Broken
Written By: RinoaDestiny
King of Fighters, Saisyu Kusanagi, Kyo Kusanagi, and Iori Yagami belong to SNK
Comments: So in Nano's review of "Specimens," she asked why the Kusanagi clan couldn't have rescued the boys in time. Well, I got to thinking and suddenly, the story began to tell itself. My brain's been in overdrive all day. This is an alternate ending to close the circle this story's made.
Despite the fact the A.I. would likely kill both before allowing them to be rescued, let's say something wonks up the A.I. interface or just permanently shuts it down so that they are discovered in time. The rescue takes place in between the completion of Iori Yagami's Phase 3 and has to be before Kyo Kusanagi's Phase 3 kicks in; otherwise, it's too late. So, the boys survive – now what?
Saisyu Kusanagi thought just bringing his son home would be simple enough.
It didn't turn out that way. When Souji and he found the facility – the Kusanagi clan was much indebted to Chizuru Kagura for what her mirror and psychic abilities were able to discover – they'd descended upon it and began to force their way in. Other members of the extended family also joined, since the heir was being held here and possibly in danger or difficulty. Machines were brought out to fight them and the Kusanagi clan took the fight to them. It was quick work; they would not shame their ancestors by suffering defeat.
While the other members of the family stayed back to clean up any interference, Souji and he went straight for the heart of the building. It was the most logical place to look, since the facility was built like a fortress, with exception of its weak outer defenses. What Saisyu realized was that there were no people here. Everything seemed self-operated.
The machines were the only offensive units the facility had.
As Souji and he went deeper in, the corridors began to narrow and focus and eventually directed them to a single point facing what appeared to be a dead end. For anyone else, this would've seemed suspicious if they were thinking clearly. For Saisyu, it was a given his son was behind this wall.
Nothing else would've made sense.
With Souji's power and his combined, the wall began to weaken and bend inward. That meant there was something behind it. Flames licked the edges – revealed the seams of the cleverly hidden paneling – and the structure gave way, molten metal running down even as the secret doorway screeched and twisted. A final explosive push of intense flame flung the metal inward, smashing it into a room that was brightly lit.
Souji and he entered.
Saisyu saw two things simultaneously, which was impressed into his mind thereafter: The bright expanse of window on the back wall, which lit the two people standing in front of it. One was his son, Kyo, who stared at him, as if disbelieving what he saw. The second was the last heir of the Yagami clan standing next to his son as if dead on his feet, quiet and showing all the symptoms of acute shock. Saisyu noted the close proximity and also that the Yagami heir was holding his son by the wrist.
Even more surprising was that Kyo let him.
"Dad?"
Saisyu crossed the room and immediately embraced his son. He'd been terrified for days, wondering where Kyo had gone and what was happening to him. To find him whole and seemingly healthy put part of his mind at rest. The other details had to wait – he wanted to bring him home now.
That was when things took a turn that Saisyu couldn't have predicted.
First, Kyo was insistent on bringing the Yagami heir back with them. While that normally wouldn't be a problem, Saisyu was ever wary of the enemy clan; if their only heir was left in a place to fend for himself, he'd gladly do that and wash his hands of it. However, from all appearances, his son refused to leave the other young man behind. Was very strident about it, actually.
Then, he found that the last heir of the Yagami clan wasn't saying a word while this was going on. It was as though he was somewhere else, removed from the arguing taking place by him. Another closer look disconcerted Saisyu.
The younger man's eyes were opaque.
"Is he blind?" he asked his son, almost too sharply.
Kyo gave him a look that told him to back off. Something had happened here, changed his son and somehow, it was linked with the Yagami heir.
It made Saisyu very unhappy.
Souji, of course, being the practical boy he was, told them they should get out and talk later. So they went, Saisyu glancing over his shoulder because Kyo was guiding the Yagami heir out with him. He didn't miss how the other man followed his son or how his son gripped his arm, speaking with a tone of voice Saisyu had never heard before from him.
