In the Shadows
Chapter 7 - The Concealed is Revealed
“I have a horrible feeling about his...” Lei murmured to himself while walking down the lamp-lit sidewalk, debating back and forth. He already knew he was walking right into a trap... You’d have to be an idiot not to know... But he didn’t have a choice. He could no longer just sit back and watch people die any longer... This was the reason Bryan hadn’t killed him yet. He had found such better ways to make him suffer...
Lei hated him for this.
For everything...
Upon reaching the rather large park he had been so rudely ordered to appear at, it hit Lei that no specific location within the park’s premises had been given. He sighed. Watch him walk around in here for hours just to be made a fool of... as always... Or be shot. Or molested. Gods know what. This is Fury he was talking about here...
A good ten minutes passed, and Lei shivered slightly. It was starting to get quite chilly out here, though thankfully, it wasn’t pouring down rain anymore. Only drizzling. As the Chinese reached the largest fountain in the park’s center, he sighed again. Worrying again. He stared down at his reflection in the translucent water, wondering how he had let his life move into a downhill spiral so rapidly...
Another reflection.
Lei turned around on the spot, only to see no one.
“I’ve lost it,” Lei smirked to himself. “That’s all there is too it. I’ve lost it.”
“Well maybe I can help you get back what you’ve lost.”
Lei turned around yet again, only to see someone seated on the bench directly before him.
His eyes shot wide open.
“Lee Chaolan?! What the?”
Lee laughed before flicking his burnt out cigarette to the ground. “Who were you expecting? The muffin man?”
“Not you,” Wulong remarked in observable annoyance.
“Well that’s obvious,” Chaolan smirked.
“Alright,” Lei began, narrowing his eyes, “I want to know what the hell this all about right.. now..”
“It’s about getting your life back. That’s what you want, right?” Lee asked with folded arms. That grin still on his pale and so perfectly proportioned face. It was that grin that unmistakably said ‘I know something’, without vocalization of the actual words being necessary.
“The threatening message on the laptop, and the person spying on me. That was you?” Lei questioned in a mixture of confusion and disbelief.
The silver-haired man stood up from his seat on the metal bench, giving a nod. His expression was serious, yet mocking all the same. “I know about you and Bryan Fury. I know about your past with him. I know about your hidden affairs with him. I know much, much more...”
Lei felt as if his jaw was going to drop and hit the floor. The confusion consumed his entire form in the revelation of Lee Chaolan’s previous words. How.. did.. he.. know?
“How—”
“How do I know?” Lee finished first. “Walk with me.”
Lei nodded, not knowing what else to do in this case. He was quick to follow Chaolan’s lead as they began walking down one of the many park paths.
“You’ve been wondering who’s been pedaling the newly arisen mafia around town, haven’t you?” Lee asked, already knowing the answer was ‘yes’. Chaolan found it intriguing to finally be rolling the dice in another one his games. Lei was the perfect piece for the board.
“It is Kazuya then, isn’t it?”
“Surprised?” Lee questioned, half sarcastically. “Now that Kazuya’s taken over the entire Mishima Conglomerate, he’s hungry for bigger game, indeed. Expansion is essential in his eyes, yet sometimes the competition’s just there. We all know how our dear Mishima feels about not getting his way...”
“I knew it was him,” Lei smirked at this. “What I want to know is why you’re telling me this? Why you’re doing any of this? This is not like you...”
“Remember two days ago, when you came to the Zaibatsu to question Kazuya about the mafia?”
Lei nodded.
“You had thought Kazuya and I didn’t know you caught us in the act before...”
Wulong blushed, and let out a slight gasp at this.
Lee only smirked in response, sounding amused still more. “Looks like you caught Kazuya Mishima tongue-fucking his adopted brother. That would get you on the headlines, alright, wouldn’t it now?”
“You’re sick,” Lei remarked, indeed his facial expression showing just how much he was sickened by this. “You should be disgusted with yourself.”
