Cammy stood outside the restaurant wrapping her arms around her body for warmth. From this pose, she could easily see the watch strapped around her slender wrist, reading 8:30 am. The restaurant had been open for about a half hour now, and patrons were slowly filling it up. She hoped they wouldn't have to wait long for a seat, and Cranky had gone inside to ensure just that. The morning air was starting to warm up from the chilly night, but it wasn't going fast enough for her. Cammy thought to bring a coat before coming, but didn't want to lug it around once it got too warm in the afternoon to wear it.

The first rounds for the new comers of the Street Fighter tournament were commencing later in the afternoon. This was the real deal. She was going to face off with the other more experienced fighters who've most likely just dicked around with each other. But now that the roster of fighters was complete, there was no more time for games. The fights were about to get real bloody, each warrior beating the pulp out of the other regardless of size, age or build. They were all equals to have made it this far, to be accepted into the bouts. The only thing they could rely on for victory were their reflexes and pure, dumb luck. Cammy swore to herself that she would make it to the final rounds, to face off against Shadowlaw's deadliest fighters and finally, to Bison. She didn't care if she had to scrap with Chun Li, Ryu, Ken, or even Guile just to get her claws on him. Guile had no idea how badly she ached for revenge against Bison.

"They're going to be seating us in about five minutes," Cranky said, suddenly appearing right beside Cammy. She was so absorbed in her thoughts, she hadn't even heard him come out of the building. "Any sign of Kenny?"

She shook her head.

"Christ," Cranky sighed. "He better not be sleeping still or I'm gonna kill him, that lazy ass."

"It was a trying day yesterday, for all of us," Cammy said distantly. "I'm just glad it ended well."

"Have they found a way to fix Julian and Wagner yet?"

"These people are doctors," Cammy replied. "They can only fix you if there's something physically wrong. But with them, they've been brainwashed. I'm not sure how much the doctors can do. They're asleep … asleep, or unconscious right now. I'm afraid they'll wake up and, well …"

"Have faith," Cranky assured her, patting her shoulder. "We've gone through a lot just to get Wagner and Julian back. We can't afford to lose them now."

"It's just that with Shadowlaw's trademark memory wipes, it doesn't matter who has control over them in the end. We lose Wagner and Julian anyway. I just wish …" Cammy clenched her fists. "I wish nobody else has to go through that. But yet, one of the next victims is non other than my own brother."

"It could be worse, Cammy," Cranky said, pulling her slender body close. "They could be dead. But they're not and we should be eternally grateful for that."

"Like when you thought they killed your brother …"

Cranky silenced her by giving her a tight, supporting hug. He didn't want to be reminded of those days, the days immediately following when Kenny was reported dead. The only thing worse than the pain of the loss was the guilt. He could've prevented Kenny from being killed simply by denying Ryu access to him. But Cranky had put his trust in the wrong person, in a street fighter of all people, a street fighter being pursued by Shadowlaw. He didn't know what possessed him to let Kenny go with Ryu back then, but he swore that this aspect of history would never repeat itself…

"Oh, good, you guys are here!" Kenny called out from across the street. He bolted across the two way road, briefly glancing in either direction as he ran towards them. "Sorry I'm late, but I had a tough time convincing the hospital people to let me come and see you guys. They said something about me being in no shape to leave."

"How did you manage to convince them it was alright?" Cammy asked curiously.

"I didn't," Kenny shrugged. "I had to sneak out of my ward. Those windows are small so it took a little squeezing but hey!" He spreaded his arms. "I'm here!"

"Are you crazy!" Cranky asked. "You're on the second level!"

"Thank God," Kenny added. "I could've been on the third. Now, THAT would've been painful."

"But how could you …"

"Anyway, I'm starved! C'mon, let's get some grub!" Walking briskly past a bewildered Cranky and Cammy, he led the way into the restaurant.

XXXXX

Cranky was excited as the three of them were seated. Cammy, his girlfriend and lover, and most likely his future wife, was going to get to know the not-so-much six year old boy that Cranky had raised himself. His future and his past were sitting across from each other, about to share a meal together. He was probably grinning from ear to with excitement but he didn't care. There wasn't a high probability this would ever happen again. Cammy had introduced him to her family before, but Cranky had no family to introduce her to. Kenny was the closest thing he had to a family.

"We've met," Kenny stated bluntly, shoving a fork full of egg into his mouth. Before he even had a chance to swallow, he took a swig of black, no cream, no sugar coffee to wash it down. He wiped an arm across his mouth and continued, not even looking up to see Cranky's gaping mouth.

Cranky turned to Cammy. "Is this true?" he asked.

"We had a nice chat back at the house," she explained. "I told you already, didn't I?"

"Well how long of a chat was this?"

Cammy shrugged. "A good couple of minutes. It was good. He's a nice kid, Cranky."

"I can't believe you call him Cranky too!" Kenny chuckled. "He hated it when we were kids."

