Disclaimer: KOF is the property of SNKPlaymore and all that lovely stuff.


New Blood: Winds of Change

Chapter 3: Wind Storm


What in the hell was I thinking?

Anya found herself standing in the midst of a busy train station, leaning against one of the railings as she observed the stream of people that entered and exited the cars. Being around so much stimulation did little to change her current glum mood, however.

It turned out that her money when converted to yen was barely enough for two nights at the most dilapidated motel she could find. Unfortunately, the second night was yesterday, and while she wasn't sad to leave that loathsome building, it didn't change the fact that Anya was broke and (technically) homeless. And if that wasn't enough, her battery supply was running out, so she couldn't use her Walkman or her Game Boy to try and pass time.

I can't believe that I thought this was going to work. A frown formed on Anya's normally docile face. I'm not about to turn to panhandling, or even…. The very though made her nauseous. That was one area she wasn't going to venture into, even if it was with a particularly cute guy.

As she thought her situation, a man threw a few bills at her feet as he passed by. Anya frowned at him. Don't throw money at me like I'm some kind of street side performer, cretin. She usually wasn't this rude to people, but the trials of the day had whittled down her patience.

"Here's some money for whatever church you belong to." A young woman said and gave Anya some more money.

"I don't belong to a church!" She shouted it in English, so it was lost on most of the people there. Anya was tempted to throw it back at her, but she didn't want to cause a big scene.

I need to calm down. Anya took a few deep breaths, and in a few minutes she had settled back down. They're only being gracious, and isn't that exactly what we're supposed to expect from other people? Anya counted the money that she received. It was enough for a bite to eat and hopefully, some new batteries.

Stretching out the few kinks in her body, she started to gather her things. In a few minutes, she had stepped down from the train platform and into the slowly growing crowd of people on the street.


"Come on, keep still..." Xion Shinlon mumbled to himself as he attempted to neatly style his normally unkempt hair. He was in the midst of his own morning preparations for another long day at school, but trying to look presentable was always an issue for someone who doesn't care much about how he looked. When he finally got it to a point that was satisfying, he walked out of the bathroom into the main part of his one-room apartment and turned the girl that was his guest for the past few days.

"How much longer you're going to be? You still need to get your stuff together before we leave." Xion called from across the room.

"I'm just seeing if our latest deal went through. Nothing that's of your concern." The girl turned to him, white locks falling over her as she turned to face him. "I'll finish getting ready in a few minutes."

Xion grimaced. The 'deal' she spoke of usually involved questionable subjects and illegal substances, and that didn't sit well with him. "Don't use my computer to talk about that stuff. The last thing I need is government agents raiding through my house."

"Alright you big baby, I'm getting off right now." She huffed and turned off the computer. "I'm going to wash up right quick." She went to the bathroom. Her friend gave a light shrug and turned back around, but before he could go back to work, he heard the all too familiar sound of Zyon tapping on the balcony door.

"Xio-kun! Open up!" He mouthed through the glass. "It's freezing out here!"

"Then why didn't you just go inside the building like a normal person, dumbass…" Xion slid the door open and let his friend inside the house. "You're here rather early today. What's going on?"

"Eh, I figured you might need a little nourishment." Zyon dropped a box on the table that sat in front of the TV. "Here, I cooked you something to eat for both breakfast and lunch."

"Er…thanks. You didn't have to do that though, I could have easily just gone to the store and…"

"You really eat enough junk as it is. Just because the only cooking utensil you know how to use is a microwave doesn't mean you can eat out nearly all the time." Zyon flopped on the couch nearby, "I'm sure Makimi gets tired of giving you canceled orders for free every time you come into her restaurant without any money."

"I'd rather deal with that then trying to cook on my own." Xion shrugged, before he grabbed his food. "I'll eat it after I get to school, but for now, I need to finish getting ready." He placed it on the counter as Aira walked out of the bathroom.

"Good morning, Zyon." She greeted him in a polite manner. "How are you feeling today?"

"Aira, what's going on? I didn't expect you to see you here this early in the morning."

"The others are off on a little 'trip', so I'm staying with Xion while they're away." The girl started throwing the school books all over the couch.

"Really?" An evil grin appeared on Zyon's face. "Taking advantage of things, are we?. Xio-kun didn't go too rough on you, did he?"

She blinked once, and then gave him a questionable look. "What are you talking about?"

Zyon was about to go into detail before a large book smacked him in the face. "Ow…"

"Shut the hell up already!" Xion shouted. Zyon grinned as he rubbed his face.

Aira giggled as she passed him by. "Oh Xion, don't be such a stick in the mud. He was only making a joke." She rubbed Zyon's injured face a bit. "You okay, Zyon-kun?"

