The Final Struggle (For King of Fighters)

~Chapter Eighteen: Kyo's Frustration~

"Miss Emi... are you awake?"

"Yes, Master Kyo."

"You know that we must get up now."

"But I don't want to get up." the young heiress moaned as she pressed her head to her master's chest, then she softly laughed as he kissed her forehead.

"You stubborn girl..." Kyo quietly said and smirked as he pushed his young pupil out of the bed.

"Hey! That's not fair..."

"Yes, it is. You started it, so it was only fair that I finished... and are you sleeping on the floor?"

"Yes, Master Kyo." Emi murmured as she rolled over so that she was now on her back, taking the bedsheets with her.

"You're getting pretty lazy today. Come on, I bet you that Kumebara-chan is--"

"Already awake? Yes, I am. Oh, and breakfast is on the table." the sporty girl said, causing her best friend to run out of the room.

"She's such a handful." the Kusanagi heir muttered as Miyuki lightly blushed.

"Yeah... and put some clothes on. I don't think I can look at you without a shirt on anymore."

"Then stop looking and get out." Kyo said and smiled as the sporty girl returned the friendly affection and left him.

Later that afternoon...

Kyo and Keiko have just decided to spar against one another in the Kusanagi heir's backyard. Technically, Kyo didn't want to fight the samurai heiress, since she forced him to spar with her.

"Ah, Tsuki-sama. You don't have your weapons with you today, huh?"

"No, I don't... but my birds can cause just as much damage. I'll just slice you in half in the Revolution tournament."

"Yeah... that's really... thoughtful of you." Kyo said as he sweatdropped, then he began to ignite a flame in the palm of his hand.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, I am. I'm ready to kill you, Kyo Kusanagi."

"But you said that you'd kill me at the tournament." the heir said as he smirked, causing his sparring partner to scowl at him.

"Oh, shut up."

"Heh. Ikuze, Tsuki-sama."

"It's about time!" Keiko cried out as she lunged towards the heir, attempting to slash him with her hands. Kyo simply smirked as he dodged every attempted strike.

"Come on, I know you can do better than that!"

"Yes, that's true! Keimi! Go!" the samurai heiress cried out as Keimi charged full speed towards her sparring partner.

"Do you think that I'm going to be slaughtered by that?" Kyo said as he leaped over the bird and was ready to kick Keiko in the chest, but he failed to notice something...

"Keimi... Attack from behind..." the samurai heiress whispered as her bird performed a swift U-turn, striking Kyo's back with precise speed.

"Unchi! (Shit!)" the heir cried out as he painfully landed on his back, blood was beginning to seep from the new wound.

"Kyo, Kyo, Kyo... you're not going to submit to me... are you?"

"...Kesshite... kesshite! (...Never... never!)"

"Then bring it on!"

"Hosoi! (Fine!)" Kyo cried out as he ignored the pain and struggled to maintain his balance.

"Mmm... you're tougher than I thought."

"Damn straight! Now, you're about to get a sample of my flames!"

"Show me what you've got!"

"You'll regret this!" Kyo screamed out as he performed a barrage of flaming fists that the samurai heiress had a slight problem dodging.

"Heh... burned yet?"

"No..." Keiko whispered as she launched a near-fatal error that Kyo easily noticed.

"You will be now!" the young heir screamed as he powered up his trademark technique...

"Kurai... YAGARE!!"

"No!!!" Keiko screamed as she felt the powerful flames from his Orochi Nagi tear through her body, then she remained still after she hit the ground and they slowly died down.

"Tsuki-sama... you've fought well." Kyo whispered as he kneeled down and picked her up, then after a few minutes, the samurai heiress slowly opened her eyes.

"Oh..."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Um... thanks, Kyo. I... never knew you cared."

"Hey, we may fight a lot, but the last thing that I want to do is turn you into a living piece of charcoal." Kyo said as his sparring partner gave him a weak smile as he entered the house.

"Ah, Kyo! So, how was your..." Miyuki said, then she trailed off as soon as she noticed their current conditions.

"Kumebara-chan..."