“Oh? You mean just like you should be for nearly getting fucked like a slut in a reflectional whore house?” Chaolan grinned, almost... evilly...
Lei was really starting to get tired of gasping here. “I... What...”
“You were right, Lei Wulong. Indeed Bryan’s become another one of Kazuya’s famous hands to play...”
Wulong turned in anger, and quickly grasped Lee at the collar of his long trench coat. “I’m going to make sure you pay for this, Lee. All of you. I don’t know what the hell you think you’re all trying to pull here, but you’re all a bunch of sick lunatics.”
Chaolan only sighed. “I’m in no mood for fighting at the moment. That’s not what I came here to see you for.”
“Then why did you?”
Lee grasped either of Lei’s wrists in hands, quickly shoving them away from his coat collar with a smirk. “Let’s just say Kazuya is to me, as Fury is to you. To be frank, I’m sick of being Kazuya’s personal little bitch, and I want out. I never wanted this. Never. But when Kazuya wants something... Hell, he’s going to get it... I learned that years and years ago... I’m asking for your help, Lei. Kazuya needs to be shut down for good if either of us are going to get our lives back anytime soon.”
The taller man soon opened his coat, and from the inside removed what appeared to be an envelope. He held it out to Lei with a gloved-hand.
“What’s in that?” Lei asked as he looked up at the other fighter.
“See for yourself.”
Though a little uneasy, Lei went ahead and took the single envelope from the silver-haired man. With the slightest sense of trepidation, he opened it soon after. What he then removed from its confines obviously appeared to be photographs.
Lei abruptly felt like he was going to be sick.
Very sick.
“Like the pictures?” Lee smirked, that knowing grin still on his face. “I especially love the one of you and Fury making-out on the floor after he’s sliced you and ripped your shirt off.”
“You fucking asshole,” Wulong growled. “What the fuck is the meaning of this?”
“Tsk tsk, language,” Lee scolded in his mocking voice. “Once again, this isn’t my fault. I’m actually telling the truth when I say I have nothing to do with this. Kazuya set up that little incident in the mirror house earlier. His Tekkenshu have been following you around for two days now. They’re everywhere left and right, go figure,” Lee sighed. “But indeed... Kazuya’s got blackmail in mind for you...”
Lei suddenly looked horrified.
“That’s what I thought you’d think,” Chaolan once again smirked. “I can see the headlines now... ‘Serial Killer Bryan Fury fucks Former Partner Detective Lei Wulong... Again!’ So many pieces of the puzzle will fit into place so perfectly, that the missing ones won’t matter. You’ll be exposed. You’ll lose your job, your home, and your honour. You’ll lose your life as you know it. And actually if I’m not mistaken, execution is even a possibility in your homeland...”
Remarkably, Lei looked even more horrified than he had a few seconds earlier... Lee was absolutely correct...
“Like I said, I can help you, though,” Lee stated, sounding serious this time around. “If you promise to help me...”
The detective was less than enthusiastic. “Even if you could help me, why would you?”
“As I said, I want to be Kazuya’s bitch just as much as you want to be Fury’s,” Lee remarked. “Now, Kazuya obviously doesn’t want his own little affair in the papers, either. He knows it’d ruin him for sure. Hell, it’d ruin me, also. I’m being honest when I say I’m just another one of Kazuya’s cards... I have nothing to do with his mafia, the assassinations, nor anything else... And I, like you, want it all stopped. I’ve wanted Kazuya behind bars for a long time... I’ve wanted him to stop torturing me for a long time... I too know what it’s like, Lei. What it’s like to be tortured like this. Kazuya and Bryan have quite a bit in common, just like you and I.”
“Hmp...” Lei replied simply, his own opinion on the statement varying. “The first part may be true, but you and I are nothing alike.”
“Conceded, proud, naïve, and both rather... androgynous in our own ways.”
“Very funny...” Lei remarked in reference to the last part of Lee’s spoken sentence. “Still, I don’t like to see people suffer at my hands like you... Nor am I consumed by greed or a thirst for revenge and power. The Mishima Zaibatsu is all that you truly desire. You know this...”
