A/N: Update time! This chapter is longer and has a little bit of drama, but nothing compared to what I have planned for the next chapter. Still, review, fav and follow! And most importantly, enjoy!

Chapter 16 - Day 2: Kazama Crushes

Bryan grunted in pain as he was flung straight into a nearby tree. He gritted his teeth as he stood back up slowly and regarded his opponent.

Yoshimitsu had been easy enough to deal with. The cyborg was able to get passed all of the stupid ninja's little tricks and gimmicks and overwhelm him with his immense brute strength. His opponent now however…

This man, Sergei Dragunov, was an incredibly powerful and tactical fighter. It seemed that every move Bryan made was easily dictated and countered by the Russian before he even knew what was happening. The part that pissed him off the most about it was that Dragunov was completely silent the whole time. He never uttered a single word and never made a single grunt or noise of any kind. The only sounds that the Spetnaz operative ever seemed to make were generated from his own attacks instead of his voice.

He was also completely expressionless, and Bryan's own cocky attitude and taunts seemed to have no effect on him.

Bryan scowled openly at the Russian. "You're a real freak, y'know that? And that means a lot coming from me."

Dragunov, for the first time during their match, made a sound. It sounded like some kind of very slight snicker. He also allowed the cyborg the smallest little smirk. This served to infuriate Bryan even more and he wasted no time in lunging at him. Using all the strength he could muster from his new generator, the cyborg curled his hand into a fist and aimed for Dragunov's face.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Amazingly however, the smirk didn't leave the Russian's face. Instead, Dragunov simply ducked under the ferocious punch with impeccable timing and twisted the cyborgs arm, flipping him onto the ground. He then brought the heel of his boot down on Bryan's elbow and applied pressure until he heard the sweet sound of a broken arm.

His opponent screamed out in pain and writhed in agony on the ground as he clutched his now grossly crooked arm. Dragunov crouched down beside him and held his head up by his hair.

"Too slow," was all he said before punching Bryan square in the face and slamming his head back into the dirt. The cyborg lost consciousness and lay there, limply.

Dragunov turned away from Bryan, placed his hands behind his back and walked away silently. This man had been a waste of his time. He still had much more important matters to attend to.

The creature that destroyed that forest in Yakushima…it was here somewhere. The Russian swore that he would find it, or die trying.

"CANNONBALL!"

Diving out of the way, Hitomi laughed as Hwoarang came crashing down into the deep end of the pool. The biker was clearly in a good mood, having defeated Christie about an hour ago. It was a good match; capoeira was so much fun to watch in action, and Christie had been very close to beating the Korean.

In the end though, those kicks of his just seemed to be a little too much for her.

The good thing was that neither fighter had fought dirty or done anything that would have been considered disrespectful. That especially surprised the German when she remembered that Hwoarang used to be a street fighter. Clearly, his sensei had taught him well. He had even bowed to Christie after all was said and done.

Of course, afterwards he had also asked her out on a date, which she politely refused. It was pretty funny to watch him get rejected, but Hitomi couldn't say she blamed him for trying. Christie was, to put it bluntly, pretty damn hot. She had perfectly sun-kissed skin and curves in all the right places, not to mention that outfit she fought in was-

Wait, what?

Hitomi shook her head and floated on her back in the pool. She really needed to get a hold of herself. She was finding herself getting attracted to almost everyone here, which was starting to distract her from her real reason for being at the tournament. Sure, this moment of relaxation was good, but the karateka couldn't let herself forget about Feng.

Not to mention her father's condition back home…

Suddenly feeling a bit melancholy, the German made a mental note to call home soon. Not only did she need to check up on her father, she also needed to reassure her mother that she was alright. There was no doubt her mom was completely freaking out about Hitomi's safety right now.

Trying to relax again, Hitomi took in her surroundings. Steve was lounging nearby on a patio chair, looking quite comfortable. He was wearing sunglasses and was shirtless, exposing his upper body to Hitomi's admittedly hungry eyes. He smiled at her and the German smiled back, feeling her face get warm. She decided to look elsewhere to avoid being too obvious. She didn't notice, but Steve kept his gaze on her as she looked away.

Hitomi then noticed Julia, who was now speaking to Hwoarang as she floated along with her pool noodle. They had grins on their faces and kept glancing in the German's direction. Getting curious, Hitomi swam up to them.

