They were all congregating around the jail, meaning they had to have a prisoner. As she spied on them, hearing whispers of “Lin Kuei”. She bit her lip, heading towards the Grandmaster's dojo.
“Father!” She burst through the doors, where her father was stood with some of his closest generals, including the father of her fiancé. “Is it true? Is there a Lin Kuei here?”
“Harumi, you know you shouldn't be here,” Akihito softly scolded. She could see a couple of the generals smile to themselves, it was an open secret that the only person who could break the rules without consequences was Harumi. It was a little upsetting having the reputation as a “daddy’s girl” but sometimes she did use it to her advantage.
“Yes, yes,” she waved off the complaint. “But is it true?”
Akihito hesitated, before admitting “yes, it is.” He then pointed his finger at her and in his best authoritative voice told her, “but you are not to get involved in any of this, do you understand me?”
She pouted. She understood her father's desire to keep her safe, why he'd forbade her from joining the Shirai Ryu, but it still made her a little angry. She wanted to be useful to her family, the Shirai Ryu had accepted female warriors for decades. Why couldn’t she join their ranks and fight side by side with her friends and husband-to-be?
Before she could voice her objections, she heard a gentle cough from one side.
“Actually, Grandmaster Hisakawa, I do believe she may be able to help.” All faces in the room turned to Master Hasashi, most of them shocked, Harumi curious and her father looking like he was about to start chewing him out. “The Lin Kuei has been refusing to eat, we worry that if we can not convince him to, he will be too weak to last an interrogation.” He turned his face toward her. “We believe he is scared. You have a very calming presence, Harumi, you may be able to convince him to eat.”
“Kaito,” Akihito warned lowly.
“Grandmaster, I am not convinced that this Lin Kuei is of age,” Kaito argued. Harumi frowned, the Lin Kuei's tactics she knew of rarely made sense to her, but it seemed needlessly reckless to send a child into battle. “And even if he is, I doubt he can be any older than 18. If this is the case, he will not know anything of importance. Hell, he likely doesn't even know why he was sent here.”
“It does seem suspicious,” one of the other masters, Chie, added in. She was stroking her hair back as she spoke. “13 is considered old enough to go on missions in the Lin Kuei, but they don’t tend send them on solo missions until at least 20. Why send someone so young on a solo mission, especially one right into the heart of their greatest enemies operation?”
“Unless they were hoping our hatred of the Lin Kuei would trump our empathy for someone so young,” Noboru almost mumbled, like he was considering something. “Unless they were sending him here to die.”
Harumi shuddered at the thought. Even if the Lin Kuei was over 18, it sounded like he couldn't be older than herself. The thought of someone sending him out with the intent of him getting killed? That was horrific. She had been told her entire life of the brutal conditions the Lin Kuei worked under, but this was beyond anything she could imagine.
Akihito closed his eyes, and sighed, before he turned to Harumi. “I do not wish to ask this of you, but Kaito is right. You are the most calming presence we have here, you may be able to succeed in gaining his trust.”
“I will not let you down,” she announced, so glad to finally have a use within the Shirai Ryu. Sure, mediator wasn't the most action packed of jobs, but it was a skill she figured most of the others were lacking. “I will go warm up the miso soup I made earlier and see if I can convince him to take it.”
“Please be careful, even if he is young, he could still be dangerous,” Akihito warned, placing his hand on her cheek. “If he so much as lays a finger on you, it's over.”
“I understand, I'm sure it won't have to happen like that.” She bowed to her father and the other masters, who bowed to her in turn. With that, she turned on her heel to go and gather the soup.
With the hot soup in her hands, she made her way over to the jail, where Akihito and his masters were stood explaining the situation to the current guards. The guards that just so happened to be made of Hanzo and his two friends Junpei and Katashi. She could see before she even got close that Hanzo was not happy.
“I am ready,” she announced, everyone turning to her. Hanzo was glaring at her, she was definitely going to have to make this up to him later.
“I still think someone should go in with her,” Junpei piped up, “maybe Hanzo should-”
“The kid is scared,” Kaito butted in, “if someone goes in there armed to the teeth, it's just going to put him further on edge.”
“I'll be fine,” Harumi assured everyone, but she could see it did absolutely nothing to persuade Hanzo. “If I need help I will call for it.”
