"Come on, Kiki," a voice from her bedroom doorway called out to her. It was her friend and roommate, Forrest. He popped his head through the crack in the door and messed with his dyed green hair, "It's just one little break." With a frown, he observed Kiki's slumped figure at her desk chair, the disarray of textbooks and essays in front of her, and the empty soda bottles littering the floor. A glimpse of worry shone in his green eyes, "You really look like you need one."
Craning her head up, Kiki stared in Forrest's general direction. In a tired monotone voice, she remarked, "This has to get done tonight. I can't-"
Forrest opened the door a tad wider and let himself inside the room. "There's no way you're gonna get one hundred percent on this lab report if you're this exhausted. You're better off just getting some rest, giving it your all tomorrow, and getting an eighty percent at most." Offering a hand and showing her a soft grin, Forrest said, "Now, let's get you into the living room. Kai's been hyping up this tournament for god knows how long. Might as well see what all the fuss is about, right?"
With a shrug and defeated sigh, Kiki took Forrest's hand. He guided her out of her bedroom and onto the couch in front of the television. Kai was already there at the edge of his seat. His blue-grey eyes were glued to the screen; a notebook laid open on his lap with a third of a page already filled with notes. He tapped the eraser end of his pencil in a rapid rhythm. Kiki sat down next to Kai, huddling her knees up close to her face, and Forrest plopped himself down onto the spot next to her.
"You guys are in for a treat!" Kai said with his gaze still on the television. "They're finally broadcasting KOF to the general public, so now everyone can see the best of the best martial artists in action."
Forrest leaned back in his seat, "Now that you mention it if this is the first time they're doing a public broadcast, how did you watch it last year?"
Kai waved his hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it. Anyway-" Finally breaking his gaze away, Kai grinned at Kiki, "-just trust me on this one. Once you see a match, you'll understand." The only response she gave was a small nod.
After a couple of minutes of commercials, the television showed the Satella News Network logo and transitioned to a live broadcast from the KOF Stadium. The reporter on the screen announced, "Here we are, at the KOF Stadium where this year's King of Fighters tournament will commence! I hope all of you at home are excited as we are!"
Kai bounced in his seat as Forrest chuckled to himself, "Jeez, man. No one's throwing punches yet and you're already this fired up?"
"I've been looking forward to this all year! How can I not be?"
The boys continued their back-and-forth, the broadcast droned on, and Kiki wasn't absorbing any of it. Her attention remained unfocused until the first round of the tournament. Two reporters commented on the current bout: a match between a young man in a Japanese school uniform and another young man with red hair.
"-to think he hasn't even graduated high school yet!" One reporter remarked.
"I wouldn't say that to his face if I were you, Jane," the other reporter joked, "You might get burned!"
Kiki perked up and blinked her vision into focus. The schoolboy threw a punch at the red-haired man, and was his fist on fire just now? He threw another punch, and yup, that was definitely fire Kiki saw. He finished off with a roundhouse kick, sending the red-haired man flying across the stage. Kiki's eyes widened as she instinctively leaned forward.
"Told you so." Kai's comment snapped Kiki out of her trance. He continued, "So, who's got your attention?"
"Uh," her mouth hung open as she kept watching the fight. "The schoolboy. Yeah. Him. Who is he?"
Kai smirked as he flipped his notebook open to an earlier page, "Well, my dear Kiki," he handed her the notebook and pointed at its header, "that is Kyo Kusanagi. Twenty years old, still attends high school, and wields the legendary Kusanagi flames."
Kiki took the notebook and skimmed over Kai's neatly written notes. Small sketches of Kyo filled two pages, each of them with short captions and numbers Kiki did not quite understand. On top of that, there also seemed to be notes about his height, weight, birthday, favorite food…? "… Did you have to be this thorough?"
Forrest looked over Kiki's shoulder and studied the notes, "Man, he won the past two years? He must be pretty strong."
"Yes, very," Kai replied. Looking up from the notebook, Kiki noticed Kai had pulled out another one and took notes while she was not paying attention.
"From what I can tell, his team has a ninety-two percent chance of winning this year too."
Handing the lent notebook back to Kai, Kiki sat up straight, "All that and the guy doesn't even have a high school diploma, huh?"
