Chapter 8 - Nina

Jin Kazama opened a manila folder and examined the information on Nina Williams, following up on Devil's suggestion to consider hiring her. He had remembered her from their encounter at the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3. She had lost, but he had not forgotten her being a worthwhile challenge. Since then, he had caught bits and pieces from overheard conversations about her capabilities. His sources had found where he was staying and learned she would be checking out of her hotel today. She would be harder to find after that.

Wearing all black attire, he took two other men with him and knocked on the door of her room. Nina looked through the peephole and was surprised to see him but opened the door, sensing no danger from his presence. "Jin Kazama," she said as a greeting instead of a simple hello.

Jin stepped inside the room, leading Nina to realize she had let him enter with ease. The two suited men with him stayed outside the door, not daring to trespass her domain as boldly as their leader. "Won't you come in?" she pretended to offer. She closed the door on the other two men. The solitary intruder did not react. Evidently, he had planned on talking to her alone anyway. He paced around her room and quietly studied it. The young man wore a long black coat that somehow looked heavy on his shoulders. The air suddenly felt cooler as if a chilly air surrounded his body.

"I've come to offer you a job," he stated without looking at her as he still examined the room. She saw him looking at her suitcase, which she had just been packing. He probably knew she was planning on checking out today. His words had been straight to the point, which was good. "The Mishima Zaibatsu is now mine." Jin looked at her. She had learned as much from the news in the aftermath of the tournament. "This job will be anywhere from six months to two years, depending on how the pieces fall into place. There are people who already want me dead and more to come in time, I am sure. I want you to be my personal bodyguard and assistant." The prospective employer looked through the window at the building across the street. "I believe the English idiom is ‘right-hand man,' so ‘right-hand woman' is perhaps the best term to describe it. I understand that someone of your caliber and in your line of work is not held back by petty moral concerns. I need that trait in such a position." He returned his gaze to where she stood.

Nina had been carefully watching him with arms akimbo as she waited for him to finish. "If you already know what I do, then you know that ‘bodyguard' and ‘assistant' are not typically my job." She nearly shrugged as she spoke.

"You will be well-compensated, I assure you. Your talents are useful to me, and you offer your services to those who pay, correct?

She folded her arms. "You're all business now, aren't you?"

He snickered. "Sure, ‘business' is a fine word for it." The devil inside found it even funnier as a raucous cackle echoed in Jin's mind.

"All I'm saying is, you've changed. We didn't exactly chat last time, but there's something different about you. Speaking of last time, if we're going to work together, you should know I planned on killing you then. I was possessed by Ogre. I know you've dealt with that thing in the past." This woman was direct and spoke of the supernatural without alarm, laying out all her cards on the table for him. She was indeed exactly the person he needed.

Nina saw a quick flash of something in his eyes as Jin decided to not let on he had recently learned this news. She probably did not tell anyone. "That is indeed something I should know before hiring you. Ogre is gone. I killed it myself. Just do your job. As for me, you'll learn more once we've finalized your contract. I don't expect this change to be a problem with our business together." He made direct eye contact, and she could see their brown color plain as day.

"No, I suppose not, if you pay well enough."

"I will. If you have no other pressing engagements, I assume we can leave once you are finished packing." He motioned his hand toward her suitcase.

Her eyes darted to it and then back at him. "Sure. You can wait in the lobby, and I'll be there once I'm ready."

"See you then." The heavy long black coat whisked away with the young businessman wearing it.

Later, Nina and Jin rode inside a limo together in silence for most of the way. He was a man of few words, but she wasn't a talkative person either.

Eventually, he said, "I'm going to do some things that are considered immoral and criminal. I'm going to make enemies. That is your final warning before you sign on for this position. When someone comes to you with an offer for my life or a price is put on my head, I expect you to do your job. Do I make myself clear?"

She gave a small nod. "Certainly. You picked the right person for the job, Mr. Kazama."

"You can call me ‘Jin' from this point onward. We're here. One of the assistants will work out the details of payment with you. The paperwork will take a couple of hours, so I will you see later this afternoon or evening. You will be directed to my office." He scribbled something down on a piece of paper. "That is my number. Memorize it. If you're ever somehow without your phone that you will be saving that into, you need to be able to reach me. I expect we'll be spending a lot of time together. Until then…" The car door opened, and she was gone.

The young CEO returned to his office where he learned that a man named Eddy Gordo had requested an appointment to speak to him directly. He had left an older photo of Kazuya as a token with a message that he had no quarrel with Jin in hopes that these pieces together would be enough to garner a meeting. The evil spirit nesting inside relayed familiarity with the name at least, so Jin consented.

Inside, he pressed a button to open up a wall of television screens where he could easily observe the current events of the world. The news tended to focus on violence, tragedy, crisis, and wrongdoing, making it a fine snack for his evil half. Eventually, Nina entered.

"All settled in?" Jin asked.

"All set."

"Good. I already have an assignment for you. In two days, I have an appointment with Eddy Gordo. I want you to research this man, tell me what you find, and I want to know what he wants before he tells me himself."

"Anything else?"

"Yes, I already sent you a detailed email, but here's the oral rundown. Security was lax during this past tournament, so I want an assessment of the damage the company experienced internally. I want proof that Heihachi Mishima is dead, because I still don't really believe it, be it a full body or even just dismembered limb or I want him found if he is alive."

"And if he is alive?"

The same flash from earlier flickered in Jin's eyes for a moment. "Don't expend any resources beyond protecting what is mine."

"You got it."

"I want a meeting set up with Dr. Bosconovitch. I want an update on the status of those who entered the tournament. Some of these fighters didn't even show up. Some were injured. These are the people who will be coming after me when we're ready for the next tournament. I want spies in G Corporation and regular updates on their internal affairs. Three executives were recently murdered while my father became CEO and promised an internal investigation, which means he killed them and will do nothing about it of course.

"Finally, and this is the most important one, this is your top priority: I want any and all research done by this company on the devil gene in the past sent directly to me. If you think it's unimportant, and it probably is, send it anyway. I will not take the chance of missing the needle in the haystack."

"Devil gene? What's that?" Nina asked.

"An excellent question, and that's why I'm having you find that research."