The Final Struggle (For King of Fighters)

~Chapter Fifteen: Rebound~

"You won't control me... you'll never prevail... I will kill you..." Kyo muttered as he began to slip in and out of consciousness, still weak from Kusanagi's twisted grasp on his mind.

"Nikaido-san... so this is what's wrong with my darling?" Emi whispered silently as she looked at him, his weary groans were filling the young heiress with worry, and after a while, Miyuki entered the health room with Shingo, who was tugging the sporty girl by the arm as they entered.

"Oh... so that's why you guys didn't show up for lunch, eh? They even had your favorite lunch set today, Emi."

"I don't care right now, Miyuki. The state of those who are close to me are more important than just pigging out."

"Yeah, I get ya. But I'm pretty sure that Kyo'll overcome this, 'cause he's a tough cookie."

"I really don't think that you guys should get your hopes up all of a sudden." Benimaru quietly said.

"What?! Nikaido-san! How could you say such a thing?" Emi cried out, looking at the narcissist.

"If only you were there to see what had happened to him..."

"What...?"

"Kusanagi literally got into the guy's mind. I don't know everything, but what I do know is that he ended up snapping his strings and drove him to pure insanity. The moment that we got back into class after I fetched him from the bathroom, he spilled a good amount of blood, and... he pretty much got consumed by flames, then he just blacked out."

"Really...?" Miyuki mumbled as she looked at the Kusanagi heir who was slowly opening his eyes.

"Ah! Kyo, you're okay!" the sporty girl said in pure happiness, grabbing the attention of the others.

"Hey."

This response from Kyo simply caught Benimaru's attention, and the narcissist simply rushed to his friend's bedside.

"Hey?! What do you mean 'hey'?! That crazy freak controlled your mind, and all you can say is 'hey'?!"

"He... controlled me...? I don't really remember a lot of it..."

"What the heck?! So, you don't remember screaming your lungs out or anything like that?"

"Yeah, I remember that... and the images that he gave me... the ones that had Emi being raped... and... that intense pain that came from his flames... that's about it... " the heir muttered and was about to get up, but Miss Remi, who was the school nurse, stopped him from doing that.

"Hey, what's the big deal?"

"Kyo... you're not at full strength right now, and--"

"Well, I think I can handle this, Miss Remi." he responded and promptly hopped out of his bed... but the moment that he got up, he immediately felt dizzy.

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine... I think." the heir muttered, then he held onto Benimaru to keep himself from hitting the floor.

"Yeah... you're fine, all right." the narcissist said as his friend simply groaned.

"Seriously! I'm okay! I'm only a little dizzy, that's about it."

"A little dizzy...? Kyo, you almost hit the freaking floor, man! You're still suffering from a bit of blood loss, ya know!"

"Beni, I can handle it. You worry too much." is what the Kusanagi heir said before he left the room.

"My, my. He's always been a stubborn one." Miss Remi muttered before continuing by giving out this command...

"I don't care about how he claims to be 'fine', just make sure that you guys do not let him out of your sight, okay?"

"Yes ma'am." Emi said and left, the others simply followed her... and the young heiress simply saw her master lying face down in the hallway.

"Miss Remi!" Miyuki called out as Benimaru sighed and picked up his friend again.

"Just as I suspected... he passed out from blood loss." the narcissist said.

"He's such a stubborn boy..."

Later that afternoon...

"Master Kyo... are you awake?" Emi whispered as she entered the master bedroom, carrying a tray that contained a bowl of soup and two cups of green tea. Of course, she decided to make a cup for herself.

"Yeah, I'm up... and on the floor."

The young heiress set the tray down on the bedside table and lightly frowned at the sight of her master performing one-handed push-ups.

"Um, Master Kyo... Miss Remi said that you should rest today..."

"Please. Goenitz was ten times worse than Kusanagi, so I'll live."

"Are you sure about that...?" Emi said as she sat in front of her master.

"Yeah. Now sit on my back."

"Uh... I'm not so sure about that..."

"I told you, I can handle it. Now, go ahead."

"Hai, Kyo-kun." is what the young heiress said as she obeyed his command, then she continued by saying "Okay, I'm set. Just make sure that you use both of your arms, okay?"

"Yes, Mom." Kyo answered in a playful tone as he began his excercise, causing the young heiress to giggle in response.

"You know, after I'm through with this, you're going to do some of these push-ups too, alright?"

"You mean... you're going to sit on my back?"

"No, I'm not going to crush your spine..." the Kusanagi heir said, causing the heiress to giggle again. After a few more push-ups, Emi was commanded to perform a few of her own.

"Okay, I'm done..." she said as she sat up, then someone entered the room, and it was obviously...

"Kumebara-chan, welcome."

"Hello, people!" is what the sporty girl said as she sat on the edge of their bed and began to drink Kyo's tea.

"Um, Miyuki-chan... what are you doing?"

"I'm drinking your tea."

"Then why are you drinking it so fast? It's still hot, you know."

"Yeah, I know that. Anyway, I picked up the mail for you guys. And Kyo... what is this funny looking envelope?"

"Jeez, that cursed piece of paper always has to find the way to me..."

"Eh?"

"It's an invitation to the next King of Fighters tournament... and there's a second envelope... for you, Emi."

"What?" is what the young heiress muttered as her master opened his invitation, then Miyuki looked over his shoulder to read it.

"Well, according to the invitation, it states that those who obtain it must have to bring two other members in order to participate." the sporty girl continued.

"So, Emi... I guess your teammates would be your bitchy little sister and this little tea stealer right here, eh?" Kyo asked as Emi simply smiled.

"Well, guess my teammmates'll be Beni and Shingo then." the heir muttered.

"Yeah, but does weird stuff always happen at those tournaments?" Miyuki asked in a curious tone.

"Yes. That is why we should keep our guard up as soon as we get to that tournament, because I know that Kusanagi has something to do with all of this."

"Okay, but I'm ready to kick some butt there!" the sporty girl cried out and smiled.

"Kick all the butt that you want, since it holds ranking and not elimination." Kyo said and grinned at his friend.

"Well, can I train with you guys for that tournament now?"

"Fine with me, tea stealer. Come along, Emi."

"Hai, Kyo-kun." the young heiress said as she followed her master and her best friend...

But someone was watching them... and it wasn't Kusanagi...

'So that's Emi Tsuki, eh? It seems that we'll have a lot of fun with her and that little team that she has set up...'

~end of chapter fifteen~