Well!

This one has been... I dunno. I've got nothing. Apologies for anyone who was actually waiting on this (ha!); I hope it isn't weak sauce. Also, massive, massive, super special thanks to woruto and jojoDO for their help on this (and their patience).

Onward~!

To say that King's morning was miserable was an understatement. She had woken up very early with a massive headache that must have been the worst she had ever had in her life before being overcome by intense nausea. She sprinted to the bathroom down the hall, one hand over her mouth, and promptly threw up the liquor she had consumed the night before. To further add to her woe, using her toothbrush was incredibly difficult, and showering was somehow akin to rock climbing with no upper body strength. However, she had — sluggishly — accomplished those things and more, as she had somehow mustered the energy to help Jean get ready for school while managing to avoid an argument with her aunt and uncle, who were both very displeased with her for her actions the night before. Although the bartender had trouble recalling everything she had said and done, a declaration to "make things right" with Yuri Sakazaki echoed in the back of her mind. And so, despite the severity of her hangover, King hopped into her car and drove downtown, intending to find Yuri and talk to her. She would explain the nature of her involvement (or lack thereof?) in Mr. Big's plot and hope that she could at least come out of it with a clearer conscience.

That was the plan, anyway — until King arrived at the gym. Although she wasn't a generally anxious person, a feeling of worry began to set in, as everything could go horribly wrong. Regardless, it was time to try to put this behind her once and for all.

The Frenchwoman quickly walked past the front desk and toward the rear of the building where step aerobics had just ended not even a full ten minutes before. She scanned the group of students still hanging out in the area, but Yuri was nowhere to be found.

Where on earth was she? Hopefully she hadn't called out sick or something…

Frowning, King placed a hand on her hip as she looked around the expansive space… and caught sight of a long, chestnut braid on the upper floor, approaching the boxing area. Eyes wide and heart pounding, the bartender jogged upstairs and immediately spotted Yuri, whose back was turned to her, climbing into one of the small sparring rings. She sat down and didn't move, her breathing extremely calm for someone who had just finished teaching a workout class that involved lots of cardio. King, meanwhile, pressed her lips in a thin line and entered the ring, all the while thinking of what her father would have done in such a situation. She knew he would have been cool and calm, but also assertive… and honest. (She also knew he wouldn't have been stupid enough to join the mob in the first place, but that was a different matter entirely…) With that in mind, she took a deep, steadying breath and moved forward.

"Excusez-moi… Yuri Sakazaki?"

The younger woman jumped, obviously spooked, and abruptly turned around. Her expression, which reflected her surprise, instantly changed to something unreadable as she stood up. It was plain to see by her body language that she was already on the defensive.

"I didn't mean to startle you," King began, "but… we met in the bathroom yesterday and I wanted to introduce myself properly. I'm —"

The bartender abruptly cut herself off, as she hadn't thought about a key detail of this interaction: her name. She had only been "King" to the guys in the Syndicate and on the streets; now that she had put all of that behind her she had no reason to even go by what Mary jokingly called her "cool street name" anymore. She cleared her throat and squared her shoulders.

"My name is Cé —"
"I know who you are," Yuri curtly interrupted. "You're that weird bouncer from L'Amour. King. Right?"
"Well… yes," King answered, a little caught off guard by hearing the girl say the retired alias out loud.
"I dunno why you seem so surprised that I know that. It's not like there are hella blondes with pointy noses and dark blue eyes walking around the city. Or maybe there are and I just haven't noticed, I dunno. But, either way, it's kinda hard to forget the faces of the jerks who kidnapped me."

At that, King winced, a little unsure of what to say. However, Yuri went on before she could even open her mouth.

"Not to mention my brother and Robbie told me how you were actually a woman, which I guess is why I thought you were so weird when I first saw you — because you weren't like those other manly men."

Yuri had deepened her voice at "manly men," which made King crack a tiny smile.

"I dunno what you're smiling for," the younger woman snapped. "You may not have been like them — I mean, obviously — but you're still just as bad!"
"That's what… I wanted — needed — to speak with you about," King cautiously replied.
"What on earth do you need to talk to me about?! In fact, how did you even know where to find me in the first place? Because that's kinda creepy."
"It's… we're at a gym," the bartender pointed out with a quirked brow. "I guess it's just a cosmic coincidence that we're at the same gym — I don't know! But what I do know is that we're here now, and I have an opportunity to —"
"To what? And why should I listen to you in the first place?! You held me hostage!"
"But that's not — no! I didn't even know about —"
"Save it, lady because I don't wanna hear it! Now get away from me before I —"
"Before you what? What are you going to do to me? What do you think you can do to me?" King blurted, suddenly on the defensive herself, as she didn't take kindly to threats. At that, Yuri's demeanor changed from one of indignance to one of uncertainty.

"I-I'm not afraid of you," she stammered.
"Good. I don't want or expect you to be," King responded as her temper evened itself out. "Now, I get that I'm one of the last people you want to talk to but I really would appreciate it if you would hear me out."
"Why?"
"Because, quite frankly, I'd like to clear my conscience."
"Clear your conscience, huh?"
"Yes."
"And why should I care?" Yuri crossed her arms over her chest with an indignant look.
"Because I never wanted to be involved with what happened to you. When I found out — I wanted to help you, and I did — as much as I could," King started. "But —"
"How was not doing anything and then letting them take me somewhere else helping me? Unless —" Yuri's eyes widened slightly — "you mean those guys you beat up…?"

