This is gonna interesting for more than just me, I feel like – especially since this will feature my husbando and Rex Madison's waifu. It's going to be quite the experience, both for me having written this and for people in the fandom who get to read it.

Happy (somewhat early) Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day – the international holiday of love. Even in the aftermath of yet another King of Fighters tournament, friends and romance were able to be made alongside each other, and the violence of past showdowns would be far gone from the back door throughout the week of the holiday.

On this day, though, Ash Crimson would not be able to partake in that love.

This wouldn't be the first year that the young man with the green embers would have his enjoyment of 'Saint Valentin' limited, though – as long as he could remember, prior to his departure from the mansion, he was at least able to enjoy the (arguably platonic) love with Elisabeth, as an indirect benefit of their childhood friendship and loyalty.

Unfortunately, this year, not even 'Betty' seemed to be willing to share that love. Given he had been considered by more than a handful as 'dishonest' and 'a bit of a scumbag', including his crop-wielding friend. Well, 'friend' in quotes since it was recently falling into question with Betty's absence to the meet-up.

Kind of a surprisingly depressing image for to be involved in, with his face laying in forlorn silence against his chosen table at the Pao Pao cafe. His and what was supposed to Betty's tea were cooling away in the late Winter wind – along with his heart, it seemed like...

"Hmmph... the aura of isolation..."

Ash's eyes (mostly the one not hidden beneath his peaking bangs) glanced ahead at the front door of the cafe, where he was seated near. A monochromatic, pitch-black parasol hid away most of the appearance of the young gal who had entered the establishment. She seemed a bit too young to really be hanging around at a place like this, but he didn't really bother with it.

The white-haired youth's pinkish-red eyes met Ash's direction as she made it clear she was referring to him. "Even for someone like you, isn't it such a cruel creature?"

Ash ultimately sighed as he was unable to deny his situation. "Suppose so."

"And how does that make you feel?" The girl asked.

"I guess... alone. Absolutely alone." Ash attempted a smile. Regardless of the years he spent alone before the King of Fighters tournaments became an integral part of his year-to-year life, he was unable to resist his admittance to his current emotions.

It was hard to see as the parasol partially hid her face, but she seemed to smile slightly. "Perfect. You're just what I need."

For all that had started to spark up in this conversation, Ash was starting to feel left out, and very confused with the girl's lasting presence as she took the seat that was meant for the friend that ducked out. "For what? You need something from me, demoiselle?"

"The name's Ninon – and yes, I suppose I do," she said. "Mainly, it's your trust that I need, and that you can understand what's on my mind."

Ash certainly had a more than a few questions on the mind at the moment, but he didn't want any of them to slip out just yet. "Go ahead," he calmly demanded. "Tell me, what's your deal?"

Glancing out at the rest of the cafe, Ninon surveyed the scene in a brief silence before a spiel started to form out from her mind and out past her lips.

"Today is Valentine's Day, is it not? The day of romance... I'd hate to admit it, but even I'm a bit charmed myself by the love and care people put into their craft – and I'm not often one to feel happiness towards the populace of places like this."

"Hmm. Really...?" Ash was starting to find interest in the nihilistic lolita's discussion, and his hand met beneath his chin as he sat up better.

Ninon continued, "I would've considered you one to not bother with love on this holiday, either, but yet here you are – Ash Crimson, the Sneering Blaze, wallowing in loneliness in the face of someone who didn't bother showing their face."

Ash chose not to question how she knew his name; he was kind of a darkhorse candidate in the KoF tournaments – although not necessarily a beloved one – of course she would know who he was.

Then again, there were other things on his mind. "You could tell?"

Ninon responded as calmly as usual, "It's kind of obvious – the two teacups, for instance..." She didn't need Sherlock Holmes levels of deduction skills to figure out Ash's situation.

Ash let out a disgruntled sigh. "Alright, maybe it's a little obvious how lonely I may be..."

"And that's why I need someone like you," said. "As a guinea pig for my craft, you could say."

Ash barely wanted to feel offended by the term used, but he was in too deep in intrigue to back off now. "'Guinea pig'? Hmm... alright, guess I'll bite."