He gave her a small smile before he suddenly remembered why he came here in the first place. "Oh, that's right! Hey, Xio-kun, can you take me and Tera to our school on the ways to yours, Xio-kun?"

Xion gave him an indignant look.. "No way. At that, I don't really have time for today, since I have to stop Aira by the store so she won't have to starve herself till lunch."

"Aww….but Xio-kun's new car is so awesome …."

"…And it took about seventy-five percent of my cut of the cash we got, so I want to enjoy it a while before you, Raven and Krysten attempt to take it on a joyride when I'm not looking." "Anyway, your school's not that far from here, so stop complaining and walk."

"Fine. I'll trudge through the freezing cold to get to school." Zyon pretended to mope as opened the balcony door back up. "Will I see you at work this evening?"

"I'll see if I can make time for it. If Aira needs help with some homework, I'll probably be stuck here all night." He shrugged, ignoring the nasty look said girl was giving him.

"Good! I'll see you then. Stay out of trouble, Xio-kun." He said before he leapt off the balcony. Xion always had to make sure that his friend didn't kill himself, but every time he managed to get down safely.

"I'm ready to go whenever you are, Xion." Aira said as she finished getting ready. "Let's go already before the store get's too crowded. I want some coffee."


"Here you go, sir."

"Thanks." A dark-haired man took the cup of coffee from the smiling girl before leaving the store and walking back into the crowded streets of the city. It was boring, but so was being cooped up in a hotel room for hours on end. He got a trip to Japan out of this deal, might as well make the most of it.

Rier had given up a somewhat secure position in NESTS in order to set out on his own, but in hindsight, he had no choice. It was either get out while he could do it relatively safely, or stay and deal with whatever consequence that he got when everything eventually went to hell. He chose the former, gathered his belongings and left the first opportunity he could.

I've been here a week and I haven't found where that girl went to. He thought to himself. The airport records said she boarded a plane to Japan, but am I in the right city? Did she even leave, or is this some kind of trap she laid out just in case someone followed her? The mere thought of losing all of the money that he was being offered to capture this girl and bring her back sent a chill through his body.

Whatever the case, Rier needed to make some progress soon, because he had a feeling that the people he left would probably be out for blood, and he couldn't stay in one area too long. But he also knew that she was last seen around this particular part of Japan. However, it was so densely populated that even the smallest area he could look had thousands of people. It was infuriating.

"It shouldn't be this hard to find a blond girl in the middle of Japan." Rier groaned to himself as he stopped to lean against a wall away from the crowd, "If what I was told is accurate, then she'll eventually lose it and start slicing people up again, just like all the other times." Trying to assure himself that wasn't helping his anxiety one bit. He supposed this is what he got for trusting an organization that based their whole success on a bunch of poorly made clones…

Something came into his view that got his attention. It was a young girl, but the outfit she wore was strange, almost looked like she was some kind of holy woman on her way to the church. Her blond hair flowed freely out from the hood she wore.

Reaching into his back pocket, he took out the photo that his client had given him. It was a picture of the target walking away from a small shop in Europe, bags in hand and a large cookie in her mouth. Despite the fact that her hair was slightly shorter (the picture was 6 months old, after all), she was the exact same person.

Looking around, he could barely make her figure out as she disappeared into the crowd. There wasn't anything he could do at the moment without drawing attention to himself; the thought of that nearly made Rier punch the wall in frustration, but he quickly came to his senses. The fact that she was here, meant that he was getting closer to his main goal, and in the end, that was all he needed to motivate himself.


"Kasanari….Kasanari? ZYON! Wake up already!"

Zyon yawned a bit too loudly after the voice of his teacher woke him up. He raised his head just in time for an eraser to smack him right in the face. "Hey!"

"You need to stop dozing off in class, Kasanari. This is important." Azusa Takiga frowned at him. "Did you stay up late doing God only knows what again?"

"Maybe…but what could I do? When the boss decides to treat the staff to a late night Karaoke session, you can't refuse." He merely shrugged. "Besides, things were slow yesterday. I was cooking more food for the other workers than actual customers."

"Be that as it may, you need to use your time more wisely. Your irregular sleep patterns tend to make your work suffer. I need you awake so you can actually let this stuff sink in." This was an all too familiar routine; Zyon would come to class, take a couple of notes, and then promptly fall asleep.

"Alright. I'm sorry, sensei." Zyon finally relented. The extra time at school for detention didn't give him much of a break between that and work.

Takiga smiled in triumph. "That's okay, Kasanari-kun. Just focus a bit more on the lesson; this will be important to the test."

