"I don't see why I have to wear this..." Natalie complained, yanking at the hem of the black ruffled skirt that refused to ride any lower than two-thirds of the way to her knees, and that when it was behaving. The tank top she wore was red with black trim and laces up the front, and more to her liking. The skirt had been among some clothes left at her brother's place that he'd bought for her. Most of which, she naturally disliked.

"Because it looks nice, and you won't look so out of place in here," David replied. 'Here' was The Kiwi, a new bar and dance club and one of the hottest spots in Kyoto. Well, at least it would be until some other establishment outshined it. The name was both spoken and written in English, keeping with the pop-culture trend of late.

The knee-high laced boots went well with the skirt, and Astaroth had told his sister as much only to have her fuss about gender equality and the ridiculous nature of skirts. Jin had stayed out of the argument entirely, as expected, and – also as expected – had raised a brow and given the appropriate signs of a man attempting not to notice how short a woman's skirt went. Natalie had missed this entirely, David had not. In fact, that had been the main reason he'd insisted on it. He smirked to himself as they passed through the waiting area and into the lights and sounds of the rave.

==

Chapter IV: Watershed - Part Two
 

Jin winced as a pink spotlight zipped across his face. "It's really loud..." he mused, having to talk over the music as they walked toward the bar, lead by David. The fast techno beat made Natalie's step in time with it, much as she had on the arcade machine, even as she complained again.

"Techno and trance... why can't these places play rock?"

"Sometimes they do," her brother explained. "Just not so often."

They reached the bar and Astaroth ordered his drink, something Natalie couldn't understand in the language, but she did understand Jin's order of sake. Typical. Then both turned to look expectantly at her.

She blinked. "What?"

"What do you want to drink?" David asked.

She hummed and replied in an uncertain tone, "Um... Sprite?"

"With what?" David asked, raising a brow and suspecting that his little sister was not a drinker.

"With... ice?" she said with a small, shy look. Jin smirked a little while Astaroth chuckled and shook his head.

"We're at a club. You should at least have one real drink..."

"He's got a point. Otherwise you'll just be watching us have fun," Jin put in.

"Getting drunk is the fun you were talking about? No thanks, I'll be the designated sober person," Natalie said with a frown.

Her brother huffed. "One drink. There's no way you can get drunk on just one. You're my sister, after all..."

She sighed and finally buckled. "Fine. Just make sure it's not too strong and that I can't taste the alcohol much..."

Jin surprised her by ordering the drink for her, before they waited a moment for the bartender to mix the two drinks after pouring Jin's straight sake.

"What did you order for me?"

"It's peach and mango flavored. I think you'll like it," Kushina replied.

Natalie smiled at him then noticed her brother looking around the place, distracted. "Whatcha doing?"

"Looking for my date for tonight."

Turquoise eyes widened in shock, "Your date? You're supposed to be hanging out with us!!"

He looked at her with a smirk. "I will be, some of the time." He leaned in closer to add for her ears only, "Besides, don't you want to spend some time with him?" His icy blue eyes flicked to Jin as the latter sipped his drink and watched the writhing masses on the dance floor.

Natalie flushed immediately. "I... well..."

She received a clap on the shoulder. "See, you like my plan already."

Natalie scowled at him but offered no further argument.

Once brother and sister received their drinks, the trio found a table with a wrap-around bench to sit at. Astaroth sighed and pulled out his flip-phone, dialling a number with a muttered complaint. "She's late..."

While he began a conversation over the phone in Japanese, Natalie scowled and murmured to Jin, "I can't believe he scheduled a date..."

Jin only shrugged as he watched Natalie try her drink. "He's like that sometimes. So do you like it?"

She smiled and nodded, taking another sip before her reply. "It's good, the alcohol isn't too strong. What kind is in it, anyway?"

"Mostly rum, I think."

Kushina blinked as Natalie began to take larger sips, then a gulp, obviously enjoying the taste a little too much. "You might wanna slow down..." he warned.