Ninon's explanation began. "You may not be surprised at this point, but I too have experience in the arts of supernatural power. You could consider me a mage – a witch if you may – with a lot of built-up experience. However, I never bothered with anything in the way of manipulating the positive emotions of others. More of a case of negativity, as some people could say – my sister included, and she wasn't willing to comply for this."

She continued, "I won't let that speak for me, though. Instead, this may provide something to help you understand..." Digging into her person, she brought out something that wasn't exactly normal for someone to carry in public – a chunk of rubble, that oddly glowed with a thin purple mist.

Ash was quickly and heavily fascinated by the enchanted rock that was sat on the table before him. Maybe it was just because he was fond of the color purple, or maybe it was because this was something out of the ordinary, which was something he certainly enjoyed whenever it happened. No wonder he found fascination in the King of Fighters tournament after the past years.

The witch focused on Ash's silent intrigue for long enough to realize. "...Nothing to ask, huh? Figured." "I dabbled in a spell, fittingly known as 'the Valentine spell' in witch customs. Generally, the spell works on its own when enacted directly, forcing upon whoever is caught by it to fall into a love-struck state towards the spellbinder. With the case of an object being enchanted with it, one touch of it could provide an identical effect from the volunteer to the holder..."

"'Could'? You don't sound like you're all too sure..." Ash fiddled with the tip of his bangs, his eyes remaining on the magic-tainted rune. "You do know what you're doing, right?"

"I don't often delve into sorcery like this." Ninon retorted with the deadpan expression remaining unmoved. "It's mostly the possibilities that leave me wondering what could happen – that's why I need someone like you to test it out."

"Quite the offer, I must say," Ash admitted, "but if you're not one to love, then why bother with the spell to begin with?

"It's not for me," Ninon shook her head. "Clearly, you deserve a least a bit of happiness with how the day has betrayed you in so many ways. Besides, if it goes well, maybe it could benefit me to see my sister in a bit of a St. Valentine's predicament."

This whole sister thing had Ash ever so intrigued. "Hmm. Family problems?"

Ninon shrugged very slightly. "She prefers white magic over my dark arts. Opposites tend to clash more often than mingle – why wouldn't we be at odds?"

Ash again looked at the rock radiated in purple. It almost felt like the sense of love was forming towards him just by laying his eyes on its presence. "Hmmmm... you drive a hard bargain, …"

His eyes lingered around the cafe until they met a way's away – he had already spotted several potential partners to try and work the magic with.

"Very well... I'll give your little trinket a test run..." Ash adjusted the collar of his attire as he stood up from his seat and made his merry way towards the main bar of the cafe.

Many lovely fighters graced the majority of the stools as sauntered by them, making sure to choose his quote-unquote 'test subject' for 's odd little Valentine stone very wisely. The selection was not half bad, either...

Angel – Ash was always partial to biker babes, but maybe she would be considered a bit too much to handle; she was incredibly skilled in wrestling, and not necessarily the traditional kind...

Yuri – Quite the thick ass for a young lady such as her, no doubt about that, but she already had a steady boyfriend that Ash would assume was somewhere in the cafe, ready to defend his babe at a moment's notice. Not worth getting into a fight that could potentially burn Pao Pao down. Again.

Luong – Another of the babes to be taken, but Ash didn't mind as much since he had heard rumors she was willing to have a side-man to make some love with. Legs that could kill, though, and he didn't want that on Valentine's Day.

Mian – Ash wasn't quite in the mood for Sichuan opera, and if he was looking for proper class in his romance, he would've just gone around the bases with Betty.

The choices were wearing thin for the young French debonair, and his impatience was starting to get to him. However, that all shifted away when his sights landed on the last girl in line.

Athena Asamiya – the Psycho Soldier, and a talented prospect at that. Her music wasn't exactly of Ash's taste, but he was very much aware she was one of the most popular girls in the KoF circuit, by far. He knew it wouldn't be the right of mind to try and swoop in on a young lady like Athena when she was in a generally vulnerable state, but he was never in the right of mind when it came to others in the King of Fighters tourneys.