“When people let you down, money won’t, Lei,” Lee guaranteed. “Remember that. Just because some people learn this from the start, it does not make them entirely greedy.” Though Chaolan’s opinions were authentically put into words, he still knew Lei was correct, anyhow. He, in fact, did love money over people. “Yes, you’re right, I do want the Mishima Zaibatsu, but you want to keep your honour just as badly, quite frankly. So, here’s the deal. You help me get Kazuya behind bars for his mafia activities and hired assassinations, and I’ll make sure every little speck of evidence proving anything ever happened between you and Fury is destroyed. The pictures, the recordings, the videos, everything. I’m sure I precisely remember you giving away your own past in those tapes... There’s no way you could cover for that...” Lee snickered. “I get my way, and you shall get yours. Partially, that is.”
Lei only stood for a brief moment. He didn’t exactly know how to respond to this...
“You know it’s the only way...” Lee lead on.
“Fine...” Lei murmured in response. “You have my word...”
“I knew you’d comply... Now, let’s get down to business then, shall we? Kazuya departed less than forty-five minutes ago by helicopter to an urgent meeting in Wakayama. He’ll be gone until mid-afternoon tomorrow. I’ve been left in charge of the Zaibatsu until his return. At precisely nine in the morning on this day, you will arrive there to question me about matters concerning your case on the alleged mafia, and question a few others there while you’re at it just for show. When you leave, you’ll have the information you need to put Kazuya in jail, and the information to put you there will be no more.”
“How can I trust you?” Lei questioned, still in a whisper. Needless to say, he was still not very enthusiastic, nor happy about this whole situation. Any of it...
“Because you know I want the Mishima Zaibatsu all for myself that badly, and that this is all I care about. I could give a damn less about fucking up your life. That’s the difference between Kazuya and I. I’m too concerned with my own life to worry about medaling in anyone else’s.”
Lei only gave a slight nod, not exactly knowing what else to do.
“Well in that case,” Chaolan continued, beginning to turn around, “I’d say our business is finished for now. See you in a few.”
“Wait, Lee...” the detective spoke in a bit louder tone of voice, turning his glance up to better view the receding man. “What about Fury?”
“Oh, him again.” Lee’s grin remained persistent, though he then let out a sigh of the sorts. “Let’s just say Kazuya and he are not on good terms as of late. I feel you will no longer have to worry about Fury soon enough...”
“W-what?” Lei inquired, sounding fairly startled.
“I’m truly not the one to be asking, but, I’m late for a meeting here as it is, and I mustn’t keep my clients waiting. I will advise you, Lei Wulong, that keeping your little mouth shut and letting things unfold for themselves is a much better alternative to going out of your way to do the unfolding. Especially when you very well may unfold your own death in the process.”
“Bryan could kill you in a heartbeat, you know,” Lei remarked, as the silver-hared man’s back once again turned.
“Kazuya could kill you faster,” Lee replied, imitating Wulong’s previous tone of voice, yet a bit more... mysterious. Lee Chaolan truly had a voice like no other.
As the Silver Devil began to disappear into the darkness of night, Lei just continued to stand, almost motionless even.
This situation in its entirety was horrible, indeed...
“So let’s see, how am I going to explain this? Oh, right. ‘Jin, Hwoarang, I needed some fresh air, so I decided to jump out of your bedroom window and go for a walk’.” Lei sighed.
How ridiculous did that sound?
“They’ll never believe that...”
He continued to make his way up the complex stairs once again, still knowing there honestly wasn’t much he could say. Soon enough, he reached Jin’s door, and soon enough, he sighed again. He extended his right-fist to give the wood’s surface a mediocre level knock, already knowing he was bound for more than just a few annoying pep-talks...
“Alright, so yes, the meeting was urgent, and I didn’t have time to take the door...” Lei muttered in practice.
“You’re right; Jin and Hwoarang aren’t going to believe that.”