Reluctantly everyone moved aside and the door was slid open. She didn't make any eye contact as she stepped inside and the door was closed behind her. The jail was small, the Shirai Ryu didn't take prisoners often, so there were only two cells. Sat curled in a ball with his head ducked under his knees, chained up, was what she could only assume was the Lin Kuei.
He wasn't wearing a shirt, and she was a little sickened by what she saw. He had muscle, that was certain, but that didn't really hide how thin he was. She could see his ribs for fucks sake. That wasn't just a few hours refusing to eat, that was months, maybe even years, of lack of food. Maybe the reason they were having such a hard time pin pointing his age was due to stunted growth and malnutrition. The thought made her blood boil.
Still, she took a deep breath and softly called out, “hello, my name is Harumi.”
The Lin Kuei tensed, but moved his head until his eyes were at least visible. She was struck by just how blue his eyes were. She tried to ignore the large jagged scar over his right eye.
“I've been asked to give you food,” she explained, passing the bowl of soup through the bars and gently placing it on the floor in front of him.
“I refuse to eat,” the Lin Kuei hissed. Even his voice was as ambiguous regarding his age, not light or deep enough to say for sure if he was an adult or not. “Tell your masters I choose to die.”
“Well, my masters don't want to kill you,” she tried, settling down on the floor in front of him. “And we would rather you eat.”
“Why?” The Lin Kuei asked, finally jerking his head up and putting his legs down. “I know nothing that would be of use to you! The Lin Kuei will not come for me, and will not negotiate for my release. You have no choice but to kill me.”
“Hm, no I think we do have other choices,” Harumi disagreed, trying to stop herself from giggling at the way the Lin Kuei pouted. “And I'm afraid you not eating isn't one of them. If you don't we may have to force feed you, and trust me, that is a very unpleasant situation to be in.”
The Lin Kuei didn't say anything, just frowned like he was considering what she'd said. He didn't go for the soup though. She reached forward, pushing it a little closer to him. He regarded it for a second, before he finally reached for it and after sniffing it began to eat. Harumi let out a relieved sigh.
“Thank you,” she softly said, curious about his reaction to the soup. He seemed surprised, but not repulsed. “So, what's your name?”
The Lin Kuei glared at her like she'd just asked him to jump off a cliff. Eventually however he mumbled out the word “Tundra.”
She knew it must have been a codename, but at least she had something to call him now.
“How old are you, Tundra?” She asked. He looked at her again, although this time he looked more confused.
“Why?” He asked, looking very guarded.
“It's been a bit of a debate since you got here,” she tried with a smile. “I would appreciate being able to put an end to it.”
Tundra looked at her like she was mad, but eventually answered, “I'm 18.” So, he was an adult, but barely. “Wait, is that why they don't want to kill me? Because they think I'm a kid?”
“Even at 18, you're a little young to be considered for execution.”
“I'm 18! I'm an adult!” The fact he was practically throwing a tantrum was really not helping his case.
“Well, I'm 21 and due to be married, but my father still considers me a child, so trust me, you have no chance of convincing them you aren't one.” They stared at each other for a solid minute in silence. Then to Harumi's complete surprise, Tundra began to laugh.
“That's so weird,” Tundra giggled. “Then again, my brother still treats me like I'm a kid, even though I’ve been going on missions for years. This was meant to be the one where I proved him wrong.” He stopped laughing, staring at the chains cuffed to his wrists. “I guess I fucked that up, hm.”
“I don't think that was your fault,” Harumi sympathised.
She wanted to question a Lin Kuei having a brother. She knew they generally didn't hold onto family ties. There were only two consistent bloodlines in the Lin Kuei, the Grandmaster's bloodline and the Sub Zero bloodline. She doubted Tundra was part of the Grandmaster's bloodline, there was no way he'd have been sent here alone.
She then realised something.
Blue eyes. The name Tundra. Having an older brother.
Oh. Oh shit.
She tried not to let her realisation show, she didn't want Tundra to question her. She instead continued to make small talk, until he'd finished his soup. She took the bowl, told him that she'd be back to let him know what was going to happen to him, and left.
When she stepped out, she saw the brief moment of relief on everyone's face. That was until they saw how serious she looked, at which point the nervous energy swiftly returned.
“Harumi? My girl, what's wrong?” Akihito asked, pushing forward to take her face in his hands. She looked at him, and gulped, unsure how he would take the suspicion she was about to drop on him.
“I think he might be Sub Zero's brother.”
She had anticipated that her suspicion would be met with a level on unease.
She hadn't anticipated the sheer panic it caused.
