Hi!

I don't really have a whole to say other than I'm trying to take a more realistic approach to this because things wouldn't just be hunky dory and cool straight away. There would be some issues.

Anyway, updates on this one might be a little slow-going. Also, notes at the end, as usual.

Onward~


"Merde…!"

Cécile Levasseur, sometimes known as King, blurted the expletive out loud as she abruptly stopped walking, causing a very muscular man to bump into her from behind.

"What the hell?!" He uttered, clearly incredibly annoyed.
"Suh — sorry," Cécile stammered as she carefully stepped aside. The man briskly made his way past, shaking his head and muttering something about manners as he disappeared into the gym, but Cécile couldn't care less. The bartender and Nak Muay had been thrust into her own world the second she walked past the front desk and caught sight of the instructor of a small step aerobics class all the way on the other side of the expansive area.

Lips parted and eyes wide, Cécile wished she was staring because the young woman was cute and had curvy hips, but that wasn't it — not by a long shot.

No. She stared because she recognized that round face and long, chestnut braid.

Yuri Saka… something. Saki? Zaki? That was it: Yuri Sakazaki.

The catalyst for a series of majorly life-changing events.

It had been slightly over a year since the bartender had last seen the girl: bound and gagged, tears in her eyes and scared shitless as she was forcibly ushered out of the back exit of the L'Amour Restaurant and Bar. Cécile — King — had been highly distressed when she learned that her boss at the time, the infamous mobster Mr. Big, abducted Yuri to draw an old associate of his out of… wherever the hell he was. At least, that was how she understood it, as she was told next to nothing about the situation before being ordered to keep an eye on the girl for a little while.

King remembered when Yuri was initially brought into the restaurant, and how they had made the briefest of eye contact when she looked up from her book (it was a slow night). She still thought about it from time to time, probably because it managed to be one of the most chilling moments of her life. Before that meeting, she had always told herself that working for the Big Bad was "just" a job. Over and over again for months: it was just a job — a means to an end. All of it bothered her, of course: the violence, and the drug deals, and the weapons trafficking, and definitely the prostitution… But when Yuri — a teenager! — was brought in, tied up and afraid, something that was already splintered started to break a bit more. When a couple of Big's lower goons decided they wanted to have "fun" with the young girl, it completely broke, and the Nak Muay beat the ever-living shit out of those men, job responsibilities and "allegiances" be damned, as there was no way in hell she would sit by and let something like that happen.

Fuck that.

And fuck those guys for even thinking about it.

When it was all said and done, King had stood over the men, lips pressed in a thin line, seething, and entertained the idea of setting Yuri free. She had almost done it, too, but John showed up to take the captive to a more "secure" location… and that was that… until Yuri's brother and his friend showed up…

The bartender drew in a sharp breath as a massive stress headache hit her. That night — that one, terrible night — had changed the course of her entire life forever. And definitely, Yuri's, too, as she had to deal with the after-effects of being kidnapped by the mafia. Somehow, King felt that the younger woman had done much better than her after everything that happened, though. It was plain to see the girl was thriving, whereas King… not so much. While Yuri was evidently surrounded by a loving and supportive family who cared for her, King had to deal with the consequences of being an accessory to kidnapping and working for Mr. Big, period. Probation for her numerous crimes, a hateful family, losing her job, losing her apartment… These were all direct consequences of her own actions, so there was no one to blame but herself and nothing to do except take responsibility for her (very bad) choices.

But now what? Never in a million years did King think she would ever see Yuri Sakazaki again, and certainly not at the same gym she had joined almost the second her sentence was lifted. Yet, there she was, near a far corner, with a big, bright smile and energy to spare.

King swallowed hard. She owed that girl the apology of all apologies, but she didn't think running over and spilling her guts about a situation that was over and done with would be appropriate in the first place. And, even then… what could she possibly say anyway? "Hey, sorry my mobster boss kidnapped you and I stood by like an idiot when I could have freed you" wasn't so great, even if it was true.

Not to mention the fact that Yuri had only seen King while she was in her full disguise: slightly shorter hair, no makeup, chest taped down flat, and decked out in formal menswear. Would she even know who she was in the first place? King looked essentially the same, though her appearance veered a little more toward feminine instead of outright androgynous these days. And though she didn't make it a habit to wear makeup when she worked out, she still wore women's clothing and had an hourglass figure, which meant that there was a slight chance that maybe Yuri wouldn't recognize her, thus making any hypothetical conversations even more awkward:

"Hi, I'm the man who had to keep an eye on you at L'Amour when you were kidnapped that one time and I am truly sorry for what my boss did, and for my part in it. I don't work for him anymore, though; I've been working on getting my life back on track, and, also, I'm actually a woman."

