I needed to make this chapter shorter for myself after last time's behemoth(at least to what I'm used to). Also, of all the subplots in New Horizon, I hope it comes across the extra care I'm putting in the Gato/Futaba story.

SECOND BRACKET ROUND°1 FIGHT #4: YURI SAKAZAKI VS HOTARU FUTABA

New Horizon was reproceeding at a steady pace, much to the peace of mind of the hosts. Sure, Jian was still in the middle of smoothing things over with his investors, but as far as the public was concerned, seeing Freeman, and by extension the Outlaws, suffering a major setback was a much needed stress relief. Now the tournament could focus on what really matters; High-octane, exciting battles and between two undisputed fan-favourites at that.

"The next match will be between some of the youngest prospects of KOF, ladies and gentlemen." Clemence announced. "Though it has to be said, there's way more pressure on the Kyokugens than Team High School here. Aside from the koreans, they have the gravest numerical disadvantage."

Back in the ring, stretching muscles was the name of the game; they both knew this was gonna take every ounce of their agility to win.

"Gotta say, wished I had literally anyone else as an opponent." Yuri confessed. "There's so many smug faces in KOF, it's so easy to bash them in without remorse...but fighting you? It just feels wrong."

"Hey, I've put in a lot of traning for this KOF too, you know? Surely you don't mean you'll go easy on me?"

"As if! Just like pops always says, "Kyokugen never turns its back against an enemy." This time, I'll be the one taking our team to the very top, no question!"

"Heh heh, if only I had that much confidence. Sorry in advance, but my goal is set a little further than just this tournament. The promise I've made won't be broken at the first round."

FIGHT!

Having psyched themselves up, the contestants were now ready to fulfill their respective goals. Yuri started the dance with a high jab, wanting to make some serious damage right from the get-go. Of course, it was way too direct to be effective, so Futaba simply moved her head slightly to the left and safely protected herself. The little Kyokugen tried again an air-sweeping kick but all she did was remove some dirt from the ring. With that opening provided, Hotaru spun around for a quick roundhouse, which Yuri barely managed to parry with her left shoulder. Following that, Futaba pressed on by uniting her palms, adding a little bit of blue chi and crashing hard on Yuri's undefended belly. While she remained standing, Sakazaki was sent a few meters back, her sneakers leaving their footprint along the way.

Subtlety wasn't exactly Yuri's forte, but going in guns blazing was evidently a poor strategy. So to gain back some momentum, she ran up just close to her opponent to leave her space to maneuver. After that, Sakazaki went for an easy 1-2-3 combo on Hotaru's midsection. The first two were merely to warm her knuckles up, as the South Towner blocked them no problem, but the third blow had much more of an impact. Kind of a given, considering it was delivered with her dominant right arm. Taking advantage of Hotaru still covering the damaged area, Yuri hopped on her shoulders and pushed her behind her, disorienting her with such an unexpected move. At the same time, the Kyokugen managed to gain some time in the air to launch some chi of her own.

"RAIOU KEN!" That airborne projectile felt like a ton of bricks falling on her, sending Hotaru further back she was already, retreating to tend on her bruised face.

"Crap, that was smart. Hotaru needs a genius idea of her own and fast." Shingo worriedly commented.

Immediately after landing, Yuri aimed to make use of her confusion to dish out some more pain. She tried for a haymaker but Hotaru kicked away in her general direction to prevent anymore unwanted shots. Sakazaki then went for a lower shot to her right side but it was swiftly parried now that Futaba regained some decent footing. Unwilling to back down, Yuri tried for an overhead that went nowhere, as Hotaru swerved back and responded with a spear-like front kick, making the young Kyokugen seriously flinch. On the fighters's stands everyone was glued to the action, commending the persistence on display by both contestants...except Gato naturally, who thought not even being able to gain the upper hand against such a subpar opponent didn't reflect well on Futaba's standing in New Horizon.