"It's only one drink right?" Natalie responded. "Not like I can get drunk on just one..." she took another gulp, now enough to almost empty the glass. "Y'know, this is really good," Natalie purred, rolling her tongue around her mouth to savour the taste some more. "You should try some." At Jin's polite refusal, she then added, "Oh well, more for me then..."

"You really shouldn't be drinking that so fast," Jin warned a second time as he watched Natalie down the remains of her drink, including some chunks of ice.

"Aw, I didn't know you cared that much Jin," Natalie joked, giggling for a moment. "But don't worry, I'll be fine." She turned back to the bar. "Bartender! Another!"

==

"Guess who?" a voice suddenly asked in Japanese.

Astaroth felt something prod against the base of his spine, causing him to whirl around to see who it was. Instead of a grinning Natalie – which a part of him half-expected - it was his date for the evening standing in front of him instead.

"Hi, nice to see you could turn up," he spoke, in English.

The woman gave a mock-frown. "Not fair, you know English is not one of my strongest points," she replied, albeit still in Japanese.

"Would punctuality be another?" David inquired with a smile, placing emphasis on the word 'punctuality' in Japanese.

"Well, maybe I just like to make an effort for those who deserve it, hmm?"

"So you feel that I'm undeserving?" He asked.

"I didn't quite say that... but it could depend on how this night goes," his date countered.

"Then how about a drink to start the night off?" David offered.

A pondering gaze fell upon her face before she replied, "I'd much prefer a dance first,"

"No problem," he replied, this time in Japanese, taking her gently by the hand. "That can be arranged..."

==

Halfway through Natalie's second drink, Jin began to doubt the wisdom of getting her into anything alcoholic in the first place. She was extremely receptive to its effects, and already was lingering on the edge between being tipsy and virtually intoxicated.

"So whaddya think of this get-up David's got me in? I think it's silly. The skirt's too short and it's a skirt! I just woulda been happier in pants and why are skirts only appropriate for girls anyway? If I should wear 'em you guys should wear 'em and then everybody would be even..."

Jin could only blink as the rant that had been going on for ten minutes straight continued, switching from subject to subject without any real point. He hadn't known she could be this talkative, since - aside from when she was irritated - she was relatively calm and quiet, if more social and perhaps even bolder than he was in conversation. Yet now, with one mixed drink and half of another in her system, she was rattling on in a way he hadn't anticipated.

As Natalie continued to ramble, Kushina took another sip of his drink, his mind attentive enough to know that she was talking to him yet not deep enough to fully grasp what she was saying. That was, until she started to become more inquisitive.

"So how long you been drinkin'?"

He blinked and looked at her as she leaned close, her face about a hand-span from his. Gold eyes averted quickly to the sake he held as he answered quietly. "Since I was a teenager."

"So why d'ya like sake so much?" He could see from the corner of one eye that she was even closer.

"My grandfather drank it all the time." Again, his answer was quiet, as if apprehensive of the way she stared at him from so close. "I guess I picked up the habit. It has a nice, strong taste." When she maintained her gaze, Jin turned his own to her without turning his face. "Is there something...?"

"Can I try it?" she suddenly asked, luminous blue eyes blinking at him, dulled only slightly by the haze of alcohol.

"I don't think it's a good idea... you said you didn't like the taste of-"

"Please?" she cut in. "I wanna know what the fuss is about."

With an almost reluctant expression he handed her the glass and she took a sip. The reaction was immediate. She coughed and sputtered, turning red in the face as she handed the drink back to him.

"Ugh!! It... it burns!"

He couldn't help but give an all-knowing slight smirk. "I told you it was strong."

She recovered and slumped against the back of the bench seat. "So... were you close with your granddad?"

The question caught Jin a little off-guard. He seemed to think for a moment on how to phrase his answer and again kept his gaze on his drink when he replied.

"He was the closest to a father that I had when he was alive."

Natalie leaned forward and peered at him curiously. The alcohol in her system let everything that popped into her mind come out of her mouth. "You must miss him a lot..."