"You guys aren't talking about me, are you?"

Hwoarang shrugged and hopped out of the water to sit on the edge of the pool. "We were just thinking of challenging you and Steve to a chicken fight but…"

"…we thought better of it, considering you guys would have no chance," Julia finished with a smirk.

Almost instantly, the German narrowed her eyes. She would have expected Hwoarang to act like this, but Julia had been pretty friendly and humble up until this point. It was kinda nice to see she had this side to her.

Hitomi abruptly jumped out of the pool and marched right up to Steve, who was still relaxing on the patio chair. He pulled down his sunglasses and glanced at her. The German noticed his eyes trailing over her bikini-clad body for only a moment, but she fought the urge to blush.

There were more important things to do right now.

"Get up," she ordered, "now."

Steve quirked an eyebrow when he noticed his two friends wink at him from behind Hitomi. What were they playing at?

"What exactly are those two telling you about me?"

"Nothing," said the German as she grabbed Steve's wrist and pulled him up, "but they're being way too cocky right now."

The Brit was surprised by Hitomi's strength as she easily yanked him off the chair, but then again he did watch her fight this morning. At this point, it really shouldn't surprise him that someone so cute could be so powerful.

It just added to her charm, in his opinion.

Asuka, Paul and Marshall were laughing on their way to the pool. They had smoothed things over pretty well; after the Osakan's heartfelt apology on her behaviour the other night, Marshall had instantly forgiven her. She had a feeling he was used to teenage outbursts, after all, he had a son of his own.

Which is currently who they were laughing about.

"So then I came home from my dojo after a particularly rough day," said Paul shaking his head, "and Forest had stolen my bike! I don't even know how he managed to hotwire it!"

Marshall patted his friend on the back, "Knowing you, you probably left the keys in the ignition."

"I did no such thing!"

"Just give him a regular bike of his own," Asuka chimed in, "I use mine every day, practically."

Law groaned in annoyance. "We did give him one…he destroyed it in less than a week."

"That kid is a walking tornado!" said Paul as he flung his hands up into the air in exasperation, "you gotta put a leash on him or something I swear!"

Asuka just continued laughing at the pair beside her. It was clear that Paul and Law were good friends and went way back. They were always bickering, but it seemed like that would never get in the way of their bond. It was a true friendship, something that Asuka regretfully couldn't say she shared with many people.

She was hoping being here could change that.

Almost immediately, the Osakan's thoughts drifted to her German friend. Hitomi was honestly so great…they had only known each other three days and yet it already felt like the girl understood Asuka more than most people. She was really hoping that they could stay friends after this tournament was over and that they could stay in touch.

And secretly, she was also hoping for a lot more than friendship.

Asuka had a lot of time to think about it last night after her match as the karateka was sleeping. She now knew and had accepted that she wanted to be with Hitomi. She had never dated anyone before, but that was only because she didn't really connect with anyone at her school or in her personal life. But with Hitomi, it was like being around her was the most natural thing in the world. When they had conversations, every word just flowed naturally, and whenever the German would smile at her, Asuka felt herself smiling too.

It was the little things like that which made the Osakan realize how important someone like this was to her. Hitomi was everything she felt she needed to fill the emptiness she realized had always been in her heart. Her family was always there to make her feel loved and supported, and for that she would always be grateful, but meeting Hitomi had made Asuka realize that there was still something missing.

At that moment, Asuka closed her eyes and quickly nodded to herself. She had made a decision. Tonight she would do it. Tonight she would confess to Hitomi.

Thanking herself that she actually packed a swimsuit, the Osakan was now feeling a lot happier about being able to have some fun in the sun with Hitomi. She felt confident and assured with her own feelings, and she was ready to try her hand at being flirtatious for the first time. The idea of flirting didn't really sound like something Asuka would be good at, and that made her laugh a little to herself.

She abruptly stopped laughing as the pool came into view.

Hitomi was sitting on Steve's shoulders, trying with all her might to push Julia off of Hwoarang's. They were having a chicken fight, something Asuka recalled doing when she was a little kid. That wasn't why she stopped laughing though.

Hitomi and Steve were both showing a lot of skin…and she was on top of him…

The boxer was holding the German by her exposed thighs as she sat on his shoulders. Both fighters looked to be extremely happy and having a lot of fun. It didn't help that Hitomi looked extremely sexy in her bikini, and Steve, the Osakan had to admit, had a pretty well defined upper body as well.

