The King of Fighters Tournament

Journey to Osaka

Iori sat on a train, one that was headed straight to Osaka, or the Esaka Station to be exact. Saxophone Under the Moon played in his wireless earphones, as he read Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. Kyo, sitting a few seats away from him, leaned forward slightly to see the title of his book. His eyes widened as soon as he saw the name and nudged Yuki to call Chizuru. The priestess turned to him questioningly.
"Kagura," Kyo motioned towards the book Iori was reading.
Chizuru looked at it, not spotting anything out of the ordinary, and nodded her chin upwards.
"He's reading a story where someone gets killed on a train," Kyo whisper-shouted.
"Yeah, so?" Chizuru asked. "It's a good story, I read the book and watched the movie. What about it?"
"Kagura, we're on a train," Kyo said. "And he's reading a book where someone gets killed on a train."
Chizuru rolled her eyes and went back to her phone, reading an ebook of her own. Kyo frowned and took his earphones out, plugging them in to listen to ESAKA!! instead. Yuki sighed and decided to just continue scrolling through her phone.
Aiko snorted, seeing how it was actually ironic that her brother was reading Murder on the Orient Express while riding on one. She turned her attention to Benimaru when he nudged her shoulder to show her something on his phone.
They ended up watching together, leaning on each other's shoulders.
Honoka kinda got jealous and looked at her own boyfriend, reading a murder mystery book that takes place on a train while in one. She chuckled and took a picture of him before leaning against his shoulder, embracing his warmth. Iori smiled and put an arm around her as he held his book in one hand.
K' smirked, watching his friend as he sat across from him. He turned to Krizalid, who was playing KOF ALL STAR on his phone. K' sighed and turned to Maxima and saw him sleeping.
Kula, on the other hand, had somehow snuck in an entire tub of sorbet without anyone's knowledge, sharing it with Isolde and Sylvie too. He smiled but it quickly faltered when he remembered how she was joining the tournament as an opponent and not as a teammate.
K's gaze then fell on Zayn, who seemed totally unfazed at the fact that his girlfriend was on another team. And then Maxima. He was the only one who managed to snag a spot in his girlfriend's team, besides Benimaru, of course. No wonder he managed to peacefully lie asleep with an upcoming tournament on his head.
Even Shingo was spending some alone time with his girlfriend, sitting with her in a corner as they had a lively conversation about something he couldn't decipher.
Shizuka and Saisyu were watching Kyo and his friends, leaning on top of each other. What K' liked best about them was the fact that age did nothing to falter the love between them. Now that was true love.
But then K's gaze fell on the bass next to Iori, followed by the saxophone bag on his sister's lap. Kyo had a guitar by his side too, and Nakoruru was coming in with her keyboard.
The BOF were the opening act!
In collaboration with the CYS, of course.
K' smirked and plugged the wireless earbuds that Zayn got for him into each ear.

The train came to an abrupt halt and the doors opened to the Esaka Station. Iori was wondering why the train suddenly stopped but then the song changed to Funky Esaka. He smirked and got up, placing a bookmark between the pages he was reading and collected his things before following the others out. Everyone found it kinda amusing how he was even bobbing his head to the beat of his music as he walked with his bass bag slung against his shoulder.
What they didn't know was the fact that Iori's head was bobbing to the beat of the very same instrument.
Aiko suddenly nudged him, making him take his earphones off to know what she wanted.
"Where shall we eat?" Aiko asked.
Iori shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. I'm fine as long as the place sells meat."
"Wanna go for some burgers?" Kyo suggested. "I'm really hungry..."
"There's a Yakiniku shop right here!" Honoka grinned, looking at her phone. "Let's go!"
"Can we go to the Sushi Fishy restaurant instead?" Kyo groaned. "You and your meat... I wanna have fish!"
K' stepped in. "You and your fish, I'm going with Iori."
"I stand with Niisan too," Aiko chimed in.
"Me too!" Benimaru chimed in cheerfully.
Kyo sighed. "Not supporting your bestie, Ben?"
"I'm supporting my girl," Benimaru smirked, putting an arm around Aiko. "Why don't you ask her what she wants?"
Yuki frowned thoughtfully, then smiled. "Actually, I feel like having something meaty too. What do you think, Kyo?"
Kyo sighed and followed the rest to the yakiniku restaurant instead.

"I can't believe you made me drive all the way when we could've taken the train," Yashiro complained as he drove down the highway. "The journey would've been half the time we'll be wasting now!"
"Yeah, but how are you gonna fit a drum set into a train, Yashiro?" Chris pointed out, holding his drumsticks. "It would be impossible!"
"Oh yeah? Then how are you gonna carry it up to the stage?" Yashiro counted.
"There's no need for that, mon cheri, since we already booked a drum set," Shermie smiled. "All we need is your guitar and my keyboard."
Yashiro groaned. "Then what's the point of the van?"
"To have an on-the-way-practice-session," Chris grinned. "Nice, right?"
"You're not the one who's driving for six hours straight, Chris," Yashiro sighed. "You know what, forget about it."
Chris giggled and continued practicing with his drums, playing the same tune again and again. Yashiro stopped the van because of the building traffic and let out an exasperated cry.
"Can you stop that?!" Yashiro roared. "As it is, I have to deal with this stupid traffic jam and now there's you, playing the drum in an enclosed space. What is this?!"
Shermie frowned. "Take a break, Chris."
Chris nodded and whipped out his lunchbox, opening it to reveal his meal of Momos, Bhutanese dumplings. He started eating alone, scrolling through his phone as he did.
"Whatever it is you're eating, can I have some of that?" Yashiro suddenly growled. "This traffic totally drained me..."
Chris put his lunch box down and got up, going over to his bag. He took out another lunchbox, a red one instead, and went to Yashiro.
"Here, I made some for you too," Chris handed it to his white-haired friend.
"Hey, then what about me?" Shermie piped up.
Chris sighed and went back to his bag again, this time taking out a pink lunchbox, and handed it to her. "Here. How would I forget you?"
"Merci beaucoup," Shermie thanked as she opened her lunch. "By the way, how long more to KOF arena?"
"Almost there," Yashiro said, nibbling on his Momos while scrolling through the GPS on his phone. "Darn, if it wasn't for this stupid traffic..."
He quickly put the lunchbox down when the cars started moving, accelerating to catch up.