Well, hello there!

Okay, so, like... Oxygen to Breathe is long over, but there was something that I kind of forgot to throw in. Well, maybe not "forgot" per se... but it ended up being cut from the final story because reasons. Anyway, this takes place during the time that passed between the chapters Edit the Sad Parts and Medication. I was originally going to post this on tumblr, but then realized that absolutely no one would see it, so now it's here, masquerading as an actual fic.

Onward~

King schlepped into her apartment, drained from her shift at the bar. The acts of talking and laughing and lying to everyone were definitely taking a toll: she felt like she was drowning, and she hated it. Glad that she had the next day off, she emptied her pockets and removed her shoes and cummerbund before picking up Marron for a quick hug. She stood for a moment with the purring cat in her arms; she gave him a light squeeze, touched her forehead to his, and put him down.

With a loud sigh King made her way to her dark bedroom. She wanted - no, needed - sleep desperately but, despite how tired she was, she knew that her tendency to see him when she closed her eyes was going to make drifting off difficult - as usual. Some of her worst panic attacks made guest appearances late at night: Intrusive thoughts about the most mundane details about the incident would send her bolting out of bed, chest tight, breath coming in shallow bursts as she desperately tried to pull herself together. It was a feeling she despised, especially since she was powerless to stop it.

Just as King began to unbutton her shirt a series of low beeps sounded from her phone, which she accidentally left in the living room. She instantly recognized the unusual chime, as there was only one person who would use Messenger to contact her at such a weird hour. King dashed out of the room, snatched the device, and answered without video. There was a momentary silence, followed by a strange noise as the call connected.

"You're lucky I was working tonight," King sighed as she walked back to the bedroom. She made her way to the bedside table to turn on a lamp, uncertain of whether or not she had the energy to hold a conversation.
"I didn't even think about that," Kyo Kusanagi admitted from across the world.
"It's fine… It's not like I really sleep anymore anyway. What's up?"
"It's been awhile since I checked in on you, so I thought that I should… you know..."
"You really don't have to do that," King said with a frown.

There was a brief pause before Kyo spoke again.

"Are you holding up okay?"
"No… not really."
"This is probably a stupid question, but is there anything I can do?"
"Can you undo what happened to me?"
"King…"
"I probably shouldn't have said that."
"It's alright. Say whatever's on your mind."
"Okay then…"

King placed the phone down on the bedside table; she went to her laundry basket, which was full of clean clothing she hadn't put away in weeks, and started rummaging around for appropriate garments to wear to bed.

"I still think you're being too nice about this."
"'Too nice?'"
"Yeah," King replied as she began to change. "You told me to say what's on my mind. That's what's on my mind at the moment."
"Okay. What else?"
"I wish you hadn't found out about this."

There was a loaded silence between the two as King walked her work clothes to the hamper. She haphazardly dropped them in and made a face; she really needed to do some laundry.

"Hey," Kyo spoke up after a moment. "You know… I've said it before, but I don't think differently of you because of everything. You do know that, right?"
"I think you're full of shit, Kusanagi..."
"Well, that's your problem."

King took a deep breath while she plugged her phone into its charger.

"I'm sorry. I'm being such a bitch to you when all you're doing is inquiring about my well-being. It's just... I'm not used to you being so… supportive. Honestly, you're usually kind of a dick, but you've actually been one of my biggest cheerleaders through this whole thing…"
"I'm really not the best at this sorta stuff," Kyo started. "I'm really bad at it, actually. But I'll be damned if I don't at least try to… I dunno… help you."

King swallowed hard.

"You're still being too nice," she mumbled.
"What? I couldn't hear you."
"Don't worry about it."

King's voice cracked; she squeezed her eyes shut and sat down on the bed.

"I need to go…"
"But you're not -"
"Okay? No, I'm really not. It's been a long day, and I'm sick of pretending that everything's fine. But I need to try to sleep. It's almost three-thirty here."
"Alright." Kyo said reluctantly. "Well… take care of yourself, lady."
"I'll try…"

With that, King ended the call. She buried her face in her pillow and let out a frustrated groan as she tried to keep the tears from coming. She was so, so sick of crying all the damn time; it wasn't who she was, goddamnit! Kyo hadn't even said anything upsetting - he was just trying to make sure she was alright.

King stood up; she slowly walked to the bathroom so she could brush her teeth, her teary eyes half shut. All she wanted was to sleep and be normal again.

Really quick note:

*Time zone difference: King is in Cali, while Kyo is in Japan, which is sixteen hours ahead. So, for her it's almost three-thirty in the morning, whereas for him it's almost eight PM.

Now that that's out of the way, I want to give a shout out to RexMadison and jojoDo. Thank you guys for putting up with my incessant bitching, and for encouraging me to continue to mad scientist my way through the world of KOF fanfiction with my self-indulgent slice-of-life King stories! Seriously, I never would have bothered publishing this scene here, or even fleshing it out in the first place if it weren't for you two.

As for the rest of you, please, for the love of all that is sacred, let a heifer know what your post-reading thoughts and feels are!

Cheers~