Welcome to the newly revised, respaced, and renamed Dead Or Alive and King Of Fighters cross-over story. This story is actually pretty solid, but the spacing was weird and certain wording was strange. Thus, in order to make this more reader friendly and less daunting, I've fixed these things. Please enjoy it.
Shiranui Mai was an unhappy ninja. With the end of the most recent King of Fighters tournament, she and her boyfriend, Andy Bogard, had planned to go to Southtown, U.S.A. Southtown was Andy's hometown and they were going to visit Andy's brother, Terry, Terry's student, Rock Howard, and an old friend, Higashi Joe. Instead, Mai had received a phone call from her family. They requested that she return home to the Shiranui ninja village immediately...without Andy. She'd whined and complained to no avail, and so she was now on a train to a town nearby her village.
"It's just not fair," Mai whined into her cell phone. "It'll be fine, Mai," Andy's voice said back, "After you do whatever it is that your family needs you to do, take a plane to Southtown. We'll just be apart for awhile."
Andy, though he liked Mai, was secretly thanking God for allowing him to have some time away from the clingy kunoichi. "But...why me? I want to be with you, Andy-kun!" Mai wailed some more. "Look, Mai, everything will be fine, but right now I have to get off the phone. I'll see you when you come to Southtown. 'Bye," he replied quickly. "Eh? 'Bye...no, wait, Andy-kun...I need you..." she said, speeding up her talking to stop him from hanging up the phone. The only reply she received was a dial tone.
She sighed and hung up her cell phone. She turned and looked out the window, wondering if Andy really liked her or not. He'd refused to marry her or just ran away when she suggested it...but he'd always come to her rescue when she needed it. "Last stop..." the train's loudspeaker began. "I'm here..." Mai muttered under her breath as she gathered her things to get off the train.
Mai was not a fan of walking unnecessarily, which is what she was doing at the moment. Shiranui Village was in a secluded area of Honshu (Japan's main island), and was hidden like all ninja villages.
Mai was wearing her red shinobi outfit and had tied back her dark brown hair in a high ponytail. She was grumbling under her breath about how she wanted to be in Southtown with Andy not visiting her grandfather back at home. There were mostly older Shiranui members in the village. Many of the younger ones had, like Mai, left the village. The ones who stayed were cousins or distant relatives that Mai did not know well.
She was the direct heir to the Shiranui Ninja Clan, but this didn't really phase her plans. She'd made up her mind that she was going to marry Andy and probably live in Southtown. The village had old Japanese style buildings and the older members wore traditional clothes, while the younger ones wore normal, even trendy clothing that one would see in the cities. Mai was looking around Shiranui Village, observing the fact that little had changed since she left.
"Mai-chan," a male voice suddenly broke in. Mai whipped around to see the only one of her cousins she'd actually spent time with. "Kai-chan!" she shouted excitedly, hugging the teenage boy that stood before her. He hugged her back, and then looked down at her. "I hear you got called back," Kai said, referring to the phone call. "Yes, I did. My, my...you've grown, Kai-chan," Mai said, examining the boy. "The older members are out on business right now, so I'm supposed to give you the tour...even though not much has changed since you left," he said flatly.
Kai was the son of Mai's uncle, her father's brother. Kai's mother was from an outside ninja clan and she had white hair. The result was that Kai had dark-ash colored hair and smoky gray eyes. Thus, the Kanji in Kai's given name meant 'ash.' It was also a play on the fact that Mai and Kai rhymed.
"How old are you now anyway, Kai-chan?" Mai asked. She hadn't seen her cousin in three years now. "I'm seventeen...you must be twenty by now, Mai-kun," he replied as they walked around the large village hidden in the woods. "Yes! That's right! You always were good at remembering things, Kai-chan. You sure got tall too..." she said looking up at the boy. "Yeah...I'm 5 foot 11 now. You're still short as ever, itoko," Kai teased.
"Oh, shut it. You know, I didn't get to go to Southtown with Andy-kun because the elders called me here," Mai complained. "Andy-kun?" Kai asked, then looked thoughtful, "Oh! Bogard-san! How is he?" Mai giggled. "You used to look up to him...he's doing well," she replied.
