Chapter 1: On the Eve…

He had gotten sidetracked again and this time it was by a butterfly. Previously, he had been running his hand through the soft grass—it was a lush, green color. Being attracted to anything he deemed beautiful or vibrant, an arbitrary butterfly would be more than enough to motivate him to try and touch it. Determined, he crawled excitedly after it and when the butterfly fluttered too far above him, the child climbed unsteadily to his feet and gave a well-intended leap. Of course, he completely missed his target, but the exhilarating tumble to the ground more than made up for it and he thought he would try it out again.

"Kazuyaaa!" a female's voice called out to him, "Don't go too far now!"

The child looked up as he heard her voice. When she used that tone, he knew that it was some sort of warning. Perhaps he had done something wrong. The only thing he could think to do was come back to her side. The woman, who he so aptly named "mama", always sat in a wheelchair and wore one of her many traditional kimonos. She had a pleasant expression on her face.

"Now, now, are you worried about me? Come here, Kazuya," Kazumi cooed with open arms.

Since her voice was tender and she seemed to be beckoning for him to come closer, he did so. When he was close enough, she would lift him up in her arms and then cradle him. Really, he was slightly too old for that sort of thing, but she did so anyways. Because she was forced to stay in her wheelchair due to the paralysis, this was the only way she could even be this close to him. Besides, he didn't seem to mind at all. Usually, boys didn't want to be coddled so much, but Kazumi supposed that he was a special case. He was quite ticklish, at any given time she could easily make him giggle which she did at that moment. When he was happy, she was happy and that would mean that she was pretty cheerful all the time. If only that were true.

She could instinctively hear the footsteps of the man who was supposedly her husband. Heihachi simply had too much time on his hands. Anyone who knew him also knew that he had one goal to accomplish in life—and it certainly wasn't being a father or raising a family or passing on his legacy. None of those things seemed to fit his personality anyways. He only craved power and the fastest way to get there was through his father Jinpachi who had founded an empire that was hugely successful. Heihachi had chosen the less violent route and reasoned that if he could please his father enough, he could persuade him to hand over his position sooner. He had gone to such incredible lengths to do so that he had actually agreed to an arranged marriage—one that would put Jinpachi in an extremely lucrative position. Kazumi, who had come from a rich family, had spent her life preparing for the moment when she would finally be married off; however, she had not bargained on being sent to live with the devil.

The more she saw of him, the more she knew that it was her duty to protect her child from his influence. The laughing bundle in her arms soon quieted as if he too could sense the danger approaching.

"What do you want?" Kazumi said before he was even close enough to reach out and touch her.

From her tone, Kazuya knew that making any sort of sound would help the situation little.

"What's wrong? A father can't come to look on his son?"

"When it's you, there certainly is a problem. Wondering if I'm dead yet? No, I'm still alive unfortunately—I've just been avoiding you."

"You've been missing for days—your family has been concerned about you and I'm running out of convenient excuses. Why don't you quit with all this childishness and come back to the house?"

"Not even going to ask me where I've been? You know I come out here regularly. Had you truly been keen on finding me, this should have been the first place to look. I'm not as stupid as you think I am. You'd be content even if you found that me and your son happened to be dead."

"No, I wouldn't," Heihachi said with a grin, "You're far too important to my father's success. What good would come from your death?"

"Take me back already. I think I'll take advantage of your goodwill even if it is false."

"Good," Heihachi said simply.

Kazumi felt as he roughly took hold of the handles and pushed her forth back to the mansion.

"You remember our agreement," Heihachi asked presently.

"Like I heard it just yesterday," Kazumi said holding the child closer to her bosom.

The agreement being that if she played her role to his satisfaction, he'd have nothing to do with the upbringing of their son. Kazumi suspected that he had only agreed to this because he really didn't care that he had a son in the first place—this was the easiest way to take such burdens off his hands. This fact couldn't matter less to Kazumi who knew enough to take advantage of the cards dealt to her. Considering the situation, the agreement was a God-given gift.

"You shouldn't coddle him so much," Heihachi said despite himself, but he found it all to be quite disgusting. "The way you're going, he won't be able to walk until he's seven."

"As if you know anything about children. He'll be fine."

"He'll be a complete and utter weakling."

"Who asked for your opinion? There's more to life than just fighting and betraying people. I'll make sure that he's nothing like you."

Heihachi laughed when she said this—the kind of laugh that would not cause others to join in, "Do what you want, but in the end, the Mishima blood still flows in his veins."

Kazumi frowned at this, "As long as there's still breath in my body, you won't get your way."

"I admire your tenacity, but I could care less who my son will or won't be so long as he doesn't embarrass me or get in my way."

"Then you'll have nothing to worry about."

Kazumi was left in the living room when they got back home. Apparently, Heihachi did in fact have something to do—no doubt he was out kissing his father's ass. Kazumi wondered how long that would last.

When she looked down at her bundle, she realized that he had fallen asleep. Maybe he found his parent's arguing akin to a lullaby—it always turned out this way. Heihachi would show up, they would have a few choice words with each other and by the time she could find time to herself again, he would already be asleep. The only thing she could do was smile when he tried to pull at her kimono as if it were a blanket. She sat him in her lap and rolled her wheelchair to Kazuya's room.

It might have been a sparsely furnished room, but Heihachi had to keep up appearances especially with her parents. He had to keep up the pretense that Kazuya was living in a safe and loving environment. Her parents would want to come over some times specifically to dote on their firstborn son. Kazumi couldn't believe how oblivious her parents could be—Heihachi loathed their very presence. If he had his way, they'd never come over, Kazuya would be somewhere locked in a room, and Kazumi would simply be on house arrest. Her parents just couldn't sense his true nature like she could and she couldn't afford to tell her parents of the situation especially since Heihachi had warned her against it. If there was one thing she knew about Heihachi, it was that he was always in the know.

Kazumi placed Kazuya gently into the crib and tucked him in. She watched as he yawned and pulled the covers even closer. When she quietly rolled her wheelchair back as she began to reach for the light switch behind her, she heard movement in the crib. Kazumi looked back and found the other looking towards her with imploring eyes.

"Mama…" he began in his small voice, most of his sentences began with this name, "Don't go."

"Kazuya…alright, Mommy will stay for just a little while longer. Let me turn the lights off."

It was at times like this when she remembered that he was in fact, three years old and completely capable of forming actual sentences. He didn't speak very often and normally only ever did so when it was of the utmost importance. She sat with him in the dark until she was sure that he was thoroughly asleep. Then she left for the kitchen to prepare lunch for him.

She smiled to herself as she opened the refrigerator. Maybe when he was old enough, she could teach him how to cook. She planned on teaching him everything she knew—it was something she was looking forward to. Even if Heihachi decided to ignore their agreement and interject himself into Kazuya's development, Kazumi knew that her son wasn't much of a fighter—he was too carefree, too pure hearted to even want to commit his life to harming others. The Kazuya she knew would never agree to such a thing.

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AN: You like so far or have you already grown tired of it? Whatever your opinion, let me hear it! More to come soon.