On top of that, he had an obligation to give that witch girl's little pet project a test run, and although he wasn't one to make promises he could keep, he knew this would bring down two birds with one magically-enhanced stone. Luckily, there was an empty stool just to the left, so he wouldn't have any trouble getting to sit next to her...

Coming so close to the goddess descended, however, meant the presence of Crimson was in range of Athena's psychic essence, and without even a catching glance back at the Frenchman, she was horrifically unsettled among so many other things.

"Oh god," she let out a brief breath as she barely felt Ash graze past her to take the seat next to her.

He greeted her, "Bonjour... 'Psycho Soldier'..."

Athena's eyes creaked to the left as she almost couldn't bear to look at him. "Uh..."

It was almost kind of cute in Ash's eyes, the way Athena's creeped out expression looked when he glanced back. This may have been the right choice for him after all... "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Athena shuddered silently, glaring down into the wood of the table in front of her. "Sorry... it's just... your aura. It's..."

"Overwhelming?"

"Uncomfortable."

Ash took the chosen word in stride. "...Close enough. Don't work yourself up, sweetie; it's Valentine's Day, I'm not going to hurt you."

Athena was hoping those words were true by the end of the conversation. "...Then what do you want?"

"Honestly, right now?" Saying 'honestly' was an ironic term to use considering Ash was known for being a dishonest brat to certain others. "I'm just working on finding a fling for the holiday of love."

"I, uh," Athena stuttered briefly, "I would've figured you'd already have someone like Elisabeth to join up with you."

"You'd be wrong," Ash responded. His smile hid the pain that still lingered... "We planned on meeting up here, but even she had a stopping point, unfortunately."

There were a lot of factors Athena could've considered in the reason why Betty bailed, but she looked towards the more obvious spectrum first. "I wouldn't be surprised. You've kind of had a mean streak – a mile wide, I'd estimate."

"Could've been for just about any reason that she didn't show," Ash said, "but I doubt she really wanted to flake out. We'll sort things out, sooner or later..."

Athena simply responded, "That's your problem – not mine." For a second, it seemed like she was about to get up and away, but she was only trying to scooch her stool a little bit to the right, as if to slowly creep away from Ash's smug aura.

He followed suit, however, making the slight distance redundant as he kept relatively close to Athena. The spellbound stone in his left hand lingered beneath the table, with amusingly minimal effort needed to hide it for the time being. He said, "Enough about me, though – I'm more interested about why you're alone..."

Athena explained simply, "I kinda don't wanna talk about it with someone like you... in short, my teammates are busy with other plans, and I'm don't want to get swarmed by my fanbase before I head back home."

"Coming here doesn't seem to protect you from guys like me, you know."

"Unfortunately. Still surrounded by a good handful of friends around the cafe, so I'm at least protec...ted..." As Athena looked Ash in the eyes, those eyes began to lower down. With how Ash's left arm bent underneath and hid his hand under the table top, it looked more than a little compromising.

Athena's face started to maintain a scarlet tint as her eyes continued to stay low. "...Ash?"

Ash paid no mind. "Mm-hmm?"

"Please tell me you aren't doing what I think you're doing."

"I think for me, it's safe to say I'm not." At a point like this, it was probably a good idea to get the stone out of the way quick while making sure not to explain what it did. His left hand escaped out from underneath the table and he kept a grasp as he set the object on it. "I was going to let you figure it out for yourself, but—"

"Whoa!" Athena sprung out of her seat alongside a quick yelp, catching the attention of a couple patrons further back in the building. She acted as if a waft of gas hit her nose real suddenly – in this case, though, it was more of the essence of that glowing stone that caught her spirit's attention.

Ash blinked twice, seeming unaffected by Athena's startled outburst. "Something wrong?"

Athena was overwhelmed real quick by the stone. "What... the hell... is that...?"

"Oh this?" Ash was feeling like a quick lie would do things fine, and cover further the object's true origins. "Some local pawn shop had it sitting around – was planning on giving it to Betty, but that's life for you..."