Zyon turned his attention to his notes as Takiga resumed her lesson. School wasn't something he particularly disliked, but it was hard sometimes to try and resist the urge to skip classes and have a bit of fun now and then. He had his responsibilities, however, and that took priority in his life, for the time being.

Shortly after that exchange, however, the bell rang, signaling the start of lunch period, and Zyon bolted from the class the first opportunity he got. Quickly making his way past the other students, he found his sister leaving another room.

"Zyonii, you don't need to be in such a hurry. I won't leave you behind." Tera quickly clutched her brother's arm as he approached her. "So how was class? Boring as usual?"

"Same old stuff, but I manage to keep awake long enough to get the gist of today's lesson." He said with false relief. "Hey, are you planning on going out with Shiori today?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure, I haven't heard from her all day. I think Shiori skipped classes again."

"She did, huh? And I'd just talked to her about that too…" Another voice replied. Zyon and Tera were joined by someone else, a young man with long and extremely pale blonde hair that went down to the middle of his back.

"Emil, Shiori is a bad influence on my sister, you know…." Zyon said.

Emil Diamant was the product of an affair of a wealthy German businessman and a Japanese woman. He was also the school's personal sex fantasy. It was well known that all of the girls in school wanted to date him; he was rich, foreign, and extremely attractive. Surprisingly enough, he and Zyon managed to have a good friendship despite their different lifestyles.

"I can't really do anything about that, you know that as well. All I can do is sit there and hope that she doesn't get caught by anyone. Dad's not going to be pleased when he eventually finds out."

"Feh, he spoils her too much. I doubt he'll do more than slap her on the wrist and tell her not to do that again." Zyon rolled his eyes. "The only time he got really upset is when he found about what happened with her and Xio-kun."

Emil cringed at the thought. "I rather not remember that particular incident…"

"Does your family still want his head on a platter?"

"Thankfully the tension has lessened a bit, but I still wouldn't let my older brother and Xion get close to each other or they'll probably come to blows." There was a slight pause as Emil placed a hand to his chin and muttered something in German Oh, now I remember that I needed to tell you something..."

Zyon stopped walking. "Yeah, what's it about?"

'I heard a certain someone was coming over here today to visit her old friends at the school. That is, someone very familiar to you, Herr Zyon."

The flame wielder gave his friend a confused look. Familiar? Who could that be? Zyon didn't have a lot of female friends; there was Takiga, his boss at work and a few others, but most of them weren't at this school. Older girls wanted no part of Zyon, and younger girls adored him, but that was mostly because he was cute. Zyon felt something stir inside him, and every potential answer he had in his head instantly whittled down to just one.

"Zyon! Is that you back there?" The familiar voice filled his ears, and his blood instantly ran cold. He slowly turned to see Athena Asamiya standing across the hallway, smiling broadly at him. Zyon didn't even have time to come up with a proper way to react before she was right in front of him. "I'm so glad to see you're okay!"

"Er…yeah. Good to see you too…" Zyon could sense all of the students that were staring at him right now. "Er, let's get somewhere a bit quieter, shall we?" She took her wrist and ran off.

"Zyonii! You didn't give me a chance to say hi!" Tera shouted as Athena and her brother went dashing down the hall.

"YOU CAN TALK TO HER LATER!"


Shiori Diamant hummed lightly to herself as she walked down the shopping district, gazing at the stores as she passed them by. It was a clear, sunny (if not a little cold) day today and she was spending the day out shopping. The fact that she was supposed to be at school right now didn't give her pause one bit.

"Ah, it's just a nice day outside." She said to herself, "This is a much better way to spend my time than being stuck at school, don't you think?"

"Uh, Shiori-sama?" A voice squeaked from behind her. Shiori looked behind her to see her assistants struggling to hold the many bags she accumulated during three hours of impulse shopping. "How much longer do we have to carry this stuff?

"Until I'm finished, duh." Shiori replied. "We still have a few more places to go to, and I have a few more hours to kill before it's time to go meet with Tera."

"Can we at least call your driver so we can give him some of this stuff to send back to the house?"

"If we do that, then my dad might find out I skipped school today." Shiori turned around to give her assistants a stern look. "And if I get caught, I won't hesitate to tell him how you helped me to do it, is that clear?"

Her assistants gulped nervously, not wanting to upset the girl that could possibly get them fired. "Yes, Shiori-sama." They all said simultaneously.

"…And as I keep telling you, you don't need to call me that. Just 'Shiori' would be fine." She gave them a long sigh. "Look, after I get out of this next store, we'll go get something to eat, okay? Just keep your head up."

Turning back around, Shiori noticed someone who was staring at a map with a look of confusion etched on her face. The first thing she noticed was the strange outfit she was wearing: a long, black robe like outfit that looked almost like a combination of a priest outfit and a military uniform. Judging by the long blond hair that ran down her back, she surely didn't come from this country.