There goes my good mood, thought Asuka bitterly.

Eventually, Hitomi's strength won out and Julia toppled off of Hwoarang's shoulders. Pumping her fist in victory, the German pushed herself off of Steve's shoulders and gave him a hug, laughing all the while. Steve returned the embrace and lifted her up a bit, causing Hitomi to blush a little.

Asuka felt her heart drop at the sight.

Paul and Law tossed their shirts off and ran to jump in the pool, but Asuka decided she wasn't into this idea anymore and turned back around. She didn't know where she was going, but suddenly, anywhere was better than here.

After a bunch of chicken fights, diving competitions, and looking in awe at Paul's hair when it was flat and actually looked normal for once, Hitomi, Steve, Hwoarang, Julia, Paul and Law had all decided to separate and do their own thing. Steve and Julia went to go prepare for their match, which was fast approaching. Hitomi made sure to wish Steve luck secretly when Julia wasn't listening. She felt bad, but she definitely felt closer to the boxer than she did to his American opponent.

Hwoarang decided to go see who had won the match between Lei and Baek. Hitomi had learned when they were at the pool that Baek was Hwoarang's sensei back in Korea, and considering how good of a fighter the biker was, she was interested in how that match went as well.

Paul and Law decided to go to the hotel bar to have a few drinks. Marshall was leaving tomorrow, but it was good to see that he was in much higher spirits now than he was when he first lost yesterday. There was no doubt in Hitomi's mind that he'd be fine when he got back home.

That left the German karateka by herself for the moment. As soon as she had said goodbye to everyone, she had headed up to her room. She wanted to hang out with Asuka, seeing as they hadn't seen each other almost all day since lunch.

It was strange; Hitomi was expecting to see her Osakan friend at the pool, as Paul and Law had said she was with them when they were headed over there. However, they had no clue where she went as soon as they arrived, leading Hitomi to believe that Asuka had changed her mind when she saw everyone having fun.

In her mind, it was probably because Asuka was feeling insecure again about her appearance and got cold feet. It was a dangerous assumption to make, and Hitomi knew better than to say that to her or anyone else out loud, but the German liked to think she knew her friend pretty well at this point.

She really needed to convince that girl that she was beautiful. Because she was…she had an incredible body.

Blushing, Hitomi slapped her cheeks to regain her composure. Opening the door to her room, she called out Asuka's name but was met with silence. This left the German even more confused. Where the heck had she gotten off to?

Hitomi found herself feeling pretty worried for a couple moments, but then she remembered that if Asuka did get into any trouble she could probably handle herself easily. So, deciding that her friend was probably fine and was just taking some time to herself, the German moved on to the next thing on her list of to-do's and headed towards the phone.

Briefly thanking the hotel staff for not charging extra when making international calls, Hitomi quickly dialed the number of her parent's house. She had no idea what time it was over there, but she was just hoping someone would pick up. Hopefully her mother wasn't staying at the hospital, but the German wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't left her father's side since he was admitted.

She breathed a sigh of relief when her mother's sleepy voice answered on the other line. "Hello…?"

Hitomi couldn't help the smile that formed on her face. She didn't realize how much she missed her parents, and it had only been a couple days. She jumped on her bed and got comfortable with the phone. "Hey, mama."

Instantly, Hikari's voice perked up. "Hitomi! How are you? I was so worried! I sent you an email but you never responded, and then I wanted to call you but I couldn't figure out where you were staying and I forgot where I put the number Detective Wulong gave me and-"

Hitomi resisted the urge to laugh. "Shh, shh, mom it's okay. I'm fine! I'm having a great time actually!" She then scratched her head sheepishly. "I'm sorry about the email though…I'm really bad at checking that."

She could just see her mother's scolding face before she even said anything. "Hitomi, dear, I told you you could go to this thing, but I expect to hear from you when I try to contact you." Hikari's voice became a bit softer. "I'm worried about you…"

The karateka felt bad for her mother. She was no doubt stressed out with everything going on, so Hitomi made a mental note to be more vigilant with her emails and to call her more often.

"I'm sorry, mama. I'll be sure to contact you more. It's just been pretty crazy here! I've made a ton of new friends though, and my first fight went really well! And the tournament officials are very good here; I know they're not going to let anything get out of hand."

