Chapter XII: Helping Out III(b)

A/N: I apologise for the late delivery of this chapter. It's just that I was mulling over the fate of this fic as a whole. I've developed chapters for Miguel, Leo and Steve in my head. And I'm so very glad that Namco came forward with this Lars; now I can use him for the next story arc instead of some fabricated character I've been trying to develop.

As usual, it's Namco that owns Tekken( and occassionally, some good can come out of it.). Please remember to re-read the previous chapter before attempting this one, since they go hand in hand. And please bare with me, this chapter is sinfully long.

" Oi, Mish-Mash? Mish-Mash?MISH-MASH!!!"

Kazuya Mishima had enough presence of mind to gently pry the cordless phone out of his son's stiffened fingers. He promptly disconnected the call and set the phone on the desk, then leaned against it, his arms folded, his cool gaze levelled on Jin.

Jin stood motionless in the aftermath of the unsettling twenty-second call, his head hung low, his shoulders slumped, his dark bangs conveniently obscuring his eyes. His heart beat like a drum, his gut roiled, and his brain disintegrated into tiny crystalline pieces, each piece, along with the afforementioned organs, trying to convey to him some significant meaning attached to the situation at hand, a meaning that eluded his understanding.

No. That he was fearful of understanding was more like it.

It was his father who roused him from his unresponsive state with his characteristic directness. Kazuya first looked to Jun, who was still framed in the doorway, her brow creased with worry, her eyes seeking assurances, then he turned away and cleared his throat.

"Well?" he prompted a little gruffly. " Miss Rochefort was taken, wasn't she?" He paused, carefully monitoring Jin for some sort of reaction. " And by real villains, this time."

At that, Jin's head snapped up and he met his father's gaze with all the eloquent sorrow of someone who'd just delivered a moving eulogy. Kazuya frowned, his suspicions confirmed. He continued to watch as Jin's hands fluttered convulsively to his hair, as he began to rake the raven locks with his fingers.

The pristine reputation Kazuya had built for himself in the business world had not been founded on weakness and indecision, and so he demonstrated this by instantly taking stock of the situation.

" Put on your jacket, Jin. We're stepping out."

And he swept out of the room, brushing away Jun's unspoken questions with a hand, and muttering, " To think something like that would actually happen..."

XXXXXXX

" So this is the place?"

Jin nodded. Through the fast-approaching night and the murky canopy of industrial pollutants that forever blanketed this less than savoury section of the city, Jin could make out the once-grand, now derelict , office building that Steve had described to him.

"Alright, then."

Father and son climbed out of the car with an air of purpose, the latter struggling to match the former's lengthy strides.

The basement Lili had taken for a temporary lair was a shabby affair with a floor and walls marred by so much dirt and grit, it was difficult to determine their original colours and textures. The air, too, was stale and irritating to the lungs. The only items in the room were a matress in one corner, on which a folded blanket and a red backpack lay, and two stools. Earlier, Jin had called Rang back and requested that he stay put, and there he was, pacing nervously about, accompanied by Steve and their other accomplice whom Jin recognised to be Lili's butler-driver, Sebastian.

The two boys rushed towards Jin with cries of relief, but drew back at the sight of his father. Kazuya, conscious of the promises Jin had exacted from him, ignored them for the time being and directed his wrath on the butler.

Sebastian was thin, slight of build, a nervous, shifty type of man, open to manipulation. Even before Kazuya had entered, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him off his feet, the unfortunate man had been wearing a look that suggested impending doom on his pale, drawn face.

" Just what manner of man are you, to submit yourself to the destructive whims of a mere child!" The elder Mishima's voice now boomed, bouncing off the thin walls, making all three youngsters wince. " And then to leave her in the charge of other children!" The shaken butler fell into a pattern of incomprehensible splutters and stutters that was effortlessly drowned by Kazuya's powerful baritone.