Maybe she's some kind of American cosplayer, Shiori thought, Looks harmless enough. I wonder if she's having trouble getting around town.

Before Shiori could react, the girl was standing right in front of her, causing her to jump back a bit in surprise.

"Er…sorry about that." She gave a nervous smile. "Could you help me with something?" Her Japanese was shaky, but it was better than Shiori had expected.

"Sure, I'll see what I can do." She replied, deciding to stick with Japanese for the time being.

"Well, I'm a little lost. I'm looking for a shopping center or something like that. You see, I need some batteries." She held up a CD player. "My walkman is dead."

"I see. Well luckily for you, there's a mall just up ahead." Shiori gestured to the area behind her. "I presume that you must not be from here."

"Yes. I'm from Europe." The girl said, a bit more confidence in her voice. "But I'm staying here in Japan for a while. Are you visiting as well?"

"I live here, actually. But technically, I'm half-German, half-Japanese." Shiori said. "So where are you going? Some kind of convention? Or are you looking for a monastery?"

"Huh?" Anya realized that she was referring to her outfit. "Um, no. This is something from…uh…my old home. It's a little strange, but it's pretty comfortable."

"Oh. So are you in some kind of religious militia?"

"Milita? N-no! Nothing like…" The girl turned red with embarrassment. A giggle escaped from Shiori's mouth.

"Hey, I was only kidding. Actually, I think it's pretty neat…" Shiori continued.

"Uh…Thank you very much." She gave a hesitant bow.

"How rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Shiori Diamant." Shiori offered her hand in friendship.

"And my name is Anya Sorenstein." The girl in question returned the gesture. "But I really must be going now..." She gave her a smile. "It was nice meeting you."

"Ditto. Maybe we'll see each other again." Shiori gave her a wink as Anya turned to leave. "Aright, everybody, let's keep moving. The sooner I get done shopping, the sooner you guys will eat. Los!"


"So, what brings you here?"

Zyon opened the door that lead to the roof of his school and held it open as Athena followed him out. The roof was probably the only place that they could talk without having to deal with a massive throng of students begging for autographs and asking for dates.

"You didn't know that I was in town? I came here to see my old school. It only makes sense right?"

"For what? Most of the people that you went to school with are long gone." Zyon stated.

"…let me rephrase that. I came here to see YOU, silly." Athena corrected, "I never got to hear from you after the tournament ended. From what I heard from the others, you got beat up really badly, and I was very concerned."

"It's was nothing really serious. Just a couple of small cuts, some minor scrapes, second degree burns on various parts of my upper body. Basic stuff."

"Stop acting so casual about this!" The pop singer exclaimed, "How did you recover from all of that so soon!"

"I'm pretty sure you know why." Zyon pushed up his sleeve to his school jacket and presented his right arm to the psychic girl. All of the scars from his battle with Krizalid had all but disappeared. "Pretty neat huh? Thankfully they weren't too severe; it would have taken a long time for the scars to fade."

Athena nodded solemnly, cursing herself for forgetting about the extent of his powers. "I know that you heal a bit quicker than normal people, but you shouldn't throw yourself into such dangerous situations. How would your sister feel if you got seriously hurt?"

"Let me worry about Tera. I wouldn't put myself in such a position if it wasn't for her benefit." Zyon sat on the cold concrete, Athena folding her legs and positioning herself next to him. "Besides, I'm more interested about how you're doing. Are you still singing?"

"Of course!" Athena nodded enthusically.

" So…almost twenty years old and yet you're still doing the 'I'm a teen pop sensation' act?" He sighed. "Shouldn't you be about ready to grow out of that phase?

"It's not an act! Just because I'm getting older doesn't mean I need to stop making people happy with my music. Besides, things have been rather rough for the Psycho Soldiers since Kensou lost his powers…" Athena's expression turned slightly grim. "I need to sing because that's of the few things that helps to cheer me up."

"Please don't make such a unhappy expression," Zyon muttered. While it may not seem as such by the way Kensou and Athena casually talk to each other, her inability to help her best friend regain his powers. was eating at her constantly. "I'm sure things will turn out alright. Just focus on doing what makes you happy."

"Thanks Zyon. I'm happy to hear that. But speaking of music, Are you going to come to my show?" She asked, "I know you don't like going to concerts if the musicians don't destroy their instruments at the end of the show, but I would really like it if you came to see me sing." A light blush formed on her face, "Please Kasanari-kun?"