A combo of palm strikes ended with a kick to Yuri's right side allowed the South Towner a moment to relatively catch her breath. The break was short-lived however, as Sakazaki blocked the first two shots and masterfully parried the third with her elbow. Since she was already half-crouching after the last parry, Yuri decided she might as well go for an uppercut, boosting herself with her left leg. It proved fruitful, as the hit landed right on Hotaru's cheekbone; A miracle it wasn't already broken with Yuri's seeming obsession with that particular zone. What she wasn't was Hotaru showing some jaw-dropping dexterity by avoiding the white ring thanks to her readiness in extending her arms forward, turning a potential hard-on-the-body fall into a counter-attack, by using her right foot to smack Yuri right into her unsuspecting chin. Despite their best efforts, neither of them could make a decisive dent on the other and desperation started creeping up alarmingly quickly.

Continuing to backflip away from any possible danger, Hotaru started charging up on her chi for a, hopefully, actually impacting blow, but Yuri came to her senses faster than she predicted. Upon seeing what was about to happen Sakazaki, still more than a little dizzy from the previous scuffle, could only think about countering with a Ko'ou Ken to avoid getting hit head-on. Yuri's channelling was much more advanced than Hotaru's, allowing her to throw her attack first. Futaba had no more time left, she was forced to launch an incomplete chi projectile in the hope that the chi she gathered would be enough. What neither of them have calculated is that they weren't standing in a perfect straight line, but a couple of meters distant on a horizontal perspective. In the end, The two projectiles ended up barely touching each other with but a scant of their power lost. In a panic, Hotaru tried to dive out of the way when she realized her mistake. But this was an even bigger one, as she got hit on her left side of her entire left side of her body, making her spin in the air uncontrollably before crudely crashing down on the white floor.

Who knows what could've happened if that Ko'ou Ken landed cleanly, since even that half-shot was enough to make her body flare up in an instant. Hotaru had barely the strength to look up and see what the result of her daring attempt was. Turns out, Yuri was knocked out cold, not a sign of movement to be found. She must have expected this outcome even less than Futaba did, the latter still couldn't believe it herself. As the last seconds of the fight ticked by, the South Towner managed to sit and give the biggest sigh in the world. Of relief? Of weariness? No one can say for sure.

WINNER: HOTARU FUTABA

While a bit sour that another member of the Kyokugens was eliminated so early, the public gave credit when credit was due and cheered for the second victory of Team High School, with the other members joining in at max volume where the winner was

"Yo, that was so close. One more minute and I would've been toast for sure." Shingo praised.

"C'mon, what's with the gloomy face? Aren't you glad you've qualified?" May Lee asked.

"O-of course I am. It's just that she deserved to win just as much as me."

"Jeez, you're so sweet you're giving me diabetes. Let's get you all patched up so we can celebrate properly, 'kay?"

"You go right ahead. I have to meet up with one of the hosts first. Something about joining the company like that Botan girl, I'm guessing."

As Hotaru and her fallen teammate exited the ring, Yuri long came up to her senses and returned to the stands pouting like no one has ever pouted before.

"I had her on the ropes, Robbie. Just one more shot and the second round was mine. Now I've got this "Bleh" taste in my mouth."

"You have nothing to be dispirited over, Yuri. Not when you put on a much better show than I did. And hey, that means we can be losers together, don't we?"

"For being the first eliminated, you're taking it incredibly well. I guess Ryo and Pops are gonna make Kyokugen proud all by themselves...like they usually do."

Not having much of an idea on where the meeting could be, Hotaru simply returned to the VIP area for some sort of indications. She knocked on the door extremely gently, aware that disturbing the hosts in the middle of the tournament wasn't exactly the pinnacle of tact. Thankfully for her, Iwao opened the door to greet her, feeling genuinely happy for the first time in a while.

"Oh, sorry that you had to come all the way here. We were busy with the...procedures concerning the last match." He explained as he closed the door behind him. "But who cares about that, you were incredible against Sakazaki."

"Uhm, thanks sir. It was actually pretty even." After that, there were more than ten seconds of awkward silence, neither of them being all that good social interaction with strangers for wildly different reasons.

"So...what is this KOF business you wanted to talk about?" She nervously asked, trying to resume the conversation.

"Yeah, I had to come up with the easiest excuse ever in front of your friends, couldn't risk it."

"...Why? Is there something particularly important about this meeting?"

Iwao felt that was the right moment to reach her height by silently kneeling right next to her, which Hotaru found rather creepy.