"Whatever it is, there's something really strong going on within it..." Athena deduced from her psychic analysis. "I... can't figure out what, though." That analysis provided nothing further but the energy coursing through it – which meant she didn't know what could activate it.

Ash soon realized this, and that made his chances of getting the object to work its magic a bit higher. "Calm down, petit," he said with a cocky smile, playing the long(ish)-con with the Psycho Soldier, who was dealing with her own frustrating mental stinger as she continued to feel the profuse strength of that enchanted rubble.

"No... no, I have to settle it... Give me that thing, and I'll deal with it as best I can." Athena started to reach towards, trying to assume her authority in the situation.

Ash retracted the oddity-clutching hand, leaning back in his seat. "Pfft, comme si tu le ferais..." he said. "I gotta at least treat someone to this – might not want someone as paranoid about it as you try to do anything about it." He knew eventually Athena would lay claim to it in the growing struggle, but he just love the struggle in her eyes, too much to just hand it straight away.

"You don't know what that could do!" Athena shouted back. "Then again, neither do I, but that's not the point right now!" She was about ready to fight him for that rock by this point, as she thrusted her left hand against Ash's chest and reached with the right.

Ash lifted a foot against Athena's face – he was real close to falling off the stool as it leaned dangerously. "Not a chance, sweetie."

"Ergh, give it—!"

"Gonna have to try harder than that~!"

At Ash's teasing tone, the Psycho Soldier did just that, and with enough stretching forward, she finally started to make contact with her hand against the enchanted object – even if it with a risk of both sides of this struggle taking quite the tumble, in front of this fairly populated establishment.

Upon making full contact with her palm against the stone, there was a sudden jerking movement in Athena's arm, around the elbow. She yelped in a brief fit of pain as she took a nasty tumble off the stool, and she wound up falling on top of Ash, as they both took a crashing fall onto the ground.

For Ash, this was probably the best position for witnessing what was about to happen...

The powers of the spell seemed to set in at a moment's notice, as Athena's soon face faded into a near- permanent surprised expression, and the irises of her eyes began to develop into a very vibrant shade of pink – so vibrant, it looked to be glowing.

The spell worked to perfection, it looked like, and Ash didn't bother hiding the impressed smile on his face. "Like I said – nothing to worry about."

A couple seconds later, Athena's face dropped closer to Ash's, and their lips suddenly met in an embrace like none other. Even for someone as much of a cocktease towards the competition as Crimson, he was caught off-guard by how quickly the spell acted on Athena's manipulated emotions. Ah well, a kiss was a kiss, and he allowed his tongue to slowly worm into the girl's mouth as a stealth 'thank you'.

There was an inevitable moment where they had to break away, and Athena's eyes stared longingly at her spell-appointed lover. "Take me. Love me," she begged. "Do whatever you want with me, I'm yours."

Ash seemed more and more impressed as the effects of the spell flourished through. First the subtle changing of the eyes, then the begging – then the forcibly love-struck Athena started to feel down on his person, sporadically kissing his clothed body on the way down until she started to meet at hip level with him. It was a little surprising how forward the lust-struck girl was, but there was no complaining for the man being given this affection.

Eventually, one patron off to the side of the long table, comparatively nameless compared to the KoF participants lacing the left half of the table, started to notice. "Jeez, get a room, you two!"

Taking into account the public space of the cafe, Ash took that as perfect advice for the situation, as he eventually had to keep Athena away from getting too down and dirty with him. "Might as well, the bathroom's over that way – how about it, ma chérie?"

She responded, "Whatever you say – I'll love you to the end regardless..."

Athena's brief mindwashed spiels moved like sugar through Ash's ears. Being allowed to carry the girl off in a direction with no repercussions from her or anyone else, he may have absolutely hit the jackpot with the spell, and he was bound to hold onto that stone until he was fully satisfied...

I was absolutely counting on this maybe being a one-shot, but once I reached past 3000 words on those scenes alone, I felt I needed to split it off somehow. I don't usually let chapters go more than 3000 to 4000 words unless I really felt like the scenes involved needed to all be on one go.

Things will get down and dirty real soon, though, so stay tuned!