Disclaimer: I don't own King of Fighters. They are the property of SNKP, and I'm just using them for my own pleasure.

Hello and welcome to the next chapter of the SSC saga. If you are wondering about the title, the A.S. basically stands for "Another Story", since this, as I said before, basically a side story. As a warning, this story is going to be pretty damn OC heavy, so if that's not your thing, I suggest looking elsewhere. Other than that, there's nothing else really all that noteworthy, so…

King of Fighters – New Blood A.S.: Winds of Change

Chapter 1: Restart

"There. That should be enough." Anya Rosenstein sighed happily. She placed the last item in her suitcase and quickly closed it. Halfway done with her task of packing her things up, Anya sat down on her messy bed and stared at the ceiling. "Another opportunity lost..."

Anya had been holed up at her current residence for the past two days, and every single minute of those two days was spent sulking, packing or being bored. She didn't like being cooped up in this dilapidated mess that someone had the gall to call a house for that amount of time, but that was the only thing she could do after what happened just a few days ago, so Anya just bore through it.

Anya yawned softly, running her hands through her messy and tangled blonde hair a few times before getting up and going to the kitchen to peek at what she had to eat. The fridge was close to empty, partly out of not having much money, but also due to the fact that there was only a stove and an oven in the room and neither of them worked. Anya just ate out most of the time, anyway.

She took out a large slice of cake that she brought right before the incident. Smiling somewhat, she returned to the bed and sat down on it in a cross legged position and started to ponder on where she will go this time around.

I don't think I can do this for another three years. Anya pondered as she started to eat. I think I need to find someplace where I can be little more…inconspicuous.

When Anya started wandering around Europe a little more than three years ago, had assumed that these small, out-of-the-way towns wouldn't be a big deal, but it was starting to become obvious that she was seen as an unwelcome guest everywhere she went to. Despite her good intentions and kindness, the people around her always acted wary around her, as if she was a demon that could turn on them at a moments notice.

Such is the price to pay for being 'blessed' with this extraordinary power, I suppose. Anya thought bitterly. She knew that was the thing that kept people away. Actually, it wasn't so much her 'powers 'as it was the stigma that came with them, as her father-the person who had 'given' these powers to her-hadn't exactly been the most magnanimous of people. Despite her constant attempts to separate herself from his actions, she often found herself suffering because of them.

He has so many enemies. What was he doing before he found me? As Anya continued to eat her cake, her mind drifted towards the day her 'father' left her behind to meet his destiny at that tournament and never returned. Then something hit her.

"Japan. The place my father went to the day he left me behind…Maybe there…."

Anya had been to that country once before, and from what she remembered, it had some of the biggest cities she has ever seen. So big, in fact, that she probably wouldn't stick out very much, if at all. It was a perfect plan.

Anya quickly placed the half eaten cake on the old dresser next to her bed and pulled open the shelf. She took out a wallet and checked to see how much cash she had left with her. The answer wasn't what she expected it to be, unfortunately.

Eh? This is all I have? It's more than plenty for a ticket, but… As she repeatedly counted her remaining funds, Anya internally scolded herself for blowing money on Game Boy games and junk food during her travels. Well, if I can find someplace cheap, I might have enough to find some place to stay for about a week or two, but after that, I'll probably be back on the streets.

Anya frowned at the thought of potentially being homeless, but her mind was already made up. She couldn't stay here any longer; her patience was starting to dim. So she got to work, and in the matter of an hour, she had packed up her remaining stuff and was just about to leave the house, when the door knocked.

This is a bad time for any visit. But I suppose it would be only right. Anya slowly opened the door. Outside, there was a group of angry looking townspeople. They weren't exactly carrying pitchforks and torches, but it sure did look like she was being run out of town.

"Oh my, how may I help you?" She clasped her hands and gave them a big smile that completely clashed with the severity of the situation she was a part of. "Don't tell me that you came all this way to see me off? How sweet."

Her happy tone statement confused the townspeople. "You're leaving now? We've been dealing with you all of this time, and now you want to run off?" One person said.

"That's about the size of it. Why? Who are you guys anyway?"

"We're representing the people of this town. They've been looking to rid you of your wicked aura for a long time now, but they chose us since the others didn't want any blood on their hands."

"Wicked…aura?'" She was surprised people could even sense that in this town.

"Sorry, but we can't let you just run off now. Besides the fact that we're getting some good money for this, they don't want you spreading your evil message to another defenseless town."

Anya's smile disappeared quickly. She could feel that sense of distain that she sometimes had towards other people building inside her; a few remnants left of what she was taught by him...

No! Do not let these people get to you. She reassured herself repeatedly, but something in Anya's mind was screaming for their blood. If I kill them, then I will be no better than they are..

