Anything to do with KOF 2000 = Great. Quoth the SNK KOF 10th Anniversary site: This title is also the sum total of SNK games with the appearance of numerous old favorites from past titles as Another Striker characters. Why am I talking about that here?
ANYWAY, Kyo shares this story with *gasp!* Iori Yagami! OMGROTFLBBQAMCLOLNAACP!!!!
Gazing up at the sun.
Without trying to avoid this, Iori does nothing but keep gazing up at the sun in the sky. Same as ever, he is unable to find the whereabouts of Kyo. But they will meet. Pursuing a premonition that resembles certainty, he has become stronger.
Right before he covers his eyes, the clouds in the sky hide the sun. When he returns his glance to the ground, warning bells go off instinctively in Iori.
"...!"
...An enemy. It isn't Kyo. But he has come across this sensation before.
When and where was it? He tries to pick out from his memory the place where he sensed this same sensation. His instincts sharpen his senses, further accelerating the speed of his thinking. His temperature rises and his body begins to ready himself for combat. It gradually draws near, but he has focused on the sensation he must aim for. A number of men among the passing throng of people do not blink.
He feels another similar sensation a short distance from him. Simultaneously, a vague memory becomes clear to him...
"NESTS...A bunch of lackeys..."
What is even more interesting to Iori is that he determines that the person following him is keeping his distance while other men closer to him are focusing not on him but another target. Who are they pursuing? ...The answer stands right in front of Iori.
It is a woman.
To Iori, this is just another female. But the pursuers close in with the woman at the center. It would be no problem to let them go about their business. But it sure would make a sorry sight.
The lackeys make their way past Iori. Iori is easily able to sense the tension his enemies feel toward him. He drops his shoulders.
He is right on top of them.
With his back to them, Iori extends an arm to a man on the left with his back to him in a similar manner. Along with a dull thud, all things linked together separate at once and he feels the sensation of further breakage. The feeling goes through his fingers and directly stimulates his instincts.
"Let's have a little fun, then."
Iori says this with an expression that's even icier than any he's issued before. Looking over the shoulder of his limp victim, he can see that the remaining thugs are turning and coming toward him. Besides that, the position of the gaze he previously felt continues to focus on him. Iori ignores the feeling that he's being watched along with the crow and runs toward his prey, using the man he just dropped as a shield. In seconds he closes in on the men.
What one of the men sees is the spectacle of his friends closing in on him for an instant, followed by the ground far below him, and the people standing there looking up at him.
The weak thud of the man falling from a height of less then two meters is heard. The vacant space begins to grow at the center of the crowd around where the unfamiliar thud of the man was heard.
As the remaining men continue to overtake the woman, Iori frantically attempts to chase them down. Before they can ready themselves for the onslaught, a similar dull thud is heard. Just one more to go.
Iori makes a beeline for the woman. The woman is bewildered at the situation around her. When she turns to survey the situation, Iori appears in her field of vision. The man who's clearly out of his element heads her way- directly at her.
Like a snake enthralled by a frog, his body does not move. In no time they are squaring off against each other. "You're being followed." Iori's words come as a complete surprise to the woman. Looking at Iori who is fixing his attentions behind him, the woman confirms for the first time the fact that someone is pursuing her.
The two parties continue to stare each other down with the woman sandwiched in between Iori and her pursuers. Iori can't help noticing the smiles that momentarily twist the men's faces. In the direction where the men had looked and smiled, he catches the other figure who had been focusing on him.
"So this is where you were."
The words and Iori's actions occur simultaneously. Iori scoops up the woman and crouches down. The woman is unaware of what is happening, confused by Iori's sudden actions.
But at the moment she was scooped up she was sure she heard the sound of a gunshot.
"Get out of here. If you don't want to die."
His words are neither a threatening or coercive. They were just something Iori uttered to her indifferently. Behind her she can see the figures of the men breaking off and slowly leaving.
The woman realizes that the gunshot was not just in her imagination. The woman heads for no place in particular. Iori rises up and pursues the direction he heard with his eyes from the place where a man lies. Far off in the distance he sees a man holding a rifle with a scope. Iori matches his line of vision with the direction the shooter's scope is pointed.
He faces his body toward the gun and takes a step forward. Whether he is confirming Iori's movements or not, the man lowers his gun and runs off.
"Excuse me..."
Iori looks back in the direction of the voice. The woman has waited for Iori, the though of escaping never occurring once to her.
"Thank you. It looks like you saved my life."
"It wasn't my intention."
The woman continues, unfazed at Iori's response.
"You are a strong one, aren't you? You resemble someone I know."
"Resemble someone? Me?"
Iori feels drawn to what she says. The woman remains unaware of the change in Iori's heartbeat.
"I haven't seen him in quite a while, though...."
Why was NESTS pursuing this woman? Why did she come across me? The dots just don't match up. It must be, this is his girl.
"Do you think I'd be able to meet this person?"
"Pardon?"
Iori turns his back on the bewildered girl and begins to leave.
"I think it can be arranged."
His feet stop. The woman calls to him from behind.
"He always keeps his promise. I guarantee it."
The woman is unable to see the expression on Iori's face.
Without responding to the woman's words, Iori vanishes into the crowd.
Gazing up at the sun.
In spite of such an incident, nothing unusual or frightening remains.
Maybe it was because she sensed the same "smell" from the man who saved her and the other familiar man she knows who resembles him.
Yuki gazes up at the sun in which Kyo's gloved hand appears, it is a sight she has temporarily forgotten. It's been a long time since she's seen him. Kyo, who left as he always did on that fateful day, has yet to arrive home. The only thing that has returned to Yuki is Kyo's beat up glove she carries with her. She doesn't believe he's dead. The groundless confidence grows stronger with each day.
Along with the events of this day, her belief now changes into something resembling certaintly.
The cloud cover breaks and the sun shines through.
Yuki puts the glove back into her bag and gazes up at the sky for a while. The sin (sic) glitters brightly.
"I'm waiting for you, Kyo."
Yuki begins to walk away as the sun continues to shine down on her.
Glaring up at the sun.
Kyo arrives at this place as if drawn her by some force. The battle with the Orochi ended, this was to be the place that all would come to an end. But everything has once again originated from this place. This glove he had supposed to have lost was why they first met.
This scuffed and torn-up glove.
The light of the setting sun brings out all the scratches and tears on the sun that decorates his glove.
Each of these scratches and tears appear now to be a part of his very being. He has not returned from that day. Until he settles his score with NESTS, he cannot go back. Kyo has reached this firm decision. Kyo removes an envelope form his pocket. It is an invitation to KOF; from where it originates he does not know. He is sure that here he can find the answers he seeks to a great many questions. At least there's some value in entering. Soon all will be settled. And then he will be able to return home.
It appeared gradually, but it begins to light up glare with a light different from the sun. Through the breaks in the clouds shine the rays of the moon. Unknown to him, the sun has already set.
As he gazes upon it, the clouds separate and the sky clears. A crescent moon appears in the sky. It emits a strong glow disproportional to the space it takes up in the sky that illuminates Kyo. The image of the man whose back is decorated with a crescent moon appears in Kyo's mind's eye.
"It won't be long."
Turning his back to the light of the sun, Kyo slowly begins to walk away. It doesn't take long for him to melt into the darkness where the moon's rays do not reach. The rays from the moon continue to pour down on the space where Kyo was standing, as if demanding for his return.