Jin, sensing danger, laid a restraining hand on his father's free arm, and Kazuya finally relented, casting Sebastian away from him with a look of open disgust. " You had better start praying that the child is recovered safely , or you will have the most severe of reckless endangerment charges to answer to, " he snarled.

This last line seemed to animate Rang, and he timidly came up to the Mishimas and, dangling a round locket on a gold chain before them, he tentatively began, " I found this on the floor when I woke up. It's Lili's."

Jin took it from him, gazed at the tiny figure of a swan etched in the middle and sadly recalled that Christie had mentioned this locket; that it had belonged to Lili's mother.

" We ought to notify the police now, " he said softly, turning his gaze heavenwards. " I... um..." he glanced at Rang and Steve, then up at his father. " I have somebody in mind."

The small party trouped out.

XXXXXXX

It was in Kazuya's black Porsche, and under his own very careful scrutiny, that Rang made the call to the LAPD Headquarters, asking to speak to a Detective Lei Wulong. In a hushed and subdued voice, the red-head briefly recounted all that had transpired, from the staged kidnapping that had the police running around in confusion, to the genuine one that had taken place less than an hour ago.

The three boys then spent a cold, miserable night away from the comfort of their warm, inviting beds, trapped in a small harshly-lit intorregation room with a Lei Wulong who was very different from the genial fellow who had cheerfully talked them through the school demonstration only a few days ago. This Lei Wulong admonished, coaxed and threatened them, all crisp and business-like, a combination of tactics law enforcers often use when faced with delicate situations involving minors. Only in the small hours of morning, when he felt he'd wrung every little detail he could from them( which was by no means enough to do his job), did he allow them to be driven to their respective homes by a subordinate.

Jin could not, and would not, sleep. He sat on his bed, in the dark, hugging his knees to his chest, fervently praying to all the divine entities he had ever known or deferred to. He prayed to God, to Buddha, to Allah, to Christ and the Virgin and a host of other Christian saints he had heard of in passing, even to the nameless but omnipresent 'spirits' that Julia Chang and her mother spoke of with reverence. And his prayers consisted of one single heartfelt entreaty.

Please let Lili be safe... Please....

XXXXXXX

By ten o'clock the next morning, Jin found himself struck by yet another bout of conscience. He wanted to meet Mr Rochefort in person, he told his father, and he wanted to apologise sincerely for the unforgiveable part he'd played in the whole mess, and for causing him so much undue pain. Kazuya shook his head, yet found himself breaking off his morning meetings to drive Jin and Rang( he had insisted that his Korean friend repent, too), to the headquarters of Rochefort Enterprises, which, in his grief, Mr Rochefort had closed down for business.

Jin noticed the presence of several unmarked police vehicles that were carefully patrolling the perimeter of the building, as the three of them entered and breezed past the empty polished marble reception. The uppermost floor, where Mr Rochefort had his office, was equally deserted, though the desks in the offices they passed were crammed with paperwork and the phones were ringing off the hooks. This produced a profoundly eerie effect and Jin was glad when they finally made it to Mr Rochefort's office, even though he was not sure that he could stomach what was to come.

The spacious, richly decorated room was packed with unexpected characters. Detective Lei Wulong presided, flanked by a couple of aides from the LAPD. Other law enforcement representatives were in attendance as well: a handful of people had Interpol tags, while the two forbidding men who stood in one corner, judging by their formal, smart attire, could only be Feds. Jin and Rang exchanged stricken glances and swallowed: If such high-profile people had been called in to rectify the mess the two of them had started, it only meant that they were in for a boatload of trouble, when time was found to deal with them. And of course, there was Mr Rochefort himself.

Jin could see that Mr Rochefort had once been one of those men in whom an illustrious European ancestry instills a proud, regal bearing. Now, the grief that had successfully worked its tendrils around him made him look like a tired old man. His face was unshaven, haggard and raw, his eyes red-rimmed, his thinning hair peppered liberally with grey. His once immaculate Armani suit was crumpled and dust ridden, his collar undone, his tie loose, his Italian loafers scuffed, and though he ought to have been wearing two diamond cufflinks, one of them had fallen at one time or another, though he appeared to take no notice. Even at a distance, he reeked of alcohol, and Jin could tell that he had been pouring himself generous measures of Scotch from a crystal decanter, from the bar at the other end of the room. Jin once again stared at the faded handsome features, and imagined that every etch time had wrought there had been made twice as deep by each day of Lili's continued absence.