"Oh, if I had a penny for every time I wanted to wring your neck for calling me that …"

"He introduced me to his buddies," Kenny explained. "They all called him … what was it … Craig. Yeah, that's his real name. Either that, or Crankurt. But they always said it so quickly so I thought they were calling him Cranky. The first time I called him that in front of his friends, he took me aside and threatened me to never do it again. But later I did it to piss him off and then after awhile it just sorta stuck."

"I knew I should've thrown you into the nearest dumpster," Cranky mumbled, earning him a light slap from Cammy.

"So that's the history behind his nickname," Cammy laughed. "Very interesting!"

"Oh, and you know what grosses him out the most? When you do this." Kenny opened his mouth and displayed the underside of his tongue, letting a small jet of saliva spray out and land on the table in front of him. Cammy looked at Cranky to see his reaction, but he was hiding his eyes behind a hand.

"That is disgusting!" he said. "Stop it. Kenny, I said stop it NOW!"

The youth did as he was told and wiped the table with his napkin. "So yeah. Just so you know."

"I think that'll come in handy one day," Cammy chuckled and looked to Cranky. But he wasn't as amused as she was with Kenny's trick. "Oh come on, he was just having fun." She leaned her head on his shoulder.

Cranky ordered an omelet set that came with bacon, scrambled eggs, and a side of toast and jam. Cammy kept to a single pancake, not wanting to overeat so she would have time to train later in the morning before the tournaments commenced in the afternoon. But Kenny had practically emptied the kitchen. The pile of greasy hash brown, three sunnyside up eggs, four pancakes swimming in syrup, French toast, bacon and ham looked like it could feed all three of them nicely in one sitting. But he had devoured it all while Cammy was just finishing up the last bite of her pancake.

"So," Kenny said, between mouthfuls of bacon and toast, "are you guys like, planning to get married or something?"

Cranky looked away, embarrassed, putting Cammy in the awkward position of answering the question. "Well, to be honest, we haven't really thought that far ahead," she said nervously. "Your brother and I … we've just, uh, been seeing each other, that's all. We're taking things slowly, y'know?"

"Well hurry and get your act together and make me an uncle!" Kenny cried excitedly. "That would be so cool. I can hear it now …'Uncle Kenny' …"

"Ease up," Cranky said, "I don't even think we've got the financial means to support a child. Though I think making one would be pretty fun." He gave her a wink. "But definitely in the future."

"Yeah, and this time, treat her good so she doesn't lose the baby …" and then Kenny clamped his mouth shut, nearly biting off his own tongue in the process. He broke eye contact with Cranky, staring at his plate of food instead. But it was too late. A deathly silence fell upon the table. A fork clattered violently with the ceramic plate. When Kenny dared to sneak a look at Cammy, her eyes were wide with fear. He could practically see her heart thumping its way out of her chest.

"I'm sorry," Cranky said, making a visible effort to contain his shock. "What did you just say, Kenny?"

"W…what does it matter what I say nowadays!" he laughed nervously. "Gosh, you know me and my crazy imagination. Oh, I drank too much coffee - I gotta pee …"

"Sit down," Cranky ordered, seizing him by the collar, nearly throwing Kenny back into his seat. "What's going on here? Are you not telling me something?"

"Cranky stop it," Cammy muttered. "It's not his fault. It's mine …"

"What's your goddamned fault!" Cranky said, raising his voice above conversational level.

"You were … you were going to be a father," Cammy practically whispered, "a few months ago. But I didn't know … I had no idea until I went on a mission. They kidnapped me and ... when Julian …"

"Cammy, I'm so … I'm so, so sorry …" Kenny apologized, but there was nothing he could do to save either of them from Cranky's wrath.

He shot Kenny a glare. "You were in on this?" He looked back at Cammy. "You were BOTH in on this together! Cammy, why didn't you say anything?"

"I … I didn't want you to get …"

"Well I AM fucking pissed!" he screamed. "Not only did you choose to keep this secret from me, one that I had every fucking right in the world to know! But you exploited my kid brother into keeping it! Who … who the hell does that kind of bullshit?"

"I was the one who agreed not to tell you, Crank!" Kenny insisted. "Not her!"

"You stay out of this!" Cranky jabbed a finger into Kenny's chest.

He was breathing heavily now. His green eyes glanced around the restaurant, looking for something to hit, something to break. The other patrons were now staring at him, wondering what was going on at the table.

"Nani ga miteru ka!" he screamed at them, startling the other customers, who quickly went back to their meals.

"Cranky, please calm down," Cammy begged.

"Yeah, don't get mad, we're sorry, okay?" Kenny added. "We won't do it again, I swear."

"This is the thanks I get from you, Kenny?" Cranky asked. "I take care of you your whole goddamned childhood and this is how you repay me?"

"No, I …"

"And you!" his intense glare burned a hole right through Cammy, who was too ashamed of what she'd done, too afraid to look into his eyes. Cranky searched for a word he could use to verbalize the intense anger, the madness, the hatred he held towards Cammy at that moment. But no word existed. He breathed heavily from his nose, wagged a finger in the air once at her, and stormed out of the restaurant, into the busy Osaka streets.