Something had happened here. Whether or not his son would ever speak of it was another thing entirely.
So Saisyu didn't ask.
When they were safe and away, on route back to Osaka – the facility had been located in the northernmost tip of Hokkaido – and the private plane they'd taken was at a decent altitude, Kyo mentioned the second part of his request. He wanted them to take in the Yagami heir. He had nowhere else to go, his son explained. All this while the other man slept off to the side, face pale and drawn. His son looked shaken as well.
Saisyu had been of a mind to refuse. Bring the enemy heir into their home? Absurd!
A second look at his son, whose mouth was set hard, told him to put off this quarrel for now. They could always discuss it later.
He allowed it, of course. There were limits to his patience and Kyo knew them.
But he'd just saved Kyo, too, and he didn't like seeing his son unhappy.
It was the little things that began to tell Saisyu life was different. For Kyo and the heir of that accursed clan. After a few incidences, he couldn't deny something was off.
His son began to sleep with the door open or sometimes would just leave and head for the living room, pillow and blanket in hand. Sometimes, he didn't even sleep and that was when Saisyu noticed the Yagami boy was doing the same. He'd relegated the youth to a side room, away from the general family quarters but Kyo sought him out. The last time he'd passed that room, he saw his son sitting wide awake, as if watching and standing guard over the other man. The Yagami heir was also awake and although both youths said nothing, Saisyu felt as though they didn't need words to communicate.
He wanted to ask Kyo what happened in that facility but other things occurred and he never got the chance to that time.
Whenever Kyo left the house, he was always with someone. With his girlfriend, Yuki Kushinada or with his usual friends, Benimaru Nikaido and Goro Daimon. Saisyu knew that before Kyo disappeared, he loved to go off by himself on his bike and ride around. Those days were gone, as Kyo never left without someone by his side. If everyone had plans, his son stayed home and that time was spent making sure the Yagami heir was all right.
This led to another headache that Saisyu didn't like dealing with.
The Yagami boy was quiet for the most part – unusually so, which was eerie – but sometimes at night, he'd scream and wake most of them up. While he was of a mind to put the boy out – he needed to speak to Kyo about this – his son seemed understanding and would immediately run to the other man's room. After some time, the screams would die down and the house got quiet again. If they had relatives over, they grumbled. Immediate family eventually went to sleep wearing earplugs. All except Kyo, he'd noticed.
It was as if his son was aware of it and purposefully alert to it.
A few months passed like this.
Saisyu didn't like seeing his son being attentive on that wretched heir to that backstabbing clan. It was leading to other issues.
There started to be gossip within the family itself – immediate, extended, and branch – because it became obvious that that their heir and the heir of the rival clan were friendly and whispers turned cruel as the rumormongers wondered why. While the feud seemed to have died between the two young men and Saisyu should've been glad it was so, the darker the whispers became, the more he became concerned.
Kyo also became angry if he heard any of it.
To prevent a blowup – to prevent his son from biting off the heads of his relatives – Saisyu took him aside one day to properly discuss about this.
It fell out in the worst way possible.
Saisyu had never seen his son's expression darken so fast. It was frightening, seeing it happen. He'd only expressed his concerns, his son brought up the fact that the feud was dead and that he and Yagami had no wish to revive it, and Saisyu asked if part of it was due to the boy being blind. Kyo had said the incident that caused it made them put their differences aside without a thought. So Saisyu said that if that was what it took, Kyo should count it as a blessing.
It was the wrong thing to say.
His son's face was stone. "Take that back, Dad."
Saisyu didn't like admitting he was wrong. His son was still young. Perhaps the abduction had unsettled his son's nerves and he needed time to regain perspective. So he tried to go soft, like he had when his son was a mere boy. "Kyo…"
His son was having none of it. "Why'd you say that?"