"Something going on in that head of yours?" asked Kai. Kiki silently shook her head and turned her attention back to the television.
The match continued: Kyo and his opponent exchanged blows; the two of them showed no signs of backing down. The red-haired man lunged forward and attempted to grab Kyo, but he sidestepped just in time. As a counterattack, Kyo let out a fiery punch, knocking his opponent away. He then raised his hand up in the air; a red-orange aura surrounded him. As his opponent got back up on his feet, Kyo unleashed a large blast of flame, bringing his opponent down for the count.
"And there we have it, folks!" One of the reporters announced. "Team Japan wins the first round!"
The camera pointed at Kyo: he ignited a flame at his fingertip, blew it out, and winked. "Got burned?"
Forrest scoffed, "Cocky bastard. Just because he was the champ for the past two years doesn't mean he's gotta act all high and mighty. Right, Kiki?" He glanced at her and noticed she didn't turn to acknowledge him "Kiki?"
She sat still with her eyes wide and a small smile brightening up her visage, "So cool…"
With a snort, Forrest ruffled Kiki's hair, "Glad you're enjoying yourself."
That seemed so long ago. Kiki thought.
"Kiki?"
Snapped out of her daydreaming, she spun around and looked in the direction of the voice that called out to her.
Iori stood at the doorway of the bedroom, staring at her with his usual piercing glare, "You were already up?"
"Uh, y-yeah," Combing through her bed head with her fingers, Kiki mumbled, "Sorry, Mr. Yagami. Was just thinking about stuff. I didn't realize what time it was. What is the time, anyway?"
"Around nine," Iori declared and began to walk away. "I made fish and rice for breakfast. I already ate, so the rest is for you."
With a bow, Kiki said, "Thanks, Mr. Yagami." She got out of bed and headed to the coffee table in the living room where her breakfast was already set. As she ate, she could hear Iori washing his dishes in the kitchen. The pair did their activities in silence. Kiki stared out the glass balcony door as she munched on bits of fried fish and rice. Her mind started to wander back to the memory she reminisced about earlier, but before she could dwell on it for too long, Iori joined her at the table.
"You seem off today," he observed.
"S-Sorry," Kiki squeaked as she popped a bite of rice into her mouth. "I was just thinking about stuff this morning."
"So you've said."
"I just…" her words trailed off as she tried to formulate her next sentence. "I just wanted to say 'thanks'." A warm smile spread across her face as she faced Iori head-on, "I really appreciate everything you've done for me the past couple of months, Mr. Yagami."
He cocked an eyebrow at her, "Is this related to what you were thinking about earlier?"
With a nod, Kiki answered, "Yeah, in a way. KOF really changed my life, and the possibility of me participating in it is possible because you took me in."
"More like because you forced yourself into my life," grumbled Iori. "Did you already forget Kyo was the actual reason you came here in the first place?"
Kiki rubbed the back of her neck and laughed, "No, of course not! I'm grateful to Kyo too, but you're the one who's been training me."
"Again, because you forced my hand." Iori rested his chin on his palm as he leaned on the table, "You have nothing to thank me for."
"Okay, okay," Kiki waved her hand dismissively, "even if that's all true, you didn't kick me out of your life. That's gotta count for something." Iori sighed and stayed silent. "See?" A devilish smirk spread across Kiki's face, "So, with that, thanks for letting me stay, Iorin~"
He reached out a hand and pinched her cheek, "I told you to not call me that."
"Respect your elders!" Kiki cried.
"Respect your teacher," Iori quipped.
Kiki let out a short laugh and grinned, "Mr. Yagami?"
"What now?"
"Just wanted to say 'thanks' again," her voice and expression softened. "I haven't felt this happy in a long time. So, thanks. It's been fun."
"Hmph," Standing up from the coffee table, Iori patted Kiki's head and walked to the front door. "Time for band practice. Want me to pick up something for lunch?"
"Yes, please!"
With a wave, Iori exited the apartment, leaving Kiki to the rest of her breakfast alone. Once again, she looked out the balcony door at the bright blue horizon. For the first time in a long time, Kiki felt at home.