Zyon felt electricity run through his whole body at those words. All of a sudden, he wanted to do anything to make her smile at him. "Of course. I'll come to your concert." He smiled. Athena beamed and nearly brought him down with a massive hug. "Gah!"

"Thank you, thank you! You don't know how excited I am to hear this!" She let go of him and danced around the roof with sheer glee. Zyon smiled and laughed semi-nervously, keeping any impure thoughts from dancing in his head.

"Er…it's almost time for me to go back to class, Athena." He mimed looking at an invisible watch. "I would love to chat a bit more, but…"

"Oh, that's okay. I need to get going back home anyway before my mom gets worried." She gave him a wave, "Tell Tera I said hi. Take care Zyon-kun~" He only nodded as Athena formed a portal beneath her feet and sank into it like she was going down an elevator before it disappeared in front of him.

She's always good at roping me into these things. Zyon stared at the spot his friend disappeared in for quite a while, before going back inside the school, where Tera was waiting for him. "Athena says hi."

"So did anything interesting happen?" She said, and Zyon just shook his head.

"I'll tell you later. Let's grab lunch before classes start again." He took her hand and went down the stairs to the cafeteria, opting not to dwell on what just happened for the moment.

Later that evening, Xion was getting himself ready to go out for a few hours. He was in a good mood; school went by with little incident and he and Aira managed to their homework done quickly. Right now, Aira was in the midst of a session of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, which was a weird choice since she didn't know how to skate herself.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Xion said as he looked at her through the mirror.

"No, it's fine. I don't really feel like moving around today. Just don't forget to bring me something." She casually waved a hand, and ended up having her character crash into a wall. "Damn…what do I have to do to get this character to do a proper boardslide?"

Xion, taking note of her mood, took the controller from her hands. With the kind of skill one could only get from hours of playing, the younger teen pulled off a combinations of tricks that added up to half a million points. "There you go." Aira gave him a nasty look, but Xion brushed it off.

"So, when are the others supposed to be back?" He positioned himself so his head was right next to hers from his place behind the couch.

"Tomorrow. They got into a bit of a tizzy last night, so they're stuck in Hong Kong for another day."

"Why I not surprised…Those guys cause too much havoc." He shook his head. "Makes me glad that you didn't go along with them."

"It's only for this one time. If our group has to do a deal with another associate, I'm going to be right there with them." Aira finally looked over her shoulder. "You don't have a problem with that, do you, Xion?"

"As long as you don't bring any trouble my way, you can do as you please."

"But you do worry about me, right?"

"I worry about all of my friends. It's just that you and Zyon are the biggest pains in the ass to deal with." He mussed up her hair. Xion grabbed his jacket and put the hood over his face. "I'll be back shortly with some dinner for you. Don't do anything stupid, Aira."

"Duly noted," was all Xion heard before he closed the door.

The sun had already faded down into the horizon when Xion left. Instead of taking his new car, though, Xion chose to take his bike. It was an old habit from his days in Hong Kong, but it was different riding through the Japanese streets than it was in crowded, narrow slums. He didn't have to deal with a lot of people getting in the way or having to dodge angry drug dealers looking for him out of revenge. All he had to worry about nowadays was whether or not he should try to jump over the stairs and to making sure he didn't run over the tail of some poor girl's pet.

After getting into a clear path, Xion was starting to increase his speed and see how fast he could get to LO-RI, when something flew into his face. He was blinded, and lost control of the bike. Trying desperately to slow down, he managed to come to a quick stop, via the assistance of a parked car. Thankfully, the only damage that was inflicted was to that car, as Xion laid slump on the cracked back window for a bit.

"Erg….stupid thing…." Xion took the offending object off of his face. "What the hell is that?" He looked at the cloth in his hand. It was just a square, black piece of fabric. Did it belong to someone? If so, they were looking for it right now. In fact, he could practically hear the sounds of someone mumbling about losing it.

"Stupid thing. Knew I should have held it tighter to my head." A female voice said. "Oh crap! Sir? Sir, I'm so, so sorry!"

Xion looked up to see a young woman running toward him. She was wearing a strange looking outfit; was she some kind of priestess? It wouldn't be that strange; he already knew one at school. Actually, she just lived at a shrine but still…

"Are you alright?" The girl knelt down next to him, looking extremely guilty.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." He slowly got up and tested his body for any injuries. Everything seemed alright. "Was that thing yours?" Xion showed her the thing that had blinded him.

She gave a sigh and took the cloth from his hands. "Yes...yes it is. I think a car zoomed by and ended up blowing the thing right off my head." She placed it back over her blond hair. "I'm really sorry for that."

"Don't worry. It might not look it, but this isn't anywhere near the worst crash I've had." Xion bowed, then examined the girl, "You're not from around here, are you?"