The implication that Jin did was given in his silent response. They both lapsed into silence for a few more minutes, in which they sipped on their drinks.

"Why're you so quiet all the time?"

Nat's slightly slurred question went unanswered, grating on her nerves a bit.

"Don't you ever get bored?"

Jin shook his head slightly. "No."

"Do you ever get drunk?"

"Not anymore. I don't drink to that point now."

"Oh, so you've been drunk before then?"

At that Natalie only got another period of silence, which caused her to frown and wonder what in the world would it take to get Jin to actually talk. She spun in her seat, her back now against the edge of the table while she leaned into his line of vision. "You have pretty eyes..." she said with a lopsided grin.

Those gold eyes blinked at her and then averted briefly while he replied with a modest, "Thanks..."

"What about mine?" She leaned forward, peering up into Jin's face and batting her lashes with an impish grin. He leaned back a little instinctively, cheeks slightly colored.

"Well?" she pressed, giggling drunkenly. "Do you think I'm pretty?"

"You look nice..." He trailed off.

"You think so? I need to work on some things, I think... Sometimes I wish my boobs were bigger, but I guess I'm stuck like this."

Jin colored a bit more and leaned further back against the seat. Natalie, emboldened beyond her normal reasoning, pushed further. If she couldn't get him to talk, she could at least have fun with him like this. She grabbed his arm and leaned on his side, legs curled up in her seat with her knees on top of his thigh.

"So what do you think? Honestly? I mean, you did sorta see the whole package..." she grinned girlishly and blushed. "So I think I deserve your opinion!"

He looked at her almost incredulously. Hadn't they agreed not to bring that up again? "I don't really think it's necessary..."

"But I wanna know!" she insisted, tugging slightly on his arm.

He only gave her a detached look in return. "I don't like repeating myself."

"If you'd just answer, you wouldn't have to," she said in a snappish tone, then huffed and scooted away from him with her drink. "Geez, you're so uptight. You're worse than my brother."

Once again, no reply was forthcoming as Jin glanced at the bar, then at the crowd on the dance floor, wondering idly where said brother of hers was, and when he would return and distract Natalie from her personal 20-question-attack on himself.

==

"You seem a little distracted," David heard his date say, and understandably so. His gaze had slipped past her shoulder over the past few minutes now.

"Oh, sorry. I'm just trying to keep an eye on my sister."

"Your sister?" she asked.

"Yes. I invited her and an old friend of mine along. They're having drinks at a table now." Or rather, it looked as though Natalie was a bit irritated and Jin was being dull. That wasn't good... if they didn't have fun, it was certainly going to put a damper on things for him.

"Oh? Well, you'll have to introduce me then," she said with a pretty smile, bringing him out of his thoughts.

David smiled in return, ice-blue eyes returning to his date. "Certainly."

==

"Do you ever dance?"

"No, do you?" It was the first counter question she'd got so far, followed by, "And that arcade machine doesn't count."

Natalie shrugged, still sitting at arm's length and apparently not yet drunk enough to forget her irritation with him, which was fine with (or perhaps lost on) Jin if it meant she wasn't being too intrusive. "I know how to, depends on the kind. My grandparents taught me old stuff like ballroom dancing and things they grew up with, but..." she glanced at the dance floor and looked a bit sulky. "I don't think it'd help much in this kinda stuff. So no, not really," she finished.

The fact that neither of them had previously been interested in club dancing didn't deter her from asking in the very next breath, "So you wanna?"

"Wanna what? Dance?" Jin questioned, blinking at her sudden transition from petulance to complete interest again. When she nodded in answer, he shook his head slightly. "I don't think so..."

"But I wanna try..." she whined softly, that petulance returning as she tugged lightly on his wrist. When he didn't budge, only looked at her with patient disagreement, she huffed. "Fine. I could just go dance with some other guy."

"You could," Jin allowed quietly, surprised at the small but sudden feeling of jealousy that reared up within him. "But you won't," he added matter-of-factly, returning his attention to his drink.