Lei jumped, and even emitted a rather startled noise as he turned around with either of his hands raised proficiently.
“J-Jin?” Lei stammered.
Jin nodded with a smirk. “Nice night for a stroll in the park, huh, Lei?”
Shit...
“You followed me?” Lei accused, sounding half-angered.
“You’re damn right we did,” Hwoarang snapped out.
Lei, of course, still appeared less than thrilled at the two fighters. “I can’t believe you two!”
“Well you better be happy,” Jin smirked in response to this. “Hwoarang and I spotted a couple Tekkenshu keeping an eye on you, but after our little conference with them, I do not believe they will be following you anymore. Do you know how dangerous this was of you to do? And foolish, for that matter?”
“Now you are starting to sound like Jun...” Lei muttered with folded arms.
Jin only sighed. “We’ll continue this once inside. I still don’t feel it’s safe for us to just be standing out here in the open.” After stating this, it wasn’t much longer before Jin had unlocked the front door, and the three discontented fighters were once again inside the apartment’s living room.
Immediately, Lei began making his way to the next room, before feeling Jin’s abrupt grip on his arm.
“Not so fast there,” Jin smirked, noting Lei was obviously more than eager not to be questioned right away. “Now then, what were you doing jumping out of windows, before walking off to dangerous parks in the middle of the night to meet with Lee Chaolan of all people?”
Lei knew it was impossible to let one bean go, without spilling them all. Therefore, he gave the only answer he could. “None of your damn business, how about that?”
Jin and Hwoarang both looked very, very annoyed.
Wrong answer.
“Until you answer, I’m just going to go on believing my first assumption,” Hwoarang stated with either of his arms folded. “You’re getting laid by Chaolan.”
Lei’s expressional appearance that resulted from this allegation seemed to bear sarcastic amusement, yet shock that one would even aim to suggest this at the same time.
“Right, Hwoarang...” Lei replied in a voice that matched his expression.
“Uh... you are kidding about this, right?” Jin protested, really hoping this was a joke.
“Just believe whatever you want,” Wulong remarked, “I’m not telling either of you anything because it is not your business, and that’s that.”
“Fine, then,” Jin grunted in response. “I’ll just have you know my uncle is not one to play one of his own games without winning. He’ll fuck you over in a heartbeat if he can help himself out in any way by doing it. No matter what it is he told you, you can bet it’s nothing but lies.”
Lei knew you couldn’t lie those photographs Chaolan had brought for show and tell, and for the moment, that was his only concern...
“Jin, Hwoarang, this has something to do with a case I’m investigating, and any information I have is confidential. Now once again, that’s that. So, with that out of the way, I’d like to get some sleep before my appointment tomorrow.”
“Appointment?” Hwoarang inquired.
The detective nodded. “I have a meeting to discuss this case, so yes, this is still confidential.”
Hwoarang was about to speak to this, before Jin put his hand on the redhead’s shoulder to catch his attention first. “Let’s just get to sleep ourselves now. It’s obvious you and I aren’t trustworthy.”
“Got that right,” the Korean muttered as he and Jin departed to head to bed.
Once the two twenty-one year olds had entered the neighbouring bedroom and shut the door, Lei fell backwards to land sitting on the couch with a hand on his face.
That had been way too close...
Thankfully, neither of the fighters had heard anything... That was a definite relief, indeed...
Still, Jin and Hwoarang were obviously not very happy with Lei at the moment. He couldn’t blame them, though. If there’s one thing that can really get on one’s nerves, it’s wanting to know the answers to something, having the answers right in front of you, but still not being able to solve the mystery. He sure knew that was big peeve for him.
Lei was quick to set the alarm on his watch. He at least needed to try to get some sleep in, especially since he already had less than six hours to sleep at most as it was before he’d have to wake up to go meet with Lee at the Zaibatsu.
Part of Lei had actually been quite glad that this had turned out to at least not be Fury who had ordered his presence in the park earlier... But now what was this about Lee saying he may not have to worry about Fury soon enough?
Only time would tell...