"Oh, don't worry. I can get you two cleaned up in no time at all. Hmm... Kyo, just head on over to your room for now."

"But what about Tsuki-sama?"

"She can relax in the guest room for now. Keiko, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." the samurai heiress said as she slowly walked away to her destination.

"Okay, come with me, Kusanagi-san." Miyuki started, taking the heir's hand into her own.

"Um, Miyuki... I think I can find my own room. This is my house, after all." he said as he entered his room with his sporty friend.

"Yeah, yeah. I guess it's that nasty wound that messed you up."

"How... did you know about that?" Kyo asked as he sat on the bed.

"I noticed your blood on the floor when you entered with Keiko." Miyuki said as she began to treat his wound. The young heir quietly hissed in pain as she slowly wiped the blood away with a wet cloth, then she carefully bandaged it.

"Hey, thanks." he said as he got up.

"Kyo... where are you going?" the sporty girl asked as he put on a clean shirt and jacket.

"I'm going to have a bit of time to myself. I'll see you later." Kyo said as he left the house and sped away on his motorcycle.

'I knew it, the tournament is stressing him out. I should tell Emi about this...'

Later that evening...

Emi quietly entered the bar that Miyuki had just mentioned to her. The young heiress slowly wandered around for a little while until she sat on one of the bar stools.

"Um, excuse me..." she said in a shy tone, catching the attention of the bartender that was currently working.

"Yes?"

"I'm looking for someone... um, Kusanagi Kyo, to be exact. Is he around here?"

"Yeah, I just saw him enter the pool hall not too long ago."

"Oh, thank you." Emi said as she stood up and calmly walked off. As soon as she was out of sight, the young woman quietly smirked to herself.

'Master Kusanagi... may I introduce myself to them?'

'Not yet. Just wait until they leave...'

Meanwhile, as the young heir finished his round, he immediately noticed his pupil.

"Emi... what are you doing here?"

"Miyuki told me that you'd be here. She told me that the tournament was stressing you out." the Tsuki heiress said as she ran up to him and hugged him... but he was still a bit weak from his sparring match.

"Chikushou, Emi! (Damn, Emi!)" Kyo cried out, causing his lover to let go.

"What's the matter?"

"Your sister gave me a nasty cut, and it's on my back. So please, can you be a little more careful?"

"Yes, Master Kyo. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." the Kusanagi heir whispered as he pulled his pupil into a deep and loving kiss, softly stroking her long hair in the process.

"You know that it's getting late... so can we go home now?"

"Sure. I must've scared the mess out of you, huh?"

"You have no idea, Master Kyo..." Emi whispered as she held onto his arm, softly smiling as her master opened the door and the two began to leave, but that would soon be halted by...

"Heh... going somewhere, Kyo?"

"Oh, great. What do you want now?" the Kusanagi heir said as soon as he noticed his clone.

"I just want to give you a little something to expect in the near future. Maybe if your team can survive in the tournament, you can do battle with one of my favorite people."

"What are you talking about?" Emi quietly asked.

"Maybe I'll just cut to the chase. Miss Emi..." Kusanagi said, pointing a flaming finger at her in the process.

"She's my lover, my spy, and she's your clone."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm afraid that he's not lying to you, little girl. My master and I greatly apologize for this rude meeting, but I didn't want to wait until the tournament to introduce myself. You may call me Tsuki." the young girl said and politely bowed.

"Is that all? You're wasting my time right now." Kyo growled.

"I would burn that smart mouth of yours off of that pretty boy face... but there probably wouldn't be any fun in that."

"Damn straight. You'd be a piece of living charcoal before you'd even touch me."

"My, aren't we full of shit right now..."

"Maro oroka mesuinu! (You stupid bitch!)" the Kusanagi heir screamed as he launched a deadly wave of flames at his lover's clone, then he promptly hopped onto his motorcycle, bringing the young heiress with him.

"I guess I don't have time to play with you fuckers tonight." he continued as he sped off into the night, leaving his clone and a very frustrated Tsuki behind.

"Someday... you will pay for this, Kyo Kusanagi!" the female clone screamed, hoping that he would hear her deadly warning...

~end of chapter eighteen~