"N-no…I'm from...Europe." The girl refused to give him eye contact for a bit. "But I'm staying here for a while."

"You speak pretty good Japanese for a foreign girl." He smirked. "You must have practiced it a lot."

"Yeah, I've been doing so for a while now. Listen, I need a bit of help." She changed the subject. "Do you think you can help me with something?"

"I'll see what I can do..." Xion got his bike up from the ground before a car could run over it. "So, what was it you needed?"

"Okay…I kinda need something to eat." She said with a bit more confidence. "Do know where there's some kind of fast food place around here?"

"If you came all the way here to stay for a bit, then you'll have to try some local food eventually. You weren't planning on eating nothing but fast food, were you?" The girl looked down. "I'll take that as a yes…"

Xion, feeling hesitant to just leave her all by her lonesome, took a second to think of his options. "I think can help you."

"Really? What is it?"The girl suddenly became ecstatic at his words; it was as if she hadn't had a good meal in months.

"Well, you will just have to see for yourself." Xion pushed forward his bike towards her. "Hop on. I'll take you there myself."

She looked at the bike wearily, "Isn't that kind of unsafe?"

"As long as you don't try to stand on the back of the seat like that one girl did, you'll be fine."

Xion waited for the girl to get on the bike before he started to pedal. It was a little harder to move with the extra weight, but it doesn't hurt to put forth a little effort once in a while.


"Xion-san! Welcome back to LO-RI!" A greeter said when Xion and the girl came inside the restaurant. "Oh! And it's a new girl! I certainly wasn't expecting anybody to come with you other than Aira today."

"It was…kinda unexpected. But she looked hungry and what could I do?" Xion removed his hood and looked around the active restaurant. "Where's Zyon at?"

"He's busy in the back fixing up a few orders for a customer. I'll let him know you're here."

"Thanks." He passed it to the girl. "Here, I'm sure you'll probably find something you'll like in there."

I certainly hope so. The girl took the menu and glanced over it. She was only okay at Kanji, and what she could pronounce didn't sound very appetizing. "Uh, what should I try?"

"Let's play it safe and let me order something for you." Xion put down the menu. He took a glance at the rest of the restaurant; LO-RI was always slow this time of the week, so he didn't worry that this girl would bring him too much unwanted attention. "So, miss, I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask you what your name is…"

"My name…well, it's Anya. Anya Sorenstein," said Anya.

"Anya, is it? My name is Xion Shinlon."

"Well, it's certainly a pleasure to meet you, Xion. I didn't think I would get to meet so many people here in such a short time." She smiled.

"So you already made some friends here?"

" I'm not so sure if you could call it 'friendship' quite yet, but her name was Shiori Diamant."

"What? You met Shiori?" Xion looked surprised, "And she didn't make fun of your outfit or insult you or anything like that?"

"Insult? She made a few comments on my wardrobe, but other than that she was very polite. Why, do you know her?"

Xion could feel the embarrassed blush rising on his face. "You could say that…." He shifted his eyes a bit, making sure no one was trying to listen in on their conversation. "It's complicated."

"Okay. I won't pry any further than that…" Anya said, and Xion inwardly sighed in relief.

"So, let's elaborate further on YOUR situation." He quickly changed the subject, "What are you doing in the middle of Japan? Is there a convention in town I don't know about…"

"No." Anya was getting quite irritated with people making that statement about her outfit. "You can think of me as a wanderer; That's all I've been doing for a while now. Travelling from one place town to the next, searching for something I cannot figure out myself."

Xion looked at her with a confused expression. "Whatever that is supposed to mean, it certainly sounds boring."

"I suppose you're right." Anya laughed lightly. "This city is certainly a change of pace from the quaint little towns I used to run around in. It's all so active and lively; and everyone is a lot more courteous then I thought they would be."

"I suppose I know how you feel." Xion wondered what kind of country she came from. She looked like she came from some kind of Middle Age Europe country. He was tempted to joke around and ask if she was looking for someone to fight some sort of ancient evil that has arisen in the present day, but that would do nothing but make her think he was an idiot.

"Yo, Xio-kun!" Two people burst out of the kitchen. One was Zyon, the other was a older woman with long brown hair that stretched down to the middle of her back. Upon the sight of Xion, her face shifted to a sly look.

"Xion-kun, what's going on? Are you here for leftovers again?" She said, "Because we still have a while before closing time so…"

"No. I'm with someone this time around." Xion stated, and both turned to Anya, who had gone back to the arduous task of deciphering the menu.

"Xio-kun's bagged him a foreign chick?" Zyon turned his attention to the lovely girl Xion brought with him, "Hi there, cutie. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

Anya was surprised that he spoke English so well. "It's Anya Sorenstein, sir."