Once one of the men took out a weapon of shorts, Anya was at her limit. In a flash, she was in front of that man with the weapon, and she had a death grip on the offending hand.

"Let me make something clear to you." She mustered up whatever patience she had left to speak to them in an calm voice. "I'm very aware about how much they want me to leave, and I'm willing to disappear if that is so. You'll never be seeing me again in this town. But while I can assure you I'm not evil, if you continue any further with whatever you intend to do, I'll be more than glad to show you how malicious I can truly be." She squeezed the arm harder to emphasize her point.

Everybody was silent. An unseasonably gentle breeze started to blow through the scene as the men contemplated their next actions.

"You know what; we'll just tell them that we took care of you. They won't care how it happened as long as you're gone. Just ease off of us, alright? We're not that willing to risk our lives just to get rid of one person."

Anya's smile instantly returned. She let go of the thug with the weapon. "Thank you very much. It is very much appreciated." She bowed deeply. She heard the mean mumbling as they started to leave themselves, but paid them no mind. She was very lucky that they had enough common sense to lay off. She didn't want a repeat of the last time someone tested her willpower.

That's the end of that particular chapter of my life. Anya hummed to herself as she started on her journey to the airport. This wind….where will it take me next?

"Isn't this great, Vio? We're back in Japan for the first time in a while." Haru said excitedly as they walked down the busy streets of their new neighborhood. "It's been so long, I wonder if they still sell that cup ramen that I used to eat…"

"Focus, Haru. We're supposed to contact Luka the moment we reach our new place, so we can't dilly-dally around." Vio didn't seem to be as interested as her friend, but that was mostly because she was exhausted from the trip and her only concern at that moment was how soft her bed would be.

"Come on, don't be such a downer. I'm just happy to be home after such a long time."

"Excuse me for not wandering around in a sea of nostalgia like you, but my memories of this place is not as pleasant as yours."

Haru's shoulder's slumped in frustration; he knew very well what Vio was referring, and he just let out a small noise. "Please don't let that get you down. We're not 'those' kids anymore; we're posing as completely differentliving the average teenager's life. Sleeping, going to school, blowing money on arcade machines and junk food, all of that stuff." A thought ran through his head, "Oh, we have to go to Neo-Geo Land soon! Haven't been there in a good while."

"We will, I promise, but for now, we need to get going. Don't you want to know what kind of place we've been set up with?"

"Knowing Luka, it'll either be a motel room or a bug infested mess. I don't have high hopes for anything good."

"Tell me about that. If I'm staying at another place that forces me to boil water on a stove just to take a hot bath, I'm going to hurt him."

A few minutes later they arrived at the place that would be their home for the next few months. It was actually not that bad; a nice, normal looking two story house in the middle of the city.

"Why are they assigning us to a two story house when there are going to be two people living in it?"

"Who cares? Let's get in already." They entered the house, and were astonished by what they saw. It was absolutely, positively….the most ordinary house they've ever seen. Nothing about it was very special or unique, but compared to some of their older hideouts (seedy motel rooms and old, run down houses that still had crime scene tape in the rooms), it was heaven.

"Home sweet home for the next 5 or so months." Vio took a look around the place. "But we still need to call Luka."

"For what? He knows that we'll be alright."

"We have our orders, Haru." Vio grabbed a cordless phone that was on the wall and started to dial. After a few minutes of ringing, someone finally picked up. "This is Violeta Nakahara; I need you to connect me to Luka from the RD department…"

A few minutes after that, someone else picked up.

"This is the International House of Genetics and Cloning. If you want to call someone about getting yourself cloned, please press 1 now. If you are interested in nanotechnology being forcibly put into your body, press 2, otherwise hold on…"

"Luka, sir, we know it's you." Vio stated with irritation; Luka did that to them almost every time they called him. "We've arrived at our new residence."

"Already? I was assuming you'd be out doing who knows what around town before you actually went to the house. Anyway, I hope you found it to your liking."

"It's great, but it's a little big for just the two of us, don't you think?"

"Hmm. I was trying to cut you a break this time around considering the scope of your mission, but if that's not good enough, then there's a pretty cheap hotel a few miles uptown…"

"NO!" Vio blurted out unexpectedly, "I-I mean, it's fine. We don't have a problem with this place."

"I knew you would answer that way. Now let's get the business part over with." Luka continued. "As you might have read, your mission is to observe and report the activities of the group known only as the Shin Sekia Chitsujo. You are to observe them, and try and get a good idea about who they are and why they were able to crash our little coming out party 6 months ago."

"We already know that much. Give us some specifics."