King nodded; she was glad the younger woman hadn't forgotten about what she did to those disgusting goons.

"They wanted… they were going to 'hurt' you," she sighed. "There was no way I was going to let that happen."

Yuri's features softened for a fraction of a second before she set her jaw and narrowed her eyes at King.

"Fine. Thanks for that."
"...you're welcome."

The two fell into an intensely uncomfortable silence then. Unsure of what to do with her hands, King buried them deep in her pockets and looked down at the floor while Yuri studied her.

"I don't know what you expect me to say," the younger woman finally told her. "You're here wanting to clear your conscience or something, but I really couldn't care less about anything you have to say."
"I'm not asking you to care. I'm just asking you to listen. That's all."
"I have better things to do than listen to some crossdressing jerk."
"That's not fair," King quietly stated, her heart pounding.
"You know what's not fair?!" Yuri suddenly exclaimed, her unease turning to anger. "Being grabbed and shoved into a car by creepy strangers when you're on your way home from class! Being tied up and gagged and carted around like some kinda thing while those same creepy strangers laugh about how cute you are, and about how, if your family screws up, you'll die! Like, really die! That's not fair!"
"You know what else isn't fair?!" King shot back. "Working a job that goes against everything you believe in as a means to an end, then being forced to have a hand in kidnapping some kid on top of every other horrible thing you had to do! We're both victims in this!"
"Are you serious?! You're not a victim of crap!"

King pressed her lips in a thin line. She was absolutely a victim! She was a victim of circumstance! (And her own damn stupidity…)

…Right?

"Also? I'm not a kid," Yuri went on. "I may look twelve or whatever but I'm an adult, darn it, not some piece of cargo, or a bargaining chip, or whatever else you people thought I was!"
"That's why I —"
"That's why you what?!"
"That's why I quit! Your abduction was the final straw for me; I had already done enough terrible things for Big, but the situation with you just — something snapped! And I understand that you —"
"You understand?! You understand?! Go get kidnapped by the mob because of something someone else did — then talk to me about 'understanding,' or whatever other hollow words you wanna use to try to convince me that you're not a huge prick!"
"Look, you're right — I am a huge prick! But please just know that I'm truly sorr —"
"Sorry?!" Yuri cut across King. "'Sorry' isn't going to take it all back, and 'sorry' isn't gonna get me to forgive and forget about it! So do us both a favour and just stay away from me!"

With that, the younger woman exited the ring and stomped toward the locker room, leaving King wide-eyed and dismayed. She supposed the interaction went better than expected, but it was still pretty bad. The bartender waited until Yuri was completely out of sight before she climbed out of the ring. For a fraction of a second she thought about following her to the locker room to continue their conversation but decided against it, as it wouldn't do a damn bit of good. Instead, she slowly moved forward and stopped in front of a particularly beat-up punching bag. She narrowed her eyes at the object while thinking back to what just happened. Yuri was clearly traumatized by the entire ordeal, and while King could understand that… she couldn't understand that. She could pretend all she wanted, but unless the tables were turned, she would never be able to truly see things from Yuri's perspective… just like Yuri would never be able to see things from hers. King could run into that locker room and tell her every single detail about her ruse, being blackmailed by Jack, and trying to help Jean, but Yuri would never be able to empathize because, to her, King was among the worst of the worst, and that was never going to change.

…It was all pointless.

In one swift motion, King hit the bag with a powerful roundhouse kick that reopened a hole that someone had previously mended with tape. She stared blankly as sand slowly seeped out of the break before pressing her lips together and walking away, head down, defeated.

Pointless.

So... that went about as well as it could have...

Not too many notes here but...

* Excusez-moi = Excuse me
* About Yuri coming across as OOC (because I know someone out there is thinking that): Yes, Yuri is cute and bubbly and happy, but that's later. Not only has AOF2 not happened yet, but, also, what she went through was TRAUMATIC, and I think a lot of people (and this includes SNK's writers) just gloss over if not outright ignore that. This girl was abandoned by her father, left on her own with Ryo, and then abducted because of Takuma's actions. Even though Trash Dad™ is back in her life and teaching her how to fight, that need to learn Kyokugen is borne from... what? TRAUMA. So, no, she is not OOC here.
* Another note about Yuri is that she's aged up by one year in illyverse for several reasons.
* To that person who likes to come out and say that Yuri was never meant any harm (you know who you are): Yes, Jack says that the Syndicate doesn't hurt women and children (pfffftttt...!), but Mr. Big himself (you know, Jack's BOSS?) goes on to say later that Yuri is "almost done climbing the stairway to heaven," which is a euphemism for her death being imminent. (He says this in both the Japanese and English versions of AOF.) Also, it's the MOB. You really think they're gonna fuck around and leave her alive?
* If you're familiar with the rest of illyverse then you probably already caught this, but if not, there's some very subtle foreshadowing to MLS here and there...

Okay, I think I've covered everything here. I'm not gonna be all "Let me know what you think!" this time because we all know how that ends, and, also, I'm not telling you how to live your life. Anyway, I hope the long wait for this chapter was worth it to those of you who have been following along, and that you'll stick around for the not-so-epic finale!

Cheers~