired and hadn’t used it in a while.

Kazuya snickered, and ran his hands through his damp hair again. “Yeah, stood out in the wet for a good few hours. Guess I’ll be sleeping without all this rubbish on tonight…” He began to unbutton his shirt as he walked over to the empty bed beside Jin’s. Jin looked a little perplexed from a moment, then a little worried. The nude? Damnit. A few moments later, Kazuya was down to nothing but a pair of boxer briefs, which were sopping wet too, from the long time spent in the rain. He slipped into the bathroom for a moment to retrieve a towel and to hang up his clothes to dry. After towelling out some of the dampness on his cold body, he pulled back the covers on the bed, pulled off the drenched shorts, and climbed into the bed.

“See you in the morning, Jin.”

He got nothing but an incoherent mumble of acknowledgement in reply.