That was no good, either.

King pressed her lips together as she watched Yuri lead her motley group of students in their exercises. She looked so happy and friendly — it was such a far cry from how she was when the bartender "met" her that it nearly gave her whiplash. She quickly decided that there was no way she could talk to the young woman; it would be horrible and probably ruin both of their days. She couldn't be seen, either, though, just in case she was recognizable (which, truth be told, she probably was since, even dressed down and femme, she had several very defining features). The Frenchwoman narrowed her eyes as she pondered. Nothing in the rules said she had to talk to Yuri. Would it be the "right" thing to do? Maybe, but it could be more harmful than beneficial, so it would be best to leave well enough alone, which was something she needed to work on in general anyway.

With that in mind, King decided she would simply take steps to coexist with Yuri without interacting with her or even seeing her, period. And so she turned on her heel and walked up to the front desk, where the attendant was finishing a phone call.

"What can I do for you?" The man asked with a friendly smile while setting the receiver down.
"When does step aerobics meet?"
"Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays — ten AM to eleven."
"Great, thanks!"
"Did you wanna sign up?"
"No —" King grimaced — "I was just asking for a friend."

She then offered a smile of her own before glancing at the clock on the wall (it was only 10:16) and abruptly leaving the building while thinking about ways to shift her workout schedule around so she wouldn't have to face the living, breathing reminder of the past she was so desperately trying to put behind her. Too wired and stressed out to go straight home, King decided to do the only other thing she could: she pulled out her phone, composed a quick text, and waited until Killer Queen started blaring from the tiny speaker. She answered immediately, took a deep breath, and then:

"Please tell me you're not working a case right now because it's not even eleven, and I seriously need to talk to you."

A yawn.

"No, I'm not working at the moment," Mary Ryan replied, her voice sleepy. "Just woke up, actually."
"I can call you later," King hastily told her friend, suddenly feeling terrible about contacting her while she was still waking up.
"No, you're fine. What's up?"
"It's… kind of a lot to go over on the phone. Do you want to meet up? We can go to the diner on Sixth."
"What time?"
"Ummm… now," the bartender replied.
"Now?"
"Now."
"Wait, are you in the city?"
"Yeah. I was going to go to the gym, but something kind of came up."
"Then in that case just come over."
"Are you sure?"
"My home is your home, bar wench. Now get over here~"

Four low beeps indicated that Mary had ended the call.

With a quiet sigh, King stowed her phone back in her bag, grabbed her keys, and started toward her car, shaking her head as she went.

Of all the rotten luck…


Okay!

As I said at the beginning, things between King and Yuri wouldn't automatically be great and cool and wonderful; they wouldn't be Super Friends™ by any means; they'd have to work to reach the level of friendship shown in the KOF series, and that's why this exists in the first place.

But okay, let's see:

* King's name (Cécile Levasseur) is, of course, not canon even though it totally should be and I will die on that hill, goddamnit.
* Yuri working at the gym: If you've been going here then you should know about the All About SNK book that I've cited in my notes on more than one occasion. If not, hi, that's a book that I have that has supplemental info on the characters but only goes to KOF 2000. Anyway, the book says that Yuri started working at a gym (which presumably explains her AOF2 stage).
*Canonically, Yuri was 17 in AOF but she is aged up by one year in illyverse
* King's post-Syndicate life, which has been covered in a couple of other fics, involved being put on probation for a year, though that period was extended by three months thanks to her actions in Fight or Flight, which you can find a few clicks that way. She also had to give up her apartment and sell all of her furniture before moving back in with her non-canon aunt and uncle (and Jean, of course).
* At this point King has already finished her bartending hours and has been working at a bar that will later become Illusion when she buys it off the owner down the line (her current boss)
* King's defining features refer to her eyes (dark blue) and multiple piercings (two in each earlobe)
* Killer Queen, which is King's ringtone for Mary, is a song by the band Queen
* Mary and King met at the police station when King turned herself in for her various crimes (see: Silver Lining). (FYI This is pre-FF3; Mary has not met the Bogards or Mai yet.)

Welp, I think that does it.

Cheers~