"Because it's true. If it had happened earlier, you wouldn't have had to deal with him."
There was a sound, and Saisyu realized his son was trying not to curse.
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Yagami."
"No. You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Kagura-san. She found where you possibly were. You wouldn't be here if we didn't show up to rescue you."
"Dad!" Kyo snapped at him, no longer hiding the anger in his face. "Stop talking and listen to me!"
While his son wasn't very filial, this went beyond the bounds of decency. Saisyu stiffened.
"Yagami could've taken me out at any time. Any time. I wasn't thinking straight. Was going nuts. You know what he did, Dad? He told me to calm down. Grabbed me and told me to calm down, because like hell I was getting out if I didn't."
"He –"
"He never brought up our differences. Never even thought of fighting. He wanted out. I wanted out, so guess what? We worked together. The only time I brought up us fighting, he brushed it off because it didn't matter. It could wait. Us getting out couldn't."
"Kyo, son –"
"We tried. We went through the place. Whoever was holding us didn't like us. Him."
His son took a deep breath and clenched his fists.
"Yagami got the damn brunt of it. I thought he had a heart attack at first. Was afraid he was gonna die and leave me there by my damn self. But he didn't, because it was a warning. A warning."
Saisyu listened, aghast.
"There was nothing for us to find. Nothing to eat. Nothing to drink. We were gonna die there, Dad, and to hell with everything else."
Kyo laughed; Saisyu heard the brokenness behind it.
"But it wasn't done playing with us. Him. You asked me that day, Dad, if he was blind. Yes, he was. He was and you had to go and ask like it didn't matter. Because who cares if Yagami goes blind, right? One less thing for the Kusanagi clan to worry about."
"Kyo –"
"We were just talking and then he starts screaming. Have you ever heard him scream like that, Dad? Have you?"
"At night –"
"Yeah, at night. He's going through the whole damn thing in his head. Told me Orochi doesn't compare. And I'm standing there, watching him, listening to him scream and go wild and I have no idea what the fuck is happening. He can't even tell it to me straight because he was so damn scared."
"What did you do?"
"What did I do? What do you think I did, Dad?" His son shouted, besides himself. "Tried to get him to calm down but he was freaking the fuck out and I had to keep grabbing him. Thought he was going to tear the damn wall apart, he was so angry. Then he tells me and I see it."
"Son…"
"His eyes were going empty. Blank. Like staring at a damn wall. And I thought it was bad when he was just screaming. It wasn't. It got worse."
"How?"
Kyo shuddered. Saisyu had never seen his son so distraught, not even when he returned home after disappearing in 1997 and resurfacing in 1999.
"I…Dad, he was breaking down. In front of me. I've…I've never seen him like that. And the whole time, his eyes…"
"You're not responsible for him, Kyo."
"Then who?" Rage in his son's voice. "Who, then, Dad? Not you, but we both know that, don't we?"
"Find him some caretaker. Some –"
"Like hell I'll leave him alone with some fucking stranger he doesn't know! I was there for him! He was there for me! We survived it together, and I'm not going to leave him just because it's inconvenient for you or the whole damn clan!"
Saisyu took a deep breath. This was what he was afraid about. His son had gotten too attached to the other young man over their common ordeal and it was throwing their entire clan into jeopardy. He was the family patriarch. Things had to happen. He was sorry if Kyo didn't like it but this would be his responsibility one day and then he'd know better.
"He can't stay any longer, Kyo."
"Then I'm going as well."
"You cannot. You have duties and responsibilities to the clan."
"To the same clan that's whispering behind my back? That's saying stuff I'd kill them for if they said it straight to my face or his? That clan? To hell with them."
"Kyo Kusanagi!"
"Don't pull that on me!" Seeing his son like this – furious, emotionally raw and agitated, and vulnerable – tugged at Saisyu's heart. "Don't you dare pull that on me, Dad!"