"Oh? And why wouldn't I?" she asked, testing. Even inebriated, she knew how to manipulate a conversation to her advantage... most of the time.

Because you want to dance with me, that's why, is what came into Jin's mind, yet he settled on a different response instead. "Because most of the guys here are Japanese, with the exception of a few tourists that don't look like your type," his eyes shifted meaningfully towards one drunk and loud blond man at the bar, "and you don't speak Japanese," he finished, taking another sip of his sake.

Natalie frowned at him, something close to a scowl. In her hazy mode of thinking, it took her a minute to compose a response. "Fine," she said in a frosty tone. "You're a really lousy-" she suddenly stopped herself.

Jin, feeling slightly smug at having put his point across in a way Natalie couldn't argue with, felt a bit compelled to inquire into her last statement. "I'm a lousy what?"

"A lousy date," she replied. A really lousy boyfriend is what she would have said originally, if she hadn't intentionally cut herself off. The thought of it seemed to trouble her now. Why had she been afraid to say 'boyfriend'?

"I see," he said. "Well, it's not like I set this all up..."

"Well, where would you take us if things were different?" Natalie challenged.

After a brief moment of thought, Jin gave his answer. "A night out at the arcade, I suppose."

"Okay, I like that," Natalie admitted. His response was along the lines of what she expected, but the thought of them spending time doing something they would both enjoy was encouraging. "I'll have to hold you to that, and I'll even take it easy on you on DDR too," she added with a small smile.

They fell into companionable silence after that, sipping the rest of their drinks.

"Well, I'm out," Jin eventually said as he held up an empty glass. Natalie's glass was empty was well. "I guess I need to go back to the bar..."

As soon as Jin said that, two drinks were set down on the table before them, and Kushina followed the arm of the man up to its owner: Astaroth.

"No need," David replied to Jin's statement as the courier saw what appeared to his date slide into the booth opposite Natalie. She set down hers and Astaroth's own drinks, while the latter took the outermost seat soon after.

Natalie looked at the woman sitting across from her with interest. She had short black hair with stylishly cut bangs, a cute, round face and perfect make-up to match her lavender top. She smiled and David introduced her.

"This is Michiko Taka. Taka, this is my younger sister, Natalie, and my long-time friend, Kushina Jin," he said, alternating between English and Japanese for respective parties.

Natalie in turn gave a friendly smile and a very small greeting in Japanese. Given her state of mind, it was a wonder she remembered anything Jin or Astaroth had told her, but she got it right with only a mild slurring.

Michiko Taka? Jin's mouth parted slightly. Of all the people? Although her hair was now shorter, and some natural changes had taken place with her appearance, he could still see that same little girl with her flowing ebony hair as it framed her face trickle into his mind.

"Kushina Jin?" He then heard Taka say, as she wore a friendly smile. Jin could also see a flicker of emotions present in her green eyes as she lightly bit a section of her lower lip, something her date didn't notice. "That's a nice name, Jin."

"Arigato gozaimasu." For a brief moment, Jin suddenly felt like he was eight years old again - unsurprisingly because of that exchange. While it was interesting to see her again, the fact that it was happening days after dreaming about her made for an overall uncanny moment.

"Do you two... know each other or something?" Natalie asked. Thanks to her limited knowledge of Japanese, all she'd understood from that exchange between Jin and Taka was her mention of Jin's name followed by Kushina's word of thanks. However, the fleeting expression of surprise that had appeared on Jin's face the moment David mentioned Michiko's name had not failed to escape her gaze.

Jin turned his head towards Natalie. "Her name reminded me of someone I knew once," he explained, albeit as a half-truth.

"Oh." A part of Natalie wanted to prod further, but surmised by the inflection in his voice that Jin wouldn't speak any further on the subject.

"So what have you two been up to?" Jin asked Astaroth, reaching for his glass.

"Y'know, dancing, talking, more dancing..." Astaroth gave what appeared to be a dismissive gesture. "You two should head out there, the music's starting to pick up."