Mai examined her cousin for a moment. Kai had cut his gray hair short and it was spiked up. He was wearing sunglasses pushed up on his head holding back his bangs. A few stray bangs hung in his face. He had pierced both earlobes thrice and had a silver hoop earring in his upper right ear. He also wore a lip ring, a choker, a chain necklace and a belt-like bracelet on each arm. His hands were in his pockets, so Mai couldn't tell if he was wearing rings or not. As for his clothes, he wore a dark blue button up shirt with the top four buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to above his elbows, loose cargo jeans, black boots, and three belts. One belt to hold the pants up, and two that hung down diagonally from either hip and criss-crossed in the front. He looked nothing like a ninja.
"What? Something wrong, Mai-chan?" he asked as she stared at him a bit. "Eh? No...you just don't look too...Ninja-like, Kai-kun," she replied, changing her suffix to a more manly one for him. He laughed. "Like that outfit was ever that ninja-like to begin with," he said, pointing a finger at Mai's red ninja wear. Her face lowered into her annoyed look. "Shove it up your ass, Kai-kun," Mai scoffed. He laughed again, about to come up with a comeback when another ninja appeared. "Mai-san. Kai-san. The elders are back. They will see you now," he said. They looked at each other and nodded as Kai led the way to leader's home.
A pretty, young kunoichi sat beside one of the elders as Mai and Kai entered the room. She practically could have been Mai's twin. "This is Kasumi-san. She is from the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan. Her elder brother, Hayate-sama...the leader of the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan has requested that you, Mai-chan, keep her safe," the elder informed Mai the moment she walked through the door.
"Nice to see you too..." Mai mumbled. "It's nice to meet you, Mai-san," Kasumi said with a gentle smile. "What are you in trouble for, Kasumi-san?" Kai asked logically. "I'm a runaway shinobi. I tried to find the people responsible for injuring my elder brother...and in doing so, I elected to leave my village...Hayate...my brother...is trying to keep me safe for now..." she explained.
Mai shot the elder an annoyed look. This meant she could not go to Southtown. "Why not have Kai-kun watch her instead?" Mai whined. "Because I'm the new leader of the Shiranui Ninja Clan, since you left in favor of Bogard-san, Mai-kun," Kai replied shortly. Mai's eyes widened.
"What? You're the new leader, I mean, I knew they'd elected a new leader after Ojii-san's grandfather's death…but…you're barely out of boyhood!" Mai exclaimed, referring to their grandfather, Shiranui Hanzo. Kai shrugged. "I'm the next heir. Anyway, you're hardly ever around, Mai-kun, so you owe the clan something every once in awhile, you know," Kai said as Mai frowned. "Besides, you shouldn't be shooting evil glares at any of the elders, since I was the one who called you here," Kai explained, again making Mai surprised."What? But the voice on the phone wasn't a little kid's," she said in disbelief. Kai sighed at his cousin's slight attack of density. "It's been a really long time since I was a kid, Mai-kun," he replied in an annoyed tone.
Kasumi, who'd been sitting quietly throughout this family squabble, finally spoke up, "Is there a problem? I'd hate to cause any trouble…" Mai and Kai turned their attention in Kasumi's direction. "No, there's really no problem. Mai-kun's just trying to ditch family duty to hang out in America with her boyfriend," Kai explained with a half-smile. "Fiancé," Mai corrected him. "Um…sure. Whatever you say," Kai said raising an eyebrow. Kasumi looked thoughtful.
"…Well, Mai-san, what if I went to America with you. I mean, that way I'd be safe with you and you can see your boy-friend…" Kasumi suggested. Kai's face panned into a mixture of disgust and annoyance, but Mai's face brightened with happiness. "That's a great idea, Kasumi-san!" Mai shouted happily grabbing the younger kunoichi's hands. Kasumi smiled an elegant, pleasant smile. They both looked at Kai with big, brown eyes. Kai sighed and waved his hand at them. "Whatever! Do as you please. But you better not screw this up, Mai-kun," he retorted in utter defeat. "Never fear, Kai-kun! We're off to Southtown, Kasumi-san!" Mai shouted with a grin and shot her fist into the air. "Yes!" Kasumi agreed with a smile.