The last part was a bit of a lie potentially; Hitomi really didn't know much about the tournament officials yet, but anything that could calm her mother down right now was worth lying about.

"That's good to hear," said Hikari with a sigh of relief, "I'm glad you're making friends. Did you win your first fight?"

Hitomi let herself smirk cockily. "What do you think?"

She could practically feel her mother rolling her eyes.

"You're so humble," she said in a deadpan tone of voice.

The karateka laughed, but then became serious. "So…how's Papa?"

There was a moment of silence, and then Hikari took a deep breath. "Stable. His leg is healing nicely apparently, and the doctors told me that there was no internal bleeding involved with the injuries to his head so he should be fine."

Another moment of silence, "…his face still looks grotesque though."

Hitomi laughed at her mother's attempt at humour. It was nice that she was trying to be strong for her, but she knew how worried her mother actually was. Still, the news that her father was recovering nicely was extremely comforting to Hitomi. She released a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding since she got to Japan, and was suddenly feeling much more relaxed.

"I'm so glad to hear that," she said quietly, "is he awake?"

"Yes," said her mother, "and he's very worried for you. But he's not angry."

Hitomi's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? I was all prepared to defend myself against one of his famous scoldings too…"

"I'm sure he could still give you one if you asked nicely." Hikari sounded amused now.

"I'm good, I think."

"He had a message for you," said Hikari seriously, "he told me to tell you to be careful above all else, and to not underestimate that monster. He also said he loves you, and that he would never be disappointed in you if you are unable to defeat him. I think he knows you're just as thick-headed as he is."

Hitomi wanted to give a retort to that, but she was just relieved to hear that her father was back to his old self, despite his injuries. "I love him too. I love both of you. So much. I'll be careful, I promise."

"Thank you, sweetheart," said Hikari in a loving tone, "now go get 'em!"

Hitomi grinned and pumped her fist with her free hand. "You know I will! Osu!"

"Yeah, yeah," said Hikari sarcastically, "whatever that means."

"Papa and I might tell you one day if we're feeling nice," said Hitomi as she got up from her bed, "bye, mama."

"Bye, Hitomi."

As she hung up the phone, the German was feeling better than she had since being here. It was if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders now that she knew that her father would be okay and her mother wasn't as stressed out. Now she could focus fully kicking Feng Wei's ass back to China.

For now though, she just wanted to find Asuka. Where the heck did that girl go?

It was nearing the evening in the castle ruins. Jin was sitting against a wall in deep thought. Beside him was a small crater where his fist had collided with the said wall, moments ago.

It was a cruel twist of fate to put him against the one person he wanted to protect in this tournament. Xiaoyu was incredibly stubborn; there was no way she would back out of the fight or forfeit, and Jin knew that he would not be able to find any answers if he did the same.

His only option was to fight her.

He was praying that he didn't lose control tonight. He needed to concentrate and focus harder than ever before in order to do the least amount of damage possible to win the fight. In his position, this was a much more difficult task than it would be for most people. Xiaoyu was arguably the only person left in Jin's life that actually mattered to him, so if he ever seriously hurt her he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep living with himself.

Not that living with himself was easy right now as it was.

Jin's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps on the grass outside the castle. Curious, he rose from the wall and peeked down to see who was there. He was surprised to see the girl he had spoken to last night…Asuka.

The girl didn't make eye contact with him and didn't say anything until she had climbed up to where Jin was. When she did finally look at him, Jin knew something was wrong. There were tears in her eyes, but they hadn't fallen.

"I…I don't know why I'm here," said Asuka hesitantly as she looked down at the floor.

Jin crossed his arms and regarded her silently. "You didn't know where else to go," he said after a moment, "what happened?"

Asuka laughed bitterly and then slumped down against the wall Jin had just been sitting next to. "I'm an idiot, that's what."

Rolling his eyes, Jin went to lean against the wall as well, but didn't sit down. "I could have told you as much."

The response caught her off guard and she scowled at him. "That's how you talk to a girl when she's upset?"

Jin's eyes widened slightly, remembering how he spoke to Xiao during Hitomi's match this morning. Asuka had a point…he really needed to work on his social skills.

"Alright," he started, "I apologize. What has you upset?"