"Specifics? Okay then, As you probably already know, you're undercover. As such, we have enrolled you in school. I've already informed them about your arrival and other small things. There shouldn't be any question about your identities or your past, so you can just start going to classes and all that good stuff."

"You not actually making us go to school, right?" The young agent said, "I mean, we're agents of NESTS and…"

"That doesn't matter, Violeta. You need to get close to the kids, and you can't do that if you're kicked out due to poor grades, now can you?" Luka's voice turned a bit more serious. "We're certainly aren't providing the kind of education that most kids your age should be getting. Just work with me about this okay?"

Vio sighed. "Alright, alright. I promise we'll do our best."

"Good, so you'll be starting school in a few days. I'm not sure about your schedule, but I tried to make sure you have at least a few classes with two of the people in question. We want you to befriend the group, and get an idea of how they act in real life. We would also be pleased if you got some source of their skills, but that shouldn't be of high importance."

"Okay. Now tell us who we're specifically targeting in this mission."

"No? Well then, let me pull up some files." Luka could be heard muttering to himself for a minute or so as he worked on the computer. "Okay, their names are as follows: Raven Kirishima, Krysten Kirishima, Zyon Matou Kasanari, Xion Shinlon. Raven and Krysten are 16 and 15 respectively; they live by themselves, but officially, they are adopted, and have been for a while. Zyon also lives alone with his sister, Tera Tohsaka, but the reason for their situation is much sketchier. Xion's background, to be honest, is one big mystery. We have no real records that go back farther than about three years."

"If there are four of them, why did you only send two of us?"

"Because it's less hassle, for one thing. But the main reason is because one of the more…shadier groups in Japan we've affiliated ourselves with has a member that is friends with one of them and is in constant contact with Xion and Zyon. In exchange for some…items and funds, she'll tell us what she knows about them. You can focus more on the brothers. Do you have all of that so far?"

"Yes sir…"

"Alright, as for expenses, here's the deal: We left you an account. Every few days we'll wire you enough money to pay bills, groceries and whatever, with enough to spend on whatever stuff you want to buy for yourselves. I've taken the liberty of sending your stuff from here to your residence, and it should be there by tomorrow. Please try and be more frugal then you're usually are with money. I don't want to hear that you can't call me"

"Whatever. Anything else?"

"Hmmm….The only other thing is that I need you to report on your findings every so often, but other than that, nothing important."

"What about our aliases? We aren't going to school as ourselves are we?"

"Of course you are." Luka stated simply.

"What?" Vio's exclamation startled Haru out of his seat. "So we're using our real names? Why?"

"It's a matter of you being lucky enough not to need one. This is a different area than where you two used to live, and most of that, er, unpleasantness you suffered before you first joined this group has been long forgotten by now. I know there's some bitterness, but please put that aside for the sake of the mission."

Vio could tell that Luka was trying his hardest to assure her that everything would be okay. Relenting, she let out a rather loud groan. "Fine. If you say so, then I have no choice but to agree."

"Thank goodness." Luka sighed in relief; he knew that decision could have lead to a disaster. "Listen, if during any time, the mission starts to get compromised, or you start stressing out, or just can't continue, just let me know, and I'll have you back here as soon as possible, even if I have to do it myself." Luka continued, "The higher ups are sending me on another meaningless mission, but I'll try and keep in touch. Sakari is still a bit out of it, but he should be up and normal in a few days or so, and I'm sure he'll be calling you and bitching about me soon."

"Okay. We'll see you soon. Take care of yourself; you don't need any more wounds on your body."

She could hear Luka groan from the other end. "Tell me about it. Okay then, I'll talk to you in a couple of days. Stay safe."

Vio laid the receiver down, slightly frustrated but reassured. She then proceeded to relay all the information to her friend. "Haru, did you get all of that?"

"Yeah. Sounds like we're in for a long ride, huh?"

Vio just gave him a look. "I'm going to find our rooms and take me a long nap." She was too tired to deal with anything else right now. "We'll get something to eat later, but for now, I need a break..."

Haru just nodded absentmindedly as he watched her friend stagger up the stairs. He knew that Vio was a bit stressed; she needed some time to get her head sorted. Haru went to the open the door, and leaned against the doorway as he took in the sight of his new place.

So we're going to be students again? This should be interesting.

Shikkoku: Ah yes, and now we begin with this 'intermission' of the NB saga. So what should you expect? For one thing, a deeper look into the background of the SSC. You'll learn more about their personalities and reveal some things about their pasts. Also, appearances by both OCs and KOF characters.

It's a pretty brief chapter, so I don't have any notes as I usually do, so…

Next Chapter: The SSC go on with their lives as before, but things are about to get a lot more…complicated.

Until Next Time. Sayonara.