"Ah-ah; no need to be so formal, dear girl. My name is Zyon Kasanari, and this here is Makimi Ayana, the owner of this dump." Zyon stated back in Japanese at the end to make sure she heard him. Makimi responded by putting him in a hammerlock, "O-ow! That hurts!"

"Please ignore my ignorant cook. Please tell me what you want so I can get him back in the kitchen." She said with a pleasant town."

"Give me the usual. As for Anya here, just give her something that she might be comfortable with. She can't really read the menu."

"Good, I think I know what would work." Makimi nodded and shoved her chef towards the kitchen, "You've got your orders. Start cooking."

"H-hey! I wanted to talk to Xio-kun! Let someone else cook!" Zyon struggled against her grip as she dragged him away from the table.

"No! Get your ass in that kitchen NOW! You spend enough time goofing off already!"' Zyon grumbled to himself as she pushed him through the kitchen doors.

"Still having issues with him, Maki?"

"Eh, it's nothing you don't see everyday." Makimi wiped her forehead in frustration, "I'll let him see you when he gets done." She walked into the kitchen.

"Uh, is that your friend, Xion-san?" Anya asked. Xion merely nodded in response. "He's pretty nice. I like him already." She smiled.

"Believe me, if you tell him that, he'll do everything in his power to make you regret it." He said.

"Huh? Why would you say that? You're both friends right?"

"It's his nature to make a pass on every girl he thinks is cute." XIon tried to clarify a bit., "He's doesn't have any malicious intent with it, but he can read emotion well, and if he sees that you have even the slightest interest in him, then he'll go in for the kill as quickly as possible."

They both managed to make some short talk before Zyon came back out with a tray full of hot food.

"Alright. I got you some steamed crabs for you Xio-kun, and for Anya, here's some beef and vegetables. I'm sure you'll like it."

"Wow! It looks delicious!" Anya said astonished, and quickly started eating the food.

Zyon grabbed a chair from an empty table and pulled up next to XIon. "Soooooo….where you find her?"

"Figures that is the first thing you ask me." Xion rolled his eyes."It's a long story. She looked a bit lost, so I decided to help her out."

"By treating her to dinner? You certainly have your ways of 'helping'. I know you're into blond girls, but…"

"Bite me. It's nothing like that."

"You're not very subtle when it comes to lying, Xio-kun." Zyon said, "You think she's cute and you're trying to impress her. You're not really fooling anyone."

Xion gave him a look as he continued eating the plate of steamed crabs. To be quite honest, his friend was right in a way, but he wanted to get to know the poor girl first. He wasn't like Zyon, always trying to go in for the kill as soon as possible. That type of thinking was probably why he never had one steady girlfriend since they've known each other.

"It's just nice to try and give someone a good first impression, you know." He finally replied, "You may not realize it, but neither of us are exactly the most popular people in our respective schools."

"Actually, to be more accurate, YOU aren't popular." Zyon pointed at himself, "ME, I'm very well liked at school."

"By underclassmen and young girls, maybe, but almost everybody else can't stand you. Why do you think that the only person at school in the same grade level who hangs out with you is Emil?"

Zyon frowned. "Fine, fine, you win. Next subject." He snatched a crab out of Xion's plate and broke it open. "Have you told her about the tournament yet?"

"You know I can't do that!" Xion hissed, "You remember what Raven said: if we went around talking about what we did, we'll have government agents and Interpol on our asses in a matter of days. Do you really want social services to hear about you leaving your sister alone while you got involved with a criminal cartel?"

Zyon shuddered at the image of custody agents taking his sister away from him. "I see what you mean. I haven't told anyone but Tera. I would tell Emil, but I doubt he'll even believe me even without some of the shadier elements of it. It's been a few months now, we should keep things quiet while we're not considered targets by whoever this NESTS thing is."

"Yeah…" Xion suddenly turned back to Anya, who was polishing off the last of her food, "She hasn't even noticed us. She really must be hungry."

"No kidding." He stood up, "Anya, would you like me to get some more food for you? It'll be on me."

Anya blinked before nodded wildly, "Please! Go right ahead!" She practically shoved the empty plate at him.

After Anya finished her second plate, Xion suddenly had a thought.

"Where are you supposed to be staying tonight?" He asked Anya, who was busy watching Makimi restrain Zyon as he dealt with a drunken customer who complained about his food.

"Um…well…?" She blinked. "Oh, you know. Just one of those places with the white bed sheets and the bowl of mints they refill every time you leave….that kind of hotel." She smiled nervously at him, but while Xion wasn't as good at reading people's emotion as Zyon was, he could still tell something was up.

