Tekken Short Stories

Adopted

1977, Peking, China.
Among the streets of Beijing, many wandered about with their day. Some were rushing for work, some were busily grabbing a last minute snack and some were just hanging about.
A young girl was rushing off to school in her bike, a backpack slung on one shoulder. She had exactly ten minutes left before her class. She couldn't be late now since she was already tardy for a whole week now.
Mei Ling picked up the pace and started riding faster in the direction of her school. It was two blocks away and she could make it in time.
But all of a sudden, her bike jolted and she fell down onto the hard asphalt. Cursing herself for being so clumsy, she got up on her knees and started collected her things.
Mei Ling was busily stuffing everything into her backpack when something- or someone- towered above her. She looked up and saw a few thug-like boys, not a year older than herself.
It was the bullies from her school.
The girl ignored them and continued to collect her stuff. She didn't have time to entertain these losers.
"What is it, Mei Ling?" The most idiotic one among them, Ban Wei, sneered. "Lost your balance?"
Mei Ling ignored them and got up, her knees stinging from the scrapes the asphalt had given them. She threw her bag into the bike's baskets and mounted her bike. She was gonna ride off to her school, but Ban Wei tugged at one of her plaits.
"Ouch, stop that! My hair! You're hurting me!" Mei Ling cried. "Let me go! Help!"
Ban Wei's friends started laughing as he grabbed her bag and dumped out its contents. He took them out one by one and threw it onto the road, ignoring Mei Ling's agonised screams.
His fingers clasped her slightly warm metal lunchbox and pulled it out. He opened it to reveal Hokkien-style noodles with dim sum.
"Ooooo look at this!" Ban Wei exclaimed, his small eyes shining. "Noodles and dim sum!"
He closed the container again and threw her bag aside. He motioned for his friends to follow him as he started walking away with Mei Ling's food.
"Hey! Come back!" Mei Ling shouted. But it was no use.
Mei Ling gave up, feeling a little grateful that they left her unhurt after stealing her food.

Ban Wei laughed as he opened the container again to feast on Mei Ling's lunch. But all of a sudden, he was kicked aside. Whoever it was, seemed to be a lot shorter and younger than him. He seemed to be homeless and he was wearing a fisherman's hat to conceal his hair.
The younger boy grabbed the lunchbox from his hands and closed it, putting it aside. The younger boy started fighting Ban Wei and his friends.
The boy seemed to be no more than eight years old. He seemed very strong for his age, despite being so small.
Well, his opponents weren't that much older than him either. They were just ten years old while he was eight.
"What do you want, street rat?" Ban Wei cried. "Go steal food from someone else! I'm sure there are plenty of 'good-hearted' people out there that would help you!"
"I don't want the food," the boy said. "Is it even your food to start with?"
The boy skilfully fought them as they tried to grab Mei Ling's lunchbox. They didn't really care much about the food at this point. All they wanted now was to defeat the young boy.

A luxury taxi was driving down the street. Those kinds of taxis were expensive and only the rich rode in them.
A man with raven hair pointed on two sides of his head asked the driver to stop. He rolled down the window and stuck his head out to take a look at the commotion.
It seemed like a bunch of older boys were bullying a much smaller boy. But when Heihachi took a closer look, he realised that the smallest boy was the one that was actually doing the damage.
With a agile kick, he swept his last opponent off his feet and grabbed a small metal container. He stuck his tongue out at the older boys and started walking down the street, passing the taxi that Heihachi was in.
Heihachi scooted to the other side of the taxi to see where the boy was going. The young boy ran after a girl riding on her bicycle.
"Jiejie!" The boy exclaimed, running after the girl on the bike. "Jiejie wait!"
Mei Ling heard the small voice behind her and stopped the bike. She turned around to see a boy younger than herself running towards her with a familiar metal container.
"Jiejie, your lunch box!" The boy said, handing the metal container to her. "I saw how those bad boys stole it from you! I fought them and got it back. Here you go, Jiejie!"
Mei Ling was stunned. She took the container from him and opened it, seeing how it's contents were untouched.
"Where did you find this, didi?" Mei Ling asked.
"I told you, I fought those bad boys and got it back for you!" The young boy told her, a proud smile on his face.
Mei Ling was surprised. She looked at the boy and realised how his clothes were old and tattered. He seemed to be rather untidy too.
"Where do you live?" Mei Ling asked her.
"I- I don't have a home..." the little boy said, his gaze falling to the ground. "I just sleep wherever I can."
"No home...?"
Mei Ling kinda felt sorry for him. She looked down at the lunchbox in her hands and then felt her pockets. She still had some money left, enough to buy her a decent meal from the school canteen.
To the boy's surprise, she gave the lunchbox to him.
"You can have it," Mei Ling said, giving the boy a gentle smile. "You need it more than I do. I have enough money, I can buy something. Take it, didi."
The boy's eyes lit up as his tiny palms clasped the metal container. He opened it a little and saw the noodles and dim sum. They smelled great. He thanked the older girl multiple times and hugged her before running off.
Mei Ling felt a little happier at successfully making someone's day with a small gesture. She then realised that she was running late and hopped onto her bike again.