An emergency meeting had been called, and she was unfortunately front and centre. Thankfully, other than herself it was just her father, Kaito, Chie, Noboru, Hanzo, Junpei and Katashi. Even so, everyone was looking at her extremely expectantly, and she wasn't sure what to say.
“Harumi, would you care to explain why you have come to the conclusion you have?” Akihito slowly questioned. “Did he tell you he was related to Sub Zero?”
“No,” she explained, realising just how little evidence she had. It was more just a passing and nagging thought that snowballed. “All he told me for definite was that his name is Tundra, he's 18, and he doesn't think the Lin Kuei will come or negotiate for him.”
“Then, why do you think he's related to Sub Zero?” Chie asked, she sounded unsure, likely hoping that it was just a crazy theory.
“Well, it was a couple of things.” She reached to brush a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “He has blue eyes, like really blue eyes, like unnaturally blue eyes." She heard Junpei snort as if that meant nothing. “Then there's the name. Tundra. Kind of winter related.” She saw Katashi rolling his eyes. “And then he mentioned having a brother. And I thought that was weird cause the Lin Kuei don't normally keep families together, right?"
The room was silent. Junpei and Katashi still looked disbelieving, and so did Hanzo to a degree. The masters in the room however, looked far more troubled by this.
“I didn't ask, because I didn't want to scare him further.” She linked her fingers together and made eye contact with her father. “It just seemed strange, and that was the only explanation I could think of.”
It was still silent. Akihito slowly turned to Junpei and Katashi, and quietly ordered “please can you bring him here.”
Junpei and Katashi suddenly looked a lot more serious, and they scrambled to go and leave the room. Hanzo turned back to them, now looking like he was also no longer as skeptical.
“You really think he could be related?” Hanzo asked, eyes darting around but mostly landing on his own father.
“Lin Kuei don't care for family,” Kaito explained, “They only have two constant bloodlines, and I highly doubt that the Lin Kuei are sending someone from the Grandmaster's bloodline on a solo mission like this at 18.”
It didn't take too long for Junpei and Katashi to return, Tundra in tow. He was still cuffed and chained up, but he wasn't resisting. It looked more like he was resigned to whatever fate they had chosen for him.
“Tundra, is it? We have not been properly introduced,” Akihito stated as he stood up from his chair. God, with Tundra standing she could see how short he was, especially compared to her father. He practically towered above him. “I am Grandmaster Hisakawa Akihito.”
“I know,” Tundra replied, sounding like he wanted to be brave and disrespect the man in front of him, but the shake in his voice giving him away.
Akihito gestured for Tundra to be brought to the table, pointing to a seat right next to his as head of the table, and opposite Harumi. She had no doubt that this was on purpose. Tundra sat down, glancing across the table to Harumi. She expected him to look pissed off with her, but instead his look was slightly pleading, like he was hoping she would protect him from something.
What does he think we're going to do with him?
“I will skip to the point of this meeting,” Akihito started, holding his hands in front of him on the table with his fingers linked, “you spoke with my daughter earlier.” Tundra's eyes widened, as he gave Harumi a betrayed look. Oh shit, I didn't mention that to him. “And you mentioned having a brother.” Tundra looked back to Akihito, looking like he was trying to remain impartial. “Is your brother Sub Zero?”
Tundra was silent, just shifted like he was uncomfortable.
“Why does that matter?” He muttered, trying to look anywhere but Akihito. In Harumi's mind, this was a resounding “yes” to the question. It seemed her father wanted a more solid answer though.
“Please, just tell us.”
Tundra was silent before he brought a hand to the table. He held it there for a second, a blue glow escaping his finger tips. When he was done, he moved his hand, revealing a tiny bear made of ice on the table. Harumi's jaw dropped.
“Does that answer your question?” Tundra questioned, looking around at the other people in the room, equally as slack jawed as Harumi was. Especially Hanzo. She knew he had a sort of rivalry with Sub Zero, so no doubt having his little brother so close wasn't something he'd expected.
“It does,” Akihito breathed out, gingerly picking up the bear. He looked at it with a small smile on his face, like he was looking at something cute. To be fair, the fact Tundra had chosen to make a mini ice sculpture to prove the point was adorable. Akihito's face dropped, as he looked over to Tundra again. “You could have escaped or attempted to at any point.”