For a moment, Asuka thought about just telling Jin to forget about it and leaving, but maybe if she just opened up completely to someone it might make her feel better. And besides, it wasn't like Jin would tell anyone…he probably wouldn't even care. They barely knew each other after all.

"There's this person I have a crush on," said Asuka plainly. She looked up at Jin to gauge his expression. To her surprise, he just nodded and waited for her to go on. She was expecting him to tell her to get lost, or maybe even laugh.

"And…well…"she continued hesitantly, "it's a girl." Again, she looked at him. This time, Jin glanced in her direction, but still didn't say anything. After a moment, he sat down next to her.

"That karateka," he said in a calm voice, "from Germany."

Asuka's eyes widened in shock. How the hell did Jin know about her feelings for Hitomi?!

Recovering quickly, Asuka looked down at the ground. "Um…yeah. How did you know that exactly?"

Jin just shrugged. "I didn't. Lucky guess."

The Osakan blinked for a moment, and then gave Jin a solid punch on the arm. He winced slightly, but had the smallest of smiles on his face.

"You're a jerk," Asuka grumbled.

Jin stopped smiling and regarded her curiously. "So, I take it she doesn't feel the same way?"

Asuka was surprised that Jin was actually talking to her about this. She didn't know why she came up here, and when she realized where she was going she thought it was a horrible idea. Jin however seemed to be actually interested in helping her, which was surprising from what she knew of him so far, to say the least.

"I don't know for sure," said Asuka as she buried her face in her hands, "but I think so. Lately she's been all up on this British boxer guy."

"Steve Fox," said Jin bluntly.

"Yeah," Asuka gritted her teeth, "him."

The male Kazama stood up and walked away from the wall, leaving Asuka staring at his back. He walked towards one of the holes in the castle walls and looked out into the open fields.

"You know," he started, "there is someone important to me as well. But I cannot let myself be with her because of some…personal problems. Problems that I'm not sure I can fix for good. It is too dangerous for her to be with me until I can be sure of her safety, and I might never be able to do that."

"What kind of problems?" asked Asuka, curious.

Jin turned around and looked at her seriously. "That's not important. The point is, you must not be afraid to tell someone important to you your feelings. You may not get another chance. If I didn't have to worry about this girl's safety, I would be close to her in a heartbeat."

Asuka almost laughed. Jin was a hopeless romantic? How…odd. That's the last thing anyone would think about him. She also knew exactly who he was talking about. He may not be obvious with his feelings…but Xiaoyu definitely was.

"You must not be happy about your match tonight," said Asuka with a smirk.

Jin stayed silent. Suddenly, the Osakan felt a little bad. Of course he felt like shit about it. He clearly had other problems to deal with, especially concerning that Kazuya guy from the banquet, so having to fight someone he had feelings for on top of that? Not a pleasant thought.

"Sorry," said Asuka as she scratched the back of her head sheepishly, "I'll shut up now."

"I have a request," said Jin suddenly. Asuka looked at him in surprise.

"Huh?"

Jin walked to the center of the arena and gave her a pointed look. "I want you to spar with me. I need to know that I will be able to stay in control and fight properly tonight. I cannot cause her unnecessary harm."

Asuka didn't understand what he was going on about. Why would he do unnecessary harm to Xiaoyu when he clearly didn't want to and had feelings for her? How would he not be able to control himself? Most martial artists didn't have a problem with discipline and didn't Jin win the third Iron Fist Tournament?

Still, this could actually be just what Asuka needed right now as well. She hadn't fought against a real opponent yet since coming here, as Mokujin obviously didn't really count. Not to mention this would get her mind off the situation with Hitomi, and she might just end up feeling better about the whole thing.

"You know," said Asuka as she stood up from the wall, "I don't get you sometimes. But if you want me to kick your butt, I'd be more than happy to help ya out."

Jin smiled gratefully at her as he got into his stance. "Thank you. Let's go."

A/N: So I tried to make this one a bit longer. Sorry things are going kind of slow in the story right now. It's because I'm building up to something big in the next chapter, and also because I'm trying to get back into the habit of writing so I'm trying to take my time. I sincerely hope you guys are still enjoying the story though! Please please PLEASE leave reviews, fav and follow if you are enjoying the story. It's motivation for me, which is important to keep this story going. I don't like writing if I don't feel motivated to y'know? See you guys next time!