"Nothing I could say would be convincing enough, Hotaru. That's why I kept this all these years...for this exact moment." Iwao opened his wallet and pulled out a slightly ruined photo picturing a family of four standing in front of some neon palm trees. A much younger Iwao was kissing a middle-aged, long blue-haired woman with a mole on her cheek holding a note-shaped trophy on her left arm and an elementary schooler on her right one, both smiling at the camera. In front of the rest, a fifteen-something year old boy who looked dead inside with a badly covered-up shiner. As she observed the photo more closely, some traces of that night started to become clearer in Hotaru's memory, the realization of what this implied making her eyes wide open.

"You were still so young back then, I don't blame you for not remembering. We were at the Pao Pao Cafè, celebrating Manami's victory of that summer's karaoke contest. She was getting better and better, her first professional contract would have arrived at our house in just a few days…"

Poor Hotaru now finally understood, now looking back at Iwao with tears starting to flow uncontrollably.

"You don't have any idea how much I missed you, Hotaru."

In Iwao's mind, everything now came full circle. After too many years to count on the run, reuniting with the person he cared the most should've made it all worth it. He tried to hug his beloved daughter...only for her to take a few steps back, confusing him beyond belief. Hotaru was going through way too many emotions, alternating at an alarming speed between disbelief, fear, and hidden resentment.

"Eleven years…you've disappeared without a word for eleven years. I looked everywhere, father, where in the world were you?" She muttered while clenching on the photo he gave her.

"Hotaru, you have every right to be angry but I swear, we were separated by something far beyond my control-"

"For more than a decade?"

Iwao was struggling so hard to parse this. He couldn't wrap his head around why his daughter, who also moved hell and heaven to bring their family together again, was ruining what was meant to be a touching reunion. But from an outsider perspective, the reason was very simple; His narcissistic mindset would never allow him to understand Hotaru's frustration beyond a pathetically surface level. In spite of this, he collected himself long enough to try and find the right words to somehow comfort her.

"Believe me when I say that leaving you behind was the biggest mistake of my life. The only thing I can ask you now...is to give me a chance to tell you my side of the story. Explain what really happened that night."

"I don't even want to look at you right now." With that remark, Iwao was this close to another fit of rage but incredibly, he managed to hold it in.

"Of course...we both need time to process this. So tell you what..." He reached for his wallet once more for a golden card. "This is a VIP pass. Tonight, at the Sunset Tower Hotel, go to the seventh floor and show this to the bodyguard just outside of the elevator. He will let you through so you can reach room 703, where I'm residing for New Horizon. There I will tell you everything...what do you say?"

Hotaru was seriously hesitant, especially considering the callous disregard for her feelings. But this is the first real lead she had since her search started, refusing would be outright deranged. Grudgingly, she silently took the pass without looking away from the floor.

"You really wounded me when you left, father. Do you realize that?"

"Of course I do. Hell, if I could've helped it-"

"You're not hiding something from me too, are you?" Now Iwao was really caught off-guard. This whole situation sure didn't need to get even more complicated.

"Everything I'll tell you will be the honest-to-god truth. I swear on my life." He lied shamelessly while putting his hand on the chest.

"Okay...I-i want to believe you."

"Oh Hotaru, after what I've done, this is more than I deserve." He said while having the gall to actually give a non-consensual hug to her still emotionally unstable daughter. This was probably the first time Hotaru felt genuine anger, but she was too nice to express it out loud.

"As much as I would want to stay, I gotta get back to work for now. You go to the infirmary and they'll give you the best medical treatment in the entire west coast, alright?"

Hotaru could only mindlessly nod as she saw one of the people she looked for her entire life reenter the hosts area like he didn't just meet his long-missing daughter. After all that turmoil, she realized way too late she didn't even ask anything about Gato. In resignation, Hotaru started making her way to the infirmary with a whole lot more questions and zero satisfying answers. Perhaps Gato was right, reality is much more disappointing than the ideal world we imagine in our heads.

NEXT TIME: Comrades are pitted against each other, with Ralf and Leona duking it out like in their battlefield training. Then the taciturn member of Team China Jess reveals his unorthodox combat style against the detective for hire Blue Mary.