Ryu stood up with a start. “WHAT?” he shouted.

Chun Li just sat there, despite the man looming over her, and shrugged. “After he gave you the notebook, he was arrested for harm to another human being and illegal street fighting. That stuff is taken seriously in Hong Kong. Since you weren’t hurt too bad, he got off lucky. One time, he had one fella beat so bad, he was in it for a month. Actually, the guy wasn’t that beat that bad, he already looked like that bad. I think it was Birdie. He came over from London and tried to get him to join some origination. I don’t recall really.”

Ryu shook his head. “Why not pay the bail. He’s a movie star, he could afford it.”

“He does pay it sometimes. If he has to stay over a month, he has it paid. Other than that, he just takes it. He’ll be out by today. It’s not a big deal really. It’s happened so often; the press doesn’t care, nor the people. I miss him so much, sometimes I almost pay the bail, but I always just take it, like he does. He tells me every time he gets out, he almost paid the bail just so he could get back to me.”

“How does your father feel about you marrying a man who seems to have a second home in jail?”

All of a sudden, Chun Li’s eyes went from being warm and friendly to cold and empty. Tears started to roll down her cheeks. She tried to stop, but they just kept coming. She clenched her hands into fists and looked down at the ground. “He’s dead. They’re all dead.”

Ryu just stood there. He felt helpless. He had caused one of the strongest people he met, and in an instant, caused her to by crying her eyes out. “Wh.. Who.. Who’s dead?” Ryu was able to stuttered out.

Chun Li looked up. The tears were gone, but her eyes shimmered, as if the dam would burst at the slightest pressure. “They were slaughtered a year ago. They were living in a small village and the whole village was killed. I went there the day after it happened. The houses were demolished, bodies were everywhere, and they weren’t even recognizable. I was here when it happened. Fei-Long came with me to the village and helped get through the hard nights.”

When Chun Li looked up and saw that Ryu’s was a hundred miles away. “Ryu? Ryu, are you okay?”

Ryu shook his head and looked down at her. “ What did the bodies look like?”

Chun Li looked as if he was crazy. “Wha.. What?”

Ryu grabbed her on the arms a shook her rather roughly. “Tell me! What did the bodies look like!?” he yelled.

“The were mutilated. There were fifteen hits on each body. Each hit was at the point of the human body that has control on the flow of blood. The last hit had to be at the heart or the hits would be pointless. After the final hit, blood pours from the all the points, utterly killing the human,” Chun Li said, fear in her eyes. “That’s what the autopsy said.”

Ryu just stood there, his mind off in another place again. He then looked down at her. “I know who killed your family.”

Chun Li’s eyes changed from ones of fear to hatred. “Who?”

Ryu just said one word. “Akuma.”

Chun Li gave a slightly confused look. “Who’s Akuma?”

Ryu clenched his fists till they turned white. “Twenty years ago, a demon came to a village. It was a small village, pretty out of the way. Few knew about. The moment the demon came, he started to kill everything. Men, women, children, even babies. A five-year-old boy watched his parents become corpses before his very eyes. The demons hair was red, and flowed around like it was a flame. His eyes glowed a fiery red and his gi was as black as night. A rope was tied around his waist, the sleeves were ripped off, and his skin was dark brown. Life couldn’t exist after it came in contact with him. He had started towards the boy, when the village’s Shinto priest appeared. He fought the demon, and using his own type of Karate, drove him off. The priest’s name was Gouken, Shinto priest and the founder of the strange Shotokan Karate he had used against the demon. From his training to be a priest, he learned how to channel ki into a projectile and other ways of combat. He took the boy in, to train and raise him as his own. The priest spent two days burying the village.”

“Demon who had attacked the village was Akuma. He is a demon, created by the hatred, fears, and other negative emotions and other bad desires. He seeks only to become stronger and death. Since a Martial Artist can hate himself, so does Akuma. He yearns to die. That is why he fights all he comes in contact with.”

Chun Li sat down, digesting all that Ryu had just told her. Suddenly she looked up. “You were that little boy, weren’t you?” Ryu simply nodded. “What ever happened to Gouken?”

Rage once again came to Ryu’s eyes “While I was away, Akuma came and killed him.”

“Is that why all you do is fight?” Again, Ryu just nodded. Chun Li looked down. “I find that to be sad. To wake up everyday, hunting down a monster that you could probably never catch. You also seemed to have discarded most of your emotions. You shouldn’t try to block how you Ryu. It will only continue to cause you pain.”

Chun Li looked up and saw that Ryu had tears. They were there for a brief moment, and then he closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, the tears were gone. Chun Li just sighed. “Ryu, you need to learn to be human. Don’t try to be Superman. You hurt. You love. You laugh. Fei-Long saw you act like a human. I saw you act like one when we first met.”

Ryu looked down at her. He was about to respond when a knock was heard at the door. Ryu looked down at Chun Li, then at the door. Chun Li got up walked over to door and opened it. “Did someone order Chinese food?” Fei-Long said with a wide grin on his face.