And Jin realised one thing with a clarity that shattered all illusion: This was not a man in love with his bank account, with his Rolex, or his Rolls Royce. This was a man whose true loyalties were to his blood. And Lili had wronged him by testing those loyalties to such an extent. And he had wronged him even more, playing along like a perfect idiot.

He bowed his head as Detective Lei Wulong looked towards him, whispering solicitously in Mr Rochefort's ears. No open accusations were thrown at him or Rang, but they hung there in the air and made it rank.

Then the phone rang.

The loud intake of breath that swept the room told Jin that this was what everyone had been waiting for: Contact from the real kidnappers, at last.

Almost everyone hovered around it anxiously and once again Lei whispered to the bereaved father, this time instructions on how to proceed with the conversation. He pressed the speaker-phone button and drew back.

" Quite a party you have here," a cold snide voice issued from the machine, speaking slowly and precisely in heavily accentuated English. " Local cops, Feds, Interpol, and...what is this? Children? Could it be that you Feds scout for agents that young?"

The professionals in the room froze. " They can see us! They're watching!" Lei hissed to his counterparts. He growled commands to the LAPD scouts scattered around the building through his police radio.

"Don't be so rash, Detective!" The voice laughed, as though it were admonishing a child. " You can never get to me."

Jin felt compelled to contribute his help. He turned to Lei. " Could he have bugged this office?"

Once again, the room rang with the voice's laughter. " Clever boy! But unfortunately, it's in the Feds' job description to watch out for these tactics, so no. Hmm... " The voice seemed contemplative for a moment." So are you and the other boy friends of the Mademoiselle Rochefort's? You seem the right age."

Jin made to answer, but Rang abruptly shoved him away and cried out, " So you're not the prick who hit me on the head, since you don't recognise me, even. How many pricks does your gang have in total then, huh?"

There was a rustle among the professionals in the room and an appreciative pause from the mystery voice. " This one is clever too, but I do not like his tone. If he speaks again, he will find himself in the unfortunate predicament of having no head."

A collective gasp came from the men gathered and even Rang gaped dumbly. Lei Wulong merely smiled without humour.

" Rifle scope, huh? That's how you can see us? Well, I'm sure you've got a little getaway route planned, so I won't bother chasing you now. So let's cut to the chase. Your demands?"

" Five hundred million, " The voice replied briskly. " It's a pittance to what the Rochefort Enterprises's yearly income is, I'm sure. "

"Time and Place?" Lei countered.

" To be disclosed only to those who would deliver."

" And who might those be?" Lei pressed. He'd heard it all before, Jin noticed, in one form or another.

"Well," the voice began with an extra touch of snideness. " I'm sure the two boys gathered here with you wouldn't want to be deprived of their chance to rescue their damsel in distress. So it'll be them. "

Lei frowned. Well, Jin thought, that last part seemed new to him.

" You have one hour to secure the required sum. Mr Rochefort, those boys are in greater need of your cellphone than you are, so please give it to them, I'm sure they will return it in admirable condition." Another cold laugh. " I expect the boys to be on the move and awaiting my instructions within the hour."

And he hung up.

XXXXXXX

" You'll see to it that they go, Detective, and are watched over from a safe distance by your units, " Kazuya growled quietly and authoritatively from his corner where he stood with his arms folded. " After all, they instigated all this. They may as well repent."

Lei Wulong and the suits looked at him incredulously. Mr Rochefort had no say in the matter, since he had long gone to see to the money, and neither did the two boys. " They're just KIDS! Do you know what the media will do when they find out that we've had to use kids? They'll have a field day! Oh, and not to mention our superiors!"