"What about your friends? Your –"
"Unrelated. Leave them out of this. This is between us."
"You cannot leave, Kyo."
"Make me. If he goes, I go. I didn't go through hell with him to ditch him just because you don't like it or others talk. He's more Yasakani now than Yagami, but you wouldn't know that."
"What do you mean?"
His son blinked and turned away. Unbelievably, Saisyu saw the shine of tears.
"His flames have reverted. With the feud dead, Orochi has no real hold over him. It's done."
"You mean…"
"Yes. Do you have anything else to say, Dad? I have stuff to do."
"Kyo, think this through! If you leave –"
"I send you postcards." Kyo's voice roughened. Saisyu wanted to embrace him, tell him everything would turn out fine but something told him it was over. His relationship with his son was broken as well – his son was broken and he hadn't known – and now it was done. His son was a man now, no longer a boy. Saisyu couldn't offer him any reassurances – nothing. His son had made his choice.
Saisyu could only let him go.
"Kyo…"
"Don't, Dad."
"I'll leave. I know I'm not wanted."
"Stop saying that." His son in the Yagami boy's room. Saisyu lingered outside beyond the door, hearing the sound of zippers being ripped open and the opening of drawers. His son had done this activity before, usually before flying away for the tournaments. He'd never thought this would be the last time and that Kyo wouldn't be coming back. "You're not going without me, Yagami."
"Kyo, this is stupid."
"No, this is right. I'm not letting them kick you out just because of this bullshit grudge."
"What about…"
"They can find someone else. I wasn't supposed to be the original successor anyway."
"But…"
"It's done, Yagami. Let's stop talking about that." The rustle of cloth and Saisyu heard his son swear. "Where's your passport?"
"Thought you had it."
"Damn. I'll go dig through my room later. You're all packed."
"Are you sure, Kyo? I…you don't need to do this for me."
"You're still learning your way around, Yagami. You'll need help. Better me than some jackass you don't know."
"Your old man…Kyo, I never had a good relationship with my father. You're lucky. I'm not worth all this."
"My dad's not much better if he's willing to kick a blind man out onto the street."
"I can't help you, though. He can."
Saisyu wondered why the Yagami heir was trying to persuade his son to stay. Had he been completely wrong about the boy?
"He won't listen. Besides, he wasn't there. He doesn't understand. We were in it together, Yagami. Not gonna leave just because it makes things easier. What kinda guy would I be, then?"
Silence.
"Here's your jacket. It's a bit cold today. I'll get my stuff together and then we'll go."
The soft sounds of shifting cloth and the faint sound of a zipper being pulled.
"Kyo?"
"Yeah?"
"What are you planning? Where will we go?"
"I'll figure it out. Got some friends outside of Osaka. Maybe we'll crash their place for a while."
"Hell of a plan. You got anything more permanent?"
"Don't worry."
"Right. Every time you say that, something always goes wrong."
"Haha. Very funny, Yagami. Okay. I'm done talking. Time to get my bags packed."
Saisyu stepped away and left the hallway.
It was done, then. There was no going back, and Kyo wasn't returning.
He would often think back to the day he found his son in the facility. Of Kyo's astonished, almost tearful "Dad?" and it would make his heart hurt all over again. Shizuka told him not to dwell on it – Kyo did send her letters from time to time – but Saisyu found it impossible not to.
His son had left the house six years ago, taking the blind Iori Yagami with him and besides the fact that Kyo told his mother his whereabouts (jumped from Osaka to Tokyo and then to Kyoto), Saisyu had no idea what else his son was doing. It made him worry.
Was the bond between the two of them that strong?
He had no idea how his family, how the clan got so upended because his son and his sworn rival ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time together. Would things be different now if the Yagami boy had died?
Would Kyo be at home? Still be the heir to their clan?
Saisyu didn't know.
All that he wanted was for things to be simple, but they didn't turn out that way.
Nothing was simple, it seemed.