"Maybe later," Jin replied.

Yeah, right, was Natalie's thought.

==

Natalie couldn't recall when it happened – she was sure it was sometime between her umpteenth sip and the one after that - but the wave of conversation had shifted from English to mostly Japanese, much to her chagrin. For the moment, she took comfort in having a new drink to indulge in – one that was better than her last one, and definitely better than that lighter fluid Jin liked to call a drink.

I could barely get him to talk, yet he has no problem chattering away to her, she found herself thinking. Or at least that's what she chose to assume; she wasn't exactly paying much attention to them as a whole, let alone Jin. The alcohol was her companion now.

"Nat?"

Natalie snapped out of her haze, and turned to frown at her brother. "I told you not to call me that."

"I know, but you looked a little lost just now," Astaroth replied coolly. "At least it snapped you out of it."

"Maybe I should snap your fingers next time you say it," Natalie threatened.

Taka gave a light chuckle at the exchange. "Does David always tease you like this?" she asked.

"Oh, so you can speak English?" Natalie said, suddenly hoping she hadn't sounded patronising yet feeling that she had.

Fortunately for her, Michiko didn't harbour that sentiment. "A little. I'm still learning."

"And here I had given up on decent conversation!" Natalie exclaimed, leaning forward in her seat.

Taka giggled and spoke in halting English. "Men can be bad conversation partners, sometimes. Very thoughtless," she said, as if picking up immediately on Natalie's problem.

The two clicked from there and launched into an animated, if at times slow, conversation. The men, meanwhile, were content to leave the pair to themselves, drifting off into conversations of their own every now and then.

Natalie and Taka seemed to have at least a couple of interests in common, mostly poking mild fun at David, who took just enough note to defend himself on occasion. The rest of the time, either the two women were chatting and slowly overcoming the difficulty in language, or they were observing pieces of the men's conversation.

Now and then, Natalie noticed Taka watching Jin, almost always when the latter was looking away, and rarely she caught Jin doing the same. Both did so with an odd sort of recognition, and perhaps mild confusion, making Natalie wonder if she were reading too much into things again. Was it the alcohol? She wasn't sure, but she disliked not knowing.

When Taka asked Astaroth to dance with her again, Natalie felt almost relieved. The smiling pair excused themselves, leaving Natalie and Jin alone again. She could have swore she saw her brother wink at them, perhaps expecting them to move onto the dance floor or do something more like a couple on a date.

Highly doubtful, Natalie thought sourly.

She finished her drink... was it the third one? Or second? Or fourth? She couldn't remember. But with the silence that lapsed between her and Jin again, she wanted another one to bide her time with. She had another strong urge to ask Jin about Michiko, but begrudgingly she settled on the drink instead.

Unfortunately, as Jin had made it clear, she couldn't speak Japanese and therefore couldn't go order her own. Questions over anything else left her mind as she zoned out, watching the dancing couples and pondering over her lack of a drink. Why did she have the urge to eat something sweet all of a sudden?

"I'm hungry," she mumbled.

"Hmm?" said Jin, who had been lost in his own thoughts.

"Nothing," she replied, leaning her head on her hands and feeling unexplainably depressed when she again watched the various couples on the dance floor. Was it really too much to ask? But then, as Jin had said, he hadn't set this up. He hadn't planned to be her date, even, so he wasn't obligated to act like one. She'd have to beat her brother's ass for setting up such a sucky evening.

As the alcohol accelerated Natalie's mercurial mood shifts, Jin's attention was now entirely on her, which she missed in her brooding. He noted that she almost mirrored the expression her brother had when he was irritated, except that hers was a little more pronounced, given her usual genial countenance. That she'd stopped trying to initiate conversation was not lost on him, either. He didn't quite understand the change, but after a few minutes of watching her ignore him, he was slightly surprised when she turned to him, façade completely changed.

"Any chance you could buy me another drink?" Natalie dared to ask, smiling sweetly.

