Tekken Short Stories

A Bumpy Christmas

Three days before Christmas.
Lars searched the entire penthouse and found no one besides Jin who sat playing Street Fighter in the living room. He decided to join his nephew since he was the only one around anyway.
"Where's Kazuya?" Lars asked. "Oneesan and Amber aren't here either."
"I'm not sure about Mom 2, but Mom and Dad went Christmas shopping in Trillion," Jin said without turning away from his game. "Because they don't want to go to Lee's empty-handed, especially since it's Christmas."
Lars looked at him in surprise. "We're going to Lee's for Christmas?"
"Yeah, he invited us to stay for a few nights," Jin shrugged. His game ended so he quickly paused and turned to Lars, a little surprised. "You didn't know?"
"No," Lars shook his head. "When did he even tell us this?"
Jin smirked. "He's been telling us this for months. I thought you'd known."
"I think I wasn't concentrating very well," Lars admitted. "Anyway, what you gonna get for Kazuya?"
"I have no clue," Jin admitted, picking up his controller to continue. "What are you getting him?"
"Limited edition sneakers," Lars smirked.
"Darn, why didn't I think of that?" Jin groaned. "Any suggestions on what I should get for him?"
"Chicken?" Lars said, much to his dismay.
"Lars, be serious."
"Fine. What about a new phone? Kazuya's been using the same one since... I'm not sure, but he's been using the same one for so long."
"To be honest, I think you're right," Jin agreed. "He's been having the same phone for years. I think I'll get him a new one."
"Okay, what about for Oneesan?" Lars asked. "What are you getting for her?"
"I'm getting her a new oven," Jin smirked. "You know, after the last one burnt? She wanted that particular brand but couldn't find it. But I did. What about you? What are you getting for Mom?"
"I need a suggestion," Lars sighed. "Any ideas?"
Jin shrugged. "Well, she has been complaining about her prized makeup set depleting. Maybe you can get her a new one."
"Prized makeup set?" Lars asked. "Which one?"
"The one that Anna got for her two years ago," Jin said, closing the game since Lars posed too much of a distraction. "Remember? The one from Paris?"
Lars slowly nodded. "I do. Alright. Remember the brand? I need to do some online shopping."
"I don't know no brands," Jin said, stretching his arms back. "Go find it in Mom's room yourself."
Lars sighed, shaking his head. "Fine."
Jin watched him leave and quickly picked up his tablet from the table. With all the workload and Christmas planning, he forgot to get a present for Lars. Of all the people he forgot, he forgot his young uncle. Jin felt a little ashamed of that.
He searched and searched online for an idea, going from page to page. But none of the ideas seemed to scream Lars. Jin groaned. He couldn't ask Lars for a gift for himself.
The front door soon rattled open and his parents came in, carrying big bags of groceries. Kazuya went straight to the kitchen, bonking things on the way, and chucked everything down on the kitchen island.
"This time, we got two turkeys so that if one burns down, I don't have to go wait in line," Kazuya complained. "That was the worst, I waited in line for so long, midst the snow, and in the end, everyone brought turkey. Even Hwoarang."
Jin couldn't help but laugh. "You're right, that was funny."
"It wasn't, I was half frozen by the time I entered the shop," Kazuya sighed. "Anyway, you haven't forgotten that we're going to Excellent's house tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, I remember," Jin said. "I have yet to pack..."
"Ah, we can do that later," Kazuya said. "By the way... I still haven't gotten anything for Lars. Do you have any suggestions of what I should get for him?"
Jin looked at him in surprise. "I was about to ask you the same thing..."
"Nuts," Kazuya groaned. "What do we do now?"
"Wanna ask Mom?" Jin suggested.
"I don't know what to get for her too," Kazuya admitted.
Jin shook his head. "You're worse than me."

Nina yawned and crawled out of bed. She was surprised to find that Adam wasn't beside her, one of the rare times of him being up before her. She realised her phone wasn't on the nightstand and staggered out of the room, trying to fix her bedraggled hair. She scratched her back and made her way down the stairs to search for the guys.
They seemed to have evaporated into thin air, without a trace of them around. The only thing she found was a paper bag from Bestie's Diner, resting on the dining table. Nina opened it to see an egg and sausage muffin sandwich and a cup of cappuccino. The bag was really big so it evidently held a lot more than just that. Nina definitely knew who ordered it.
Nina retrieved her phone before making her way back upstairs. She made a beeline for Steve's room. The door was left ajar and Nina could see that they were not there. She went to the room beside Steve's, the room where Shasha used to stay, and found it locked. Nina heard a faint sound of voices behind the door. She pressed her ears against the wood and listened in.
Steve and Adam were definitely behind it. But why were they sneaking around at this time of day? In an empty room too.
Before Nina could decide what she should do, her phone started ringing in her hand. A loud ringtone it was, Jin's theme from the third tournament.
Nina sighed and answered the call. "JIN!"
"Gosh, my ear!" Jin groaned.
"That's how I feel whenever you do that to me," Nina smirked. "Anyway, what's up?"
"We're coming over," Jin said.
Nina groaned. "Oh come on, I just woke up."
"It's okay, we're coming now," Jin said.
"What do you mean 'it's okay'? Jin, that's something that I should be saying," Nina sighed. "Fine. Where are you now?"
"Ten minutes away," Jin said. "We're also bringing snacks."
Nina sighed. "Okay. I'll go freshen up."
She bade farewell and hung up. The door beside her suddenly opened and out came Steve and Adam, pretending like they didn't just sneak around behind her.
"Who was it?" Adam asked.
"Jin," Nina groaned. "He's coming over now. And I just woke up..."
"We ordered breakfast," Steve said. "We left it on the dining."
Nina nodded. "I saw. But I have to go get ready first. Jin said he's also bringing some snacks."
"I won't be surprised if he just raided them from his pantry," Steve snorted as he made his way downstairs. "I'll wait for him in the hall."
"I need to go to the toilet," Adam said, following Nina to their bedroom.
Nina watched him enter the bathroom and shut the door, hoping that he wouldn't take long since she needed to go as well.