"Hmph, ethics, " Kazuya muttered with contempt. He looked at Lei and his eyes smouldered. " But I happen to trust my son with my own life, Detective, and this other boy here, he is far more streetwise than the entire Bureau." He waved dismissively at the two Feds, who bristled indignantly. " Besides, you haven't much time. And you haven't much clues, either. Your superiors and the public will have you anyway. I imagine, though, that you would rather go down with a fight?"

Jin smiled. His father could convince the President to resign his post, if he wished. He saw Lei caving in.

" Alright, alright," the detective said grudgingly, then addressed the room at large. " We've already had people from the Interpol and Bureau construct profiles for the kidnappers. Now we know that at least one of them is Eastern European, we're even closer to the mark. We've also drawn up profiles for possible hostage exchange points. We've done our homework." He glanced anxiously at Jin and Rang. " Now it's time for you to do yours." He held up his police radio. " Wulong here. I want an APB out on an Eastern European kidnapping ring, info's gonna be in in a few minutes from our databases. I also want as many unmarked poilce vehicles dispatched to all the locations our profilers drew up. They're to monitor them for any suspicious activities and to take action when needed. And I want a team of four vehicles and six plain-clothes officers out on the trail of the two boys that are gonna be used in the Rochefort exchange. They're to stay a distance of two hundred yards behind them." He put the radio away. " Best of luck, boys."

XXXXXXX

Jin and Rang were bent double, catching their breaths and nursing painful stitches. They had been running around for perhaps half an hour, taking it in turns to heft the cumbersome suitcase full of cash, and to answer the cellphone whenever it rang-and it rang often. They had so far followed the instructions of the snide voice to the letter, and had no doubt long lost the poor police affiliates tailing them- and the place of exchange had still not been disclosed.

"Okay," Rang began, panting heavily, and leaning back against a graffitied wall." This... this thing... it ain't gonna work. Maybe they're just planning to tire us out, and then they'll come out and kill us, and kill Lili, and keep the money, huh? And of course they had us shake off the cops- and those cops are so damn stupid! They could've just bugged us or something, to keep up with our location."

"They couldn't, " Jin replied, eyes closed. " That man was watching. If they did it in plain sight of him, or if they tried to take us out of his sight, he would have shot us on the spot. They probably have their people in the building too."

"Which brings us back to sniper dude, " Rang pressed, an edge of hysteria entering his voice. " How the hell are we gonna get away once we get to wherever the hell it is we're supposed to be going? I dunno about you, but it's kinda hard to walk around without a head."

Jin grimaced. " He can't be watching us all the time. Not in person. Can you imagine how hard it would be for him? Unless he can jump from one rooftop to another, it's impossible."

Rang rolled his eyes. He straightened up and pounded the wall with his fist. " So he's got his people posted everywhere that he tells us to run to? That supposed to make it better for us?"

Jin shook his head. " Look around. Your home's pretty close. Our trump card's in your garage."

Rang's eyes lit up. " Master Baek's bike, huh? "

" And the helmets too..."

XXXXXXX

The two boys hadn't been roaring along the streets for two minutes, wearing the protective helmets, their bodies bent to present as little target points as possible, than the cellphone rang once more. Rang stopped and killed the engine, and Jin took the call.

" A little birdie just told me about all the little accessories you have gained access to," the snide voice drawled in amusement. " I thought the terms of our agreement were clear? You were to make your way to us on foot . I have a right mind to splatter your pretty little copine's brains all over her pretty little white dress."

Jin steeled himself and repeated the words he and Rang had agreed on. " The way we see it, we're doing you a big favour. We're not trained marathon runners, and if we keep stopping for breath, the cops will catch up to us. This way we can get you your money, double quick, and put as much distance between us and the cops." And he waited for the response with baited breath.

The voice snorted. " If I didn't know better, I would have thought you two had been prepped by the Feds before you left. Well, well, that makes me all the more eager to look upon your faces for one last time before it's all over... You are quite close now."

