At the time I wrote this, I still have no fucking idea what's going on with Yuri in terms of who she's teaming with in KoF XV – so let's just pretend she, Mai and Blue Mary are teaming in this snippet, because that was my guess as to what the Women's team was probably gonna be, in the time between the silhouette teaser for Mary and when her trailer premiered.

For all I know, the real 3rd member is Alice again. Or we're being swerved big-time on the whole thing and there isn't a Women's team at ALL.

(NOTE: All this was written before the announcement of KOF XV being delayed to Q1 2022, so at this point Blue Mary would still be the most recent character showcased - and from that trailer's release, we'd be two weeks off from possibly getting closure)


The King of Fighters tournament was blazing with fighting spirit, as it usually did with every installment, and the second round had just freshly met its halfway point with Team Ikari vs. Team Women Fighters finished and in the books.

With the fight over and done with, it was straight to downtime in the back.

With the more-grizzled bunch of both teams out of the way, the shared 'locker room' situation boiled down to Yuri and Leona, seated on the same bench; both sweaty, a bit thirsty, and maybe also a little disoriented from the blows to the head they both must've taken at least once.

The karate girl had been eyeing the soldier before, during and after facing off with her – and she had a couple particular things to say.

"Uh... Leona...?" Yuri's legs crossed awkwardly as she earned the fellow fighter's attention.
"Some time later, you gotta tell me how you do it."

"I don't know why you need me to tell you," Leona responded, softly. "Your skill lacks firmness, simply put."

"N-not that; I'm talking about your... your... a-abs and stuff...!"

"My... abs?" Leona was suddenly ablush. She had realized only then just where Yuri's eyes glanced.

After a lingering silence, Yuri devolved into awkward chuckles. "Sorry; I-I'm still a growing girl – when I see someone better built than me, it just keeps reminding me of what I wanna be."

"...Is this a normal conversation for you?"
It was especially awkward if even the socially-offbeat Leona was uncomfortable...

"Well, s-sometimes..." Yuri's legs uncrossed. "When we start talking about body stuff, with my team, I always wind up thinking 'What if?', you know?"

"You don't look any worse yourself, if that's what you're thinking – the body of an average fighter is still sturdy, at a minimum."

"Yeah, but... I'm sure my stomach wouldn't be able to cut meat..." One could tell Yuri was about to get lost in the six-pack again.

Leona still had her focus on where Yuri's sight lingered.
"Don't lose yourself in there..."

Yuri giggled. "Trying not to," she retorted. She was leaning deeply towards Leona's general direction, while not wanting gravity to forsake her.

Her nose gave in to the idea of sniffing against Leona's body – but her body responded in an almost opposite direction, reeling back slightly.
"Woof~ definitely looks better than it smells..."

"You wouldn't smell different," Leona responded. "We've both just been through a lot."

Yuri sighed. "True. ...Oh, what am I even thinking...?"

"With your nose and eyes, not with your brain," Leona retorted, very bluntly.

Yuri started to scamper over her own legs, trying to get off the bench. "I should go, take a shower or somethin' – I've got plenty of time to build my body like yours any—whooaa!"

Her shoes slipped too hard on the smooth, shiny surface of the seat (somehow) – and her body tumbled straight into Leona's with the surprising precision of a dart towards a target.

Both bodies ended up crashing across the bench, making a straight drop onto the floor aside...!

And then the door opened.
"Oh, there you are, Yurrrrrrr—?!"
"How's our karate kid do—what the shit?"

Mai and Blue Mary had met the end of their collective search for their headbanded third-wheel – and they saw the unconventionally compromising position before them almost immediately.

Yuri looked up, face beet-red and unable to hide the drool slowly pooling down onto the toned stomach of the 'Stoic Soldier' – and on the other end, Leona's perplexed stare grew iris-shrinkingly more awkward as she turned her head up to the other 2/3rds of the Women's team.

Yuri stammered, "I-it's not what it looks like..."
Followed by Leona noting, "I imagine this is mainly your problem."

"Or Robert's," Mai corrected, causing Yuri to spring into a state of fear. "How would you explain this to him?"

"You've been trying to hold back those kinds of urges for a while, haven't you?" Mary then asked, teasingly posturing towards Yuri. "Wouldn't blame you." She was among the many (alongside Leona) equipped with quite the 'pack', after all.

Mai gave her partner a little backhand love-tap on the abdominals. "You don't know what she's really thinking about..." Then she looked ahead again. "So... how's this been going?"

Yuri's stare slowly pierced a thousand yards ahead as she started sweating harder than she did out in the tournament fights moments before.

...

"...I have to shower."
She chose to retreat.