"No more alcohol for you," Jin said, not knowing how more of it would affect her if she were already inconstant. He then stood up. "I have to go to the bathroom. Make sure you stay here, otherwise we might lose our seats," he advised. With that, he went off somewhere towards Natalie's right, leaving her alone.

After what felt like an eternity – it was actually less than two minutes – in addition to everything else that was weighing on her mind prior, Natalie's patience began to wane. What was taking him so long? Not even women took this long!

Suddenly a song she recognised began to play, which caused her to look out attentively toward the dance floor. Some of the patrons around her also perked up, and many of them began to move towards the dancing crowd. As the song's familiarity grew in Natalie's mind, she then stood up. Surely Jin wouldn't mind if she left for a little while, right? Of course not, she reasoned with herself. It's only one song, and it's not like he's gonna dance with me...

==

"I thought I told her to wait here." Jin wondered aloud, having just returned back from the bathroom just over two minutes later. A small frown crossed his features as he caught a young male headed towards the seat Natalie had been sitting on a moment ago. The courier turned around to the dance floor behind him and shook his head. He was going to have to look for her...

==

To the rhythm of the beat Natalie twisted, gyrated and danced, seemingly oblivious to almost everything else around her. The mix of music and alcohol managed to overcome the shyness she might have had when sober, and soon the movements that came so naturally on a game machine took over on the dance floor - albeit a bit more loosely. She closed her eyes and let the beat take over, a giddy smile on her face as her hips swayed and her feet moved. The drinks she'd had fuzzed her memory along with her all her self-consciousness, leaving her with no problem blending in - or even standing out - among the writhing masses.

Without warning, a pair of hands encircled her waist as Natalie felt something press against her from behind. She gave a slight gasp of surprise at the sensation, before her alcohol-induced haze returned and she found herself moving in sync to the new movements. Thoughts of Jin trickled into her mind and Natalie embraced them with a fanciful grin, humming along with the pulsating beat. One of those same hands went to trace their fingers along her spine as the other caressed her stomach and Natalie's body went with the flow, arching her back to press her body against him. Natalie could hear what sounded like a sigh in response as she felt his breath against the skin of her neck, followed by his voice, almost like a whisper, against her right ear.

"You lovin' this, eh babe?"

Natalie's eyes snapped open at the voice, and widened with the realisation that the man dancing behind her wasn't Jin - a thought that, thanks to the alcohol, had failed to enter her mind earlier. Just as she went to remove the stranger's hand away from her stomach, she suddenly felt another hand latch itself onto her arm...

==

Amidst the low lighting and mass of bodies, Jin was still able to catch a brief flicker of surprise on Natalie's face the moment he grabbed her arm.

"Found you."

Natalie found herself smiling sheepishly at her captor as she stared back at him.

"Well, since you're here, how about a dance?"

Jin stared at her with a near-cautious expression, with a part of him traversing between whether she had intentionally lured him here to try and get him to dance with her, or if he was just overreacting. It wasn't like him to be wary like this, he noted, yet throughout all his dealings with Natalie up to this point, she always seemed to have this flair to draw him into circumstances he otherwise wouldn't normally venture into.

Kushina wouldn't have the opportunity to make his decision, as it was made for him in the form of something slapping away his grip on Natalie's arm - which, up to that moment, he had forgotten he was still holding - and a figure stepped into his face. Jin stared up and down the new guest slowly, as if studying him. Armed with a large build and an overall confident, cocky exterior, a crop of short, dirty-blond hair completed Jin's brief assessment of the figure.

"Hey pal, I got her first," he said with a wide, silly grin. The look in his eyes told Kushina he was considerably drunk. "Go find someone else."

Jin stared at the drunk blankly, and then shot him a warning gaze. "I'm only saying this to you once," he replied. "Back off. Now."

Had he not been drunk, the man might very well have had heeded Jin's words. It instead created the opposite effect.