"…You don't have any money for a room, do you?" Xion stated plainly, and the girl hung her head in shame.

"No. I'm completely broke, so I don't have any money to get a place." She admitted, "I'm not sure what to do, but I'll figure it out on my own."

Anya gave the young man across from her a sad smile, and Xion could instantly feel a part of him melt on the inside. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he had a soft spot for pretty girls in distress. Xion didn't know if it was a good idea, but he had a plan.

"You know what; I think I might be able to help you." Xion smiled, "Just give me a minute." He got up out of his seat and headed to the back.

Anya stared at the empty spot for a few seconds before scratching her head. What was Xion going to do? She knew enough about society to understand that stuff like this usually didn't end well, but she felt like the boy was different. Besides, if he did try anything, she'll simply tear his throat out. She certainly hoped that wouldn't the case, because she definitely didn't feel like having to run away from anymore people right now, especially if they were cops.

She pondered the situations for a few more moments before Xion went back in with a somewhat satisfied look on his face.

"I've got good news for you and I got bad news for you." Xion started as soon as he sat down. "The good news is that I just talked to a certain female friend of mine, and she's offered to pay for a hotel room for you."

Anya resisted the urge to scream for joy. "That's great!"

"….the bad news is that she can only give it to you for about three days."

Her face was tinged with disappointment, but Anya knew it was obviously going to be a short term thing. Her major concern was just getting some sleep at a place that didn't have funny smelling bedsheets.

"Oi, Xio-kun. You're leaving already?" Zyon called as he rushed out of the kitchen when he saw the two guest head for the door.

"Yeah, I'm taking her to a hotel right quick before heading back home."

Zyon had to hold a hand to his face to hide the smirk that was forming. "Really? I didn't think you were the type to move that fast with women, but then again…." He said as casually as he could muster.

"Shut up, Zyon…It's not that kind of hotel!" Xion hissed.

"Oh. Well, never mind then." He let out a short laugh. "Okay, Xio-kun, go take her home and get some rest. I'll talk to you later. Stay out of trouble."


"That certainly didn't take long." Anya said as she entered the modest hotel room. Xion had checked her in right after riding around for a bit so she could get what little stuff she brought with her. She was astonished at the change of quality over the one she had been in the night before; It looked like someone actually cleaned the rooms, but it was also quite spacious as well. For the next three or so days, she would be living in relative comfort.

"As long as you don't trash this place, then everything should be paid for by my friend, so feel free to annoy the staff with orders for room service if you wish." Xion explained.

Anya turned to the young man that was her unexpected hero today. "I don't know how grateful I am for this, Xion-san."

"You don't have to call me Xion-san, Anya." He stated, "It makes me sound older than I actually am."

She giggled a bit. "Sorry. My Japanese is still a bit rusty. But still, thank you very much."

"Listen, after three days pass and you still don't have a place to stay, I'll try to work something out. But for now, I need to get home before my houseguest starts using my computer to download music again." Xion turned to leave.

"Xion?" Anya said "This means a lot to me. Please allow me to repay you someday…" Anya bowed deeply.

"No need for any of that. I'm just doing what anyone would do…." Xion paused. "…if he had the benefit of having a rich ex-girlfriend."

The foreign girl blinked in shock, "Ex-girlfriend? You mean?"

"Like I said, it's complicated." Xion beamed at her before turning back around. "Take care. Maybe I'll see you again sometime." He gave a lazy wave before closing the door.

Anya watched as he closed the door. "If the fates allow us, then you will most certainly will."

Looking around, she contemplated what she wanted to do first. Part of her wanted to call up room service and give them most obscenely complicated order she could think of, but then she saw the expansive bathtub, and immediately wanted to take advantage of it. Dropping her bag on the bed, she immediately headed toward the bathroom.

And right outside, Xion was already speeding down the path to his apartment, trying to get back home before Aira's food got cold.


Shikkoku: Alright, that's finally done. Sorry, it was another case of me constantly finding myself unsatisfied with stuff in this chapter. I need to work on not letting myself take this story too seriously.

Notes:

-Lots of OCs in the last two chapters, but out of all of them, only Rier, Shiori, Anya (of course) and Luka will have much presence in this act.

-Speaking of Rier, he's probably not going to have as expansive a personality as the others, as his sole role is 'guy who helps develops things for the other characters'. You won't be seeing him after this story ends.

-I want to give Haru and Vio (and Anya) of course some good characterization, but it would be odd for a side story to be longer than Act 1. It looks like there will be 4-5 more chapters after this one.

Next Chapter: When NESTS agents out for their own mission inadvertently get mixed up with Rier and his group of defectors, things can only go downhill from here.

Until Next Time, Sayonara.