“I could,” Tundra admitted quietly, “but there was no point.” He looked down at his hands and the cuffs. “Even if I escaped and got back to the Lin Kuei, I would be executed for being caught. I've seen it happen before. I'm dead whatever I do, might as well accept that.”
The way Tundra spoke, like his death was inevitable no matter how this went down, was alarming. It was a very depressing way for an 18 year old to be thinking. Someone who should be enjoying the newfound freedoms of adulthood, not fearing his own execution.
“We aren't going to kill you,” Akihito tried to assure him, but it was clear Tundra did not believe that. “What about your brother? Sub Zero is a prestigious lineage, surely he could have some sway with your elders.”
Tundra shook his head. “They will just tell him I died by your hands, and he will believe them.”
To Harumi's surprise, Akihito gestured to Junpei to unlock Tundra's cuffs. After being freed, Tundra just looked at the Grandmaster expectantly. Nothing happened, and Harumi wasn't sure what was supposed to be occurring right now.
“You are still not attempting escape.”
“I've told you, there's no point.” Tundra rubbed his wrists. “And I don't know enough for you to bother keeping me alive, so can we just skip this and get to the part where you kill me.”
“You are very insistent on us killing you.” Harumi knew her father, and knew from the way he was speaking he was extremely uncomfortable. He was likely imagining her at 18 years old and in Tundra's place. A quick glance towards Kaito and she could tell he was imagining the same but with Hanzo. “You are 18 years old, you are just barely an adult, we are not going to harm you.”
Harumi just rolled her eyes and lent in slightly as she said “told you.”
Despite the situation, she saw Tundra's mouth quirk slightly. She tried to ignore the strange look her father was giving her.
“If not that, then, what are you going to do with me?” Tundra asked before Akihito could question his daughter.
“Well, seeing as you seem reluctant to leave, we can place you with a guard for the time being until we decide how to further deal with you,” Akihito stated. “I do not feel right just letting you rot inside that jail.” And then Akihito's head turned to Hanzo, who jumped at the sudden attention towards him. “Hasashi Hanzo, I request that you be Tundra's guardian for the time being.”
“I- me?” Hanzo, for the first time since Harumi had known him, seemed completely speechless.
“Yes, I believe this will be a good way for you to prove yourself to us.” Akihito had a smirk on his face, he knew that was a surefire way to get Hanzo to agree. Hanzo was always eager to show himself to be a valuable member of the clan. “Not to mention, it seems your wife-to-be has taken quite a shine to your new ward, I'm sure she would very much appreciate if you did.”
Harumi gave Hanzo her best puppy dog eyes to plead with him. If they looked after Tundra it meant that he would live with them. Meaning she could maybe start to try and unravel whatever the hell the Lin Kuei had done to him. At the least, she might be able to start feeding him properly and get him to a healthier weight.
Hanzo grimaced, but finally relented with, “it would be my honour, Grandmaster.”
For all Hanzo's cocky assurance that he was an unpredictable renegade, he was so very very very predictable.
Akihito turned back to Tundra, “do you have any objections to this?”
“No?” Tundra didn't look like he meant that to be a question, but at the same time he seemed completely blindsided by this development.
“Then it is settled.” Akihito brushed his hands as if to indicate that the decision was final.
Harumi went to stand, walking over to the opposite side of the table and holding her hand to Tundra. He hesitated but eventually took it and let her pull him to his feet. She desperately ignored the warning sirens in her head telling her that he was way too light. Hanzo was standing by the door waiting for them. As she approached she gave him a look to tell him they'd talk later, and he nodded in understanding. Tundra looked a little uncomfortable with Hanzo, but Harumi hoped that once he wasn't in his armour, that would change.
She hoped.
“So this is what my life has become,” Hanzo sighed over dramatically. “Babysitter to a stray Lin Kuei.”
Harumi looked up from where she was chopping a spring onion. Upon returning home, she had guided Tundra to the bathroom so he could have a wash and change into some clean clothes. It was some of Hanzo's off duty wear, so she was sure they'd be a bit too big for him, but it was the thought that counted. Still with Kuai in the bath, it gave Harumi time to talk to Hanzo about what they were going to do.
“I know it's probably not how you expected today to go,” she tried, as the scraped the spring onion into her pot, “but it is a good way to show the elder's your dedication to your responsibilities.”
“I hate that's such an effective tool against me,” he muttered, reaching to his hair tie and letting his hair go free. “I'm just going to have to try and look past the fact he's the younger brother of my biggest rival.”