"What? I know some chink-looking motherf--ker ain't just tried to threaten Keith Evans!" he spoke, switching from a grin to a sneer in rapid fashion. "In fact, forget the bitch, I'd rather kick your ass instead."

Natalie spun - and wobbled slightly with the movement - to glare at the offensive man. She leaned forward and poked a threatening finger in his general direction as she practically spit her words at the blond. "Who the hell are you callin' 'bitch' you sh*t-faced mongrel? If I'd known it was some bastard like you tryin' to get happy behind me, I'd have ripped off yer nuts and decorated your head wi-"

"Enough," Jin interjected, cutting Natalie off before things could escalate. "Like you, he's had too much to drink. He's not worth it."

"But-" Natalie was about to burst into a drunken protest, but managed to stop herself and concede to Jin's point, even more so when the latter took hold of her arm for the second time.

"We should see what your brother's up to," Jin suggested. At that, Natalie gave a warm smile in agreement and the pair of them turned to walk away from the dance floor, and from Keith Evans.

Jin and Natalie had barely ventured more than five steps when the former sensed the rapid approach of someone from behind, confirmed by a cry of, "We ain't finished yet, chink!"

Kushina spun around, his eyes catching Evans in time to see his arm lashed out in a wide, powerful swing towards them. With little time to react, instinct took over on Jin's part as he pulled Natalie away sharply to the side. However, the motion left him completely wide open to Keith's attack. What happened next seemed to occur in a snap-shot series of movements: a flash of flesh, a blur of green, the sound of glass breaking, the sticky feeling of blood, a person's scream, his loss of equilibrium, where it all culminated with his collision with the floor.

==

Keith let his arm drop limply as he stared down at the grounded Kushina, holding a broken beer bottle in his hand, with drops of blood falling from its jagged, sharp edges. The scream had come from a nearby female, in the process causing many of the dancing crowd to stop and stare with a stunned silence at the man lying motionless before them and at the culprit that appeared to be unconcerned about his actions.

Jin blinked slowly as he rose back to his feet and raised a hand to the left side of his face, picking off a small shard of glass from his hair. Natalie could already see the damage done; there was a huge, deep gash across Jin's temple where the bottle had hit, which continued to pour blood with no apparent signs of stopping.

"Jin, your head..." Natalie trailed off. The blood had already covered half of his face and trickled down his neck where it left a growing stain on his chest, under his shirt. Kushina appeared to give his condition no thought, however, as he stared down his attacker.

"Omae wa shinda yo," (You are dead) Jin whispered. Although he was unaware of what Jin said, Evans found himself taking a step back, unsure on whether to attack or flee. Kushina made the decision for him, charging forward with a drawn back right fist.

Still holding the broken bottle in his hand, Keith went for an overheard swing but this time Jin was ready for it. With an open left palm, Jin's hand rose up and caught Evans' wrist to halt the attack, then followed through with his right fist to strike Keith directly in the solar plexus. Before the blond could recover, Jin drove a knee into his midsection, just as he increased the intensity of his grip on Keith's wrist for added pain.

"Jin..." Natalie trailed off again, filled with a mix of concern and guilt. At this point Keith was on his knees, with one arm cradling his stomach as he coughed up several droplets of blood. As the continued force of Jin's grip caused Keith to drop his weapon, the courier relinquished his hold and took a step back to deal the final blow. Keith never saw the blur that was Jin's leg collide with his skull, making him go limp before the pain of Kushina's attack reached his mind.

"Baka," Jin criticised, unconcerned on whether Keith's unmoving form heard his words or not. He blinked slowly again, but then suddenly pressed his hand against his forehead at the signs of a headache, just as he felt his legs begin to wobble slightly. I feel weak, he thought. He withdrew his palm gingerly and held it in front of him, now bathed in a crimson stain. How much...blood did I...?

Jin never got to complete his thought. All he heard was the noise and sounds of everything around him fade into nothingness and his vision become blurred, followed by his body falling against his will. The last thing he felt were a pair of hands attempt to catch him before the blackness of unconsciousness swallowed him.