XXXXXXX

Warehouse district, at the waterfront

Jin and Rang stopped a safe distance from the run-down No. 7 and disembarked, cautiously looking around. Jin surreptitiously indicated to Rang the rooftop of No. 4, to which they had their backs, and from which their snide-voiced sniper friend was no doubt watching. The two boys drew closer together and looked towards the black sedan that was parked right in front of No. 7. The back door flew open and a man in a black sweater, khaki pants and a balaclava, stepped out, pushing the stumbling, frightened figure of Lili Rochefort before him. A similarly clad figure emerged from the driver's door. Lili's captor stood her near the car, and loosely pointed a gun to her temple.

Jin's heart leapt at the sight of Lili, her dress soiled, her bruised face sporting fresh teartracks, but otherwise unharmed. He held up the briefcase of money in the direction of her captor, and communicated with her with his eyes. He and Rang had already agreed on a course of action, and as he silently relayed his assurances to her, he felt something else begin to collect within her at the sight of the two boys whom she had alienated come to save her life at great risk; something less primal and more human than fear. He saw her clench her fists and draw back her upper lip, poised for something. He inwardly smiled.

Then he and Rang let out ferocious yells and rushed the two kidnappers, ducking, dodging, weaving, swerving, conducting every move of the dance Detective Lei Wulong had demonstrated at their school with perfect precision, still wearing their helmets, playing a game of dodgeball against the hail of bullets that came at them from No. 4's rooftop, the bullets that zinged dangerously close to their ears and that narrowly missed their backs.

In the ensuing confusion, Lili let out her own battlecry and, with the skill and grace of a natural born danceur, she pivoted on her heel, twisted out of her captor's grasp and rammed her knee into his stomach. Narrowly avoiding the gun's discharge, her leg came up once more and kicked the weapon out of the reeling man's hand. The second kidnapper came at her, but she had just enough time to dance away from his grasp with a yelp, before Jin checked his progress with a powerful body slam that knocked him off balance. Jin, seeing that this was not enough to bring him down, aimed a low kick at him, sweeping his feet from underneeth him and toppling him to the ground. He threw himself at his victim with relish and kept him nailed in that position with a powerful pinhold on his arm. He looked up at Lili and cried, " Quick, inside!"

Lili spared him a single backward glance as she hurried into the safety of the No.7 warehouse. The first kidnapper whom she had overcome cried after her, and bent down by the car to retrieve the gun that had fallen close to one of the wheels, but Rang was suddenly perched on the sedan's roof. With a single fluid motion, he brought his left heel crashing down on the back of the man's head, and, as an afterthought, slammed the sedan's still-open door into the man's face. The force of the double impact was such that the kidnapper crumpled to the ground without a sound.

" Sweet dreams, Prince!" Rang exulted. He was on his feet in a flash, and punching the air in triumph. " That takes care of that!"

Jin, tired of his own victim's struggles, relinquished his hold for a moment long enough to thrust his elbow violently onto the latter's forehead, and as he felt him going limp, he glanced back at the rooftop of No. 4, then, sensing extreme danger, cried out to Rang to watch out.

Jin heard a faint pop, and then the reddest of roses was suddenly blooming across Rang's chest. The red-headed boy made a muted guttural sound, his mouth a perfect 'o'; he swayed for a split-second, then toppled backwards, his arms outstretched; he slid down the hood of the car, and fell onto the ground and out of sight.

"RAAAANG!!!!"

Jin's scream was carried on a tidal wave of terror, as he flew to his friend's side, ignoring the sudden cacophony of voices and shots that came from the rooftop of No.4. He saw that, miraculously, the wound didn't seem to be fatal, that Rang was moaning faintly. He rushed into the warehouse to retrieve Lili, and when he came out, pulling her by the hand, he saw that his father, along with various law enforcement agenst, had arrived at the scene.