“Yes, yes you are.” She got out the chicken and started to dice it. “But he's not really that much younger than us, I'm sure he'd rather live with us treating him like an equal than with one of the elders treating him like a child.” She smirked and looked over her shoulder at him, “besides he seems far more mature than you were at 18.”
“Excuse you, I was a very mature 18 year old, thank you very much.” Hanzo crossed his arms and looked like a stroppy child.
“Oh really? Mr. Climbs-up-on-the-roof-and-jumps-off-it-because-he-thinks-he-can-survive-it-and-ends-up-breaking-his-leg.”
Hanzo just offered her a sheepish smile at the memory and said “to be fair, I did survive.”
“You are unbelievable,” she muttered, rubbing some salt and pepper over her diced chicken. “I don't know why I ever agreed to marry you.”
She felt arms snake around her waist as Hanzo purred into her ear, “and yet you did.”
She rolled her eyes and turned her head, just enough to be able to give her boyfriend a kiss.
“Oh, ew.”
They both looked over to the doorway to find Tundra stood there, hair still slightly wet and wearing Hanzo's clothes. As Harumi suspected, they were far too big for him, and it was almost funny, like a small child raiding his fathers wardrobe. Almost. If it weren’t a stark reminder of how underweight the young man was.
Hanzo separated from her, and they both watched as Tundra cautiously walked into the room.
“Ah good, Tundra, I'm making chicken ramen for dinner, is that okay with you?”
There was no reply, and she looked back to him. He just looked completely lost.
“I-” he bit his lip and started to rub one of his wrists. “I don't know what that is.”
She hadn't even considered that Tundra was from a completely different culture, and likely didn't eat the same foods she and Hanzo did. This was a good way to start finding a way to bond and gain his trust.
“Ramen is a noodle soup,” she replied and Tundra nodded in understanding. “I'm sorry, I hadn't considered that you might not be familiar with Japanese foods. Are there any Chinese dishes you like? I can try making them, if you'd like.”
Tundra somehow looked even more uncomfortable. “I- Um. I'm not familiar with food. The Lin Kuei's diet is just plain rice with a meat or fish.” Harumi gripped her knife tighter. Rice and a bit of meat was not a healthy diet, at all. “A-also, food is a privilege, so I do not feel right asking you for something unless I've earned it.”
Oh boy. Any reaction she could have possibly had to those words was trumped by the look of sheer abject horror on Hanzo's face.
“What do you mean, food is a privilege?” He demanded, his voice barely holding back his rage. She was surprised he'd had such an extreme reaction, but put down the chicken and went to wash her hands so she could potentially hold her husband back.
“I- Well-” Tundra looked terrified, looking like he was preparing to shield himself from a physical attack. “I- If we fail a training exercise, food privilege's are taken from us and we're not allowed to eat.” Kuai looked down and away. “I failed a lot.”
That explained why he was so thin, they were literally starving him. She managed to reach Hanzo, putting a hand on his shoulder and mouthing at him “calm down”. He looked at her for a second, then back to Tundra, his eyes widening when he realised the young man was scared of his anger. He took a deep breath.
“Well, that isn't how things work around here,” Hanzo said, somewhat calmer, but his rage still lingering in the tone of his voice. “Food isn't a privilege here, it's a right. You are allowed to eat whenever you want. There are set meals we have, but they will never be taken from you. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir,” Tundra muttered, sounding completely miserable.
“It's okay that you don't know what you like yet, we can try out different things and see what sticks,” Harumi offered, desperate to try and deescalate the situation. “For example, did you like the soup from earlier?”
“Y-yes I did,” Tundra nodded. Harumi wasn't sure if he was just being nice, and didn't want to push his luck with them. Still, she was sure after he got used to things he'd feel safer being honest with them.
“Well, that's a good start,” she claimed. Now that she thought about it, it did explain the strange expression on his face when he first ate it. He likely wasn't used to food that actually had taste.
“So, um, is- is there anything I can do to help right now?” Tundra asked, looking at Hanzo with a worried expression. It seemed Hanzo's outburst had really spooked him. Harumi would have to try and remember to find a solution to that problem.
“No, not really. Why don't you go have a look around the house and get used to where everything is?” She suggested, watching as Tundra nodded and started to walk off.
When he was out of the room, she turned to Hanzo who looked at her quietly before saying “I think I understand why you were so worried for him now.”
Harumi sighed. This was going to be a challenge.
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