Kazuya knelt beside Rang, applying pressure to the wound to staunch the bleeding. Jin and Lili came over, and Lili, seeing the Korean's condition, began to sob, her hand fluttering to her mouth, " But zere iz so much blood!"

" No bleeding from the mouth; no organs ruptured. Be grateful Detective Wulong arrived at the crucial moment to disrupt the marksman's aim, or this boy would have been beyond saving," Kazuya said coldly, not stopping his efforts. " The helmets were a sound idea, Jin, " he continued, not looking at his son, as he removed the contraption from Rang's head. " Better be shot in the chest than the head. He is dead now, that sharpshooter, " he finished in response to Jin's unasked question. " and the rest of this ring scattered across the city have been apprehended."

Rang began to stir feebly, his eyelids fluttering. " Don't you move, boy, " Kazuya cautioned. " Or you will go into shock earlier than we'd like." He removed his trenchcoat and carefully bundled it around the prone boy. " The ambulance should be here any minute"

As if on cue, Jin could hear the wailing sirens in the close distance. When it arrived, Rang's blood drenched form was loaded onto a stretcher, and with a curt nod, Kazuya indicated that both Jin and Lili should accompany the Korean to the hospital.

XXXXXXX

Jin and Lili had been sitting in the waiting room for fifteen minutes, her sobs the only thing that punctuated the silence between them, when Lili finally decided to take the first courageous step.

"You must 'ate me, now, za 'ole lot of you. And Papa even more," she began in a tiny voice that gained volume and pitch with every word.

Jin sighed and looked at her with a combination of weariness and pity. " That's just silly and you know it, Lili."

But she went on as though she hadn't heard, " I never meant for any of zis to 'appen!" And she gestured desperately in the direction of the room where Rang was still being operated on.

"But it happened. And everything happens for a reason, and the reason in this case is that so you could see for yourself how much we love and care for you, rushing to your help like that; how much your father aged without you. So you see now?" He looked at her hopefully.

She said nothing, but her shoulders trembled, and so Jin steeled himself and laid a calming hand on her left shoulder. She didn't reject his touch, which he saw as a sign of encouragement. " Last time we spoke, " he began, " You said I didn't understand. That I could never understand. Well ,we're here now, with this one experience we just had sitting between us, and I hope to God that you'll try to make me understand."

Lili did not respond for a while, then her shoulders dipped further, and without looking at him, she began in a quiet, mournful voice, " What do you want me to talk about? Ze two out of twelve birzdays of mine zat Papa showed up for? Ze dresses and skirts he buys me, all eizer too big or too small, ze toys he sends me, all of which I 'ave outgrown? Zat on ze celebration of my name day, an 'undred people showed up, eencluding all ze members of our church, but my own dear Papa was not one of zem?"

Jin found himself floundering in Lili's painful recollections, and what his mother had once told him, about how a neglected child is always more damaged than an abused one, rang perfectly true in his mind. " Ooooh, Lili!" he sighed, unconsciously patting her back. She seemed largely taken aback by his reaction, he noticed, as he gathered his wits for something to say in response.

" Listen, Lili, " he said, willing a tenderness and intimacy into his voice that he only used with his twin, Asuka. " It's going to be alright with your father. You've made your point to him loud and clear. You'll be able to have more time to bond with him, because the whole thing with our fathers competing is gonna go away, I can promise you that..." Lili's face registered open shock at that, " but in the meantime, I need promises from you. That you won't act ugly to anyone at school, that you won't try to shut us out of your life, and that you'll come to me with anything that bothers you. Promise me, Lili, so we can turn a new page." His hand closed firmly around hers, slipping into it the round locket with the little swan.

Lili suddenly shuddered, her frame wracked by fresh sobs. " Ooohh, you're something else!!!" She went on like that for a few minutes, and he waited for her to finish. She suddenly stopped crying and looked away. " Desole, je suis vraiment desole...So sorry..." She murmured at the wall. Then she turned back to him, her eyes no longer betraying any haughtiness or even loss, just sadness and sincerity and a great desire to have something in which to believe. " So you will protect me from zis world?"

Jin considered for a moment. " Since you put it that way, yeah, I guess I'll be doing just that." And he smiled at her warmly.

She pushed back her blonde hair and gave him a watery smile in return. He reached out tentatively and flicked away a tear that threatened to spill down her cheek. Once more met with no resistance, he vaguely wondered whether he was the first individual to be allowed such intimacy around her.

" Well," she unexpectedly chirped. " zis experience... defending myself from za one who had me...I must confess... I liked zat... standing up for myself. I sink zat I might take up fighting, and enter zat tournament Rang iz always talking about. Yes, I should very much like to do zat..." she finished pensively.

Just then, footsteps sounded in the hall, and Mr Rochefort appeared. Lili gave a shriek, jumped up and hurled herself into his welcoming arms. Father and daughter began to jabber away in rapid-fire French, apologies and entreaties and assurances of love, Jin could tell, despite not understanding a word. The scene moved him. He looked to the still-closed doors of the operating room.

XXXXXXX

Three days later

It seemed that Rang would be making a full recovery, his doctors told Jin and the rest, as the Korean sat up in bed in a room that was piled high with presents, ravenously consuming spoon after spoon of Mrs Mishima's chocolate fudge. Even Aunt Anna's cookies and milkshakes, as bored of them as he was, were heaven compared to the vile concoctions of herbal medicines he had received from Julia Chang and her mother, and Ling Xiaoyu and her grandfather. But his favourite present lay reverently on his pillow, an old LAPD badge that Detective Lei had owned from the days when he'd been a rookie officer, and had recently, and affectionately, bequeathed to Rang in honour of his 'first meaningful service to society'.

After days of his friends' and their mothers' waiting on him hand and foot, Rang finally declared that the person who'd first said that good guys always end up last was a douche. He was in such a good mood that not even Kazuya's remark to him earlier, before the elder Mishima had left the ward( " I've wasted a perfectly good trenchcoat on you, so if you don't hurry up and make a full recovery, I'm going to kill you myself.") managed to dampen his spirits.

"Oh, yeah," Rang suddenly blurted, the spoon dangling between his teeth. " Lili came by yesterday. She's doing great; she left on a tour of Europe with her old man, in their private jet, last night. She sends you her kisses, Mish-Mash."

Jin raised his eyebrows, and Rang scowled, dropping the spoon onto the tray. " Don't get your hopes up, Mish-Mash; I ain't kissing you for her!"

The room rang with the children's laughter.

XXXXXXX

"You wanted to see me, Pa?"

Jin stood in his father's study, his hands clasped behind his back. Kazuya was standing at his desk, hunched over some paper work. He looked up at his son's voice.

" Yes... You asked me to do something about the competition between myself and Mr Rochefort, and I did. I'm afraid I even went a little further than either of us had intended. This morning I made the proposition of a merger between our two companies, to Rochefort Enterprises. The paperwork is right at this moment sitting on Mr Rochefort's desk, awaiting his signature whenever he feels fit to return from Europe."

Jin released a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding. " Ooh, Pa!"

Kazuya raised a dismissive hand. " Yes, monopoly of the markets is not worth one little girl's wellbeing...No need to thank me... In fact," he paused, and seemed suddenly struck by a thought. " It was her who destroyed the clipper ship, wasn't it?"

"Yes, " Jin replied with some hesitation.

Kazuya smiled thinly and regarded him with an expression that Jin couldn't place. He sighed. " You're a good friend, Jin. A good son, too. Sometimes, I think of you as my conscience, as I thought and still think of your mother. Let it be known to you how proud I am to be able to call you my son."

He'd said it with such simple sincerity that it touched Jin on more than one level, but when he opened his mouth to return the compliment, his father held up a hand, forestalling him.

"Nothing else needs to be said."

With that, Jin understood himself to be dismissed.

"Good day, Pa."

XXXXXXX