The King of Fighters Tournament

A strange presence

"Not what I expected..." Krohnen frowned, leaning over the yacht's guardrail. "It's nice, but not what I expected."
"Yeah, at this rate we will only be in Osaka after the tournament ends-nya!" Ángel groans in boredom. "Well, at least the view's good."
"I hope you don't mind, it's just been a while since Liccia and I went out together," Nelson sighed. "I wanted to make this memorable."
"It's fine, I really like it here too," Krohnen shrugged. "Not sure about Ángel, though."
"It's boring ughhhh!" Ángel uttered in exasperation. "Can I at least go for a swim?"
"Don't, there are sharks here," Nelson warned. "And so many other sea creatures."
Ángel shrieked and shook her head. "Lo siento, sorry I asked."
Nelson chuckled. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll spend some time with Liccia. We'll be on the deck if you need us."
Krohnen gives him a two-finger salute as he walked off.
"Ángel, seriously," Krohnen scowled at said person. "We're getting a free ride on a yacht and this is how you respond?"
"What, it's boring!" Ángel moaned. "There's nothing I could even do! There's no data, there's no tv, there's no track where I can ride."
"There's WiFi, you idiot," Krohnen rolled his eyes as he showed her his phone. "Just connect, the password's over there." He pointed over to a wall.
Ángel gasped and turned to look, but frowned. "What kind of a password is that?!"
The password was so long, it was no longer a phrase or a sentence. It was a paragraph.
"A long password," Krohnen smirked.
"How did you even type all of that?!"
"Patience, Dear Ángel."
"All this coming from a guy who stalked the K' team in the middle of a vacation."
Krohnen scowled and turned to her. "Oh, I had a reason then! Who asked them to come to Ireland when I was there?"
"Yeah, like you're announcing it to everyone about where you'll be."
Krohnen's scowl deepened as he turned back to the vast ocean ahead.

***

"We're here!" Yuri announced as soon as they landed at the Kansai Airport. "Finally!"
Takuma groaned and stretched his back. "Ugh, my back. My poor back." He signalled for his son to come over. "Can you punch here? There's a cramp there."
Ryo came over and repeatedly, but lightly, punched his father's lower back.
"Better?" Ryo said as he punched.
Takuma closed his eyes as the cramp eased. "Ah... much better. Thanks, Ryo."
"You okay?" Ryuhaku asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Fine, I just need some rest," Takuma smiled. "Been sitting for more than a day!"
"Ah! Where's Andy? He was here only a minute ago," Mai stepped out with her baggage. She frowned and looked around but to her surprise, she found him speed-walking away with his brother and Rock. "Oi! Andyyyyyyy!"
Andy immediately broke into a run. Terry and his adoptive son ran too, laughing at the situation. Mai stopped and angrily waved her fists in the air.
"Wait up, Rock!" Hotaru ran after them, leaving her brother and father behind. "Oi!"
Kasumi and King caught up to Mai, trying their best to not laugh too.
"Come on, Mai," King chuckled. "Let's go to the hotel. You're sharing a room with me."
"Yeah, I'm with Yuri," Kasumi snorted. She turned back to the Sakazakis and waved. "Guys, come on! Let's go to the hotel first!"
"No, we wanna have lunch first!" Yuri called, running towards them. "Aren't you guys hungry?!"
King turned to the rest. "Yeah, she's right. Let's go have something."
They decided to have their lunch at a Chinese restaurant, the Sakazakis, the Todohs, the Futabas, and their friends.
An odd bunch they were too.

Unbeknownst to the fighters, two passengers have been following them too, watching their every move as they ate.
Rock picked up his chopsticks and brought his dish of wonton noodles closer to his face. He frowned and stopped short, placing his bowl back on the table.
"What is it, Rock?" Terry asked, seeing how he wasn't eating. "Something wrong with the noodles?"
Rock shook his head and got up. "I need to use the bathroom."
"It's over there," Terry pointed at the sign.
"Yeah, thanks," Rock said before making his way to it.
Terry watched as the younger man made his way towards the bathroom.
"Something's bothering Rock, but I don't know what," Terry frowned, turning to his brother. "Any idea?"
"Beats me," Andy shrugged, talking with his mouth full.
Terry sighed and turned back to his chee chong fun.

Rock went to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He didn't know if it was him, or if there was someone following him.
Wherever he went, he felt like he was being watched. What made it worse was the fact that he couldn't identify if said presence was good or evil, which he would normally know.
He wasn't even sure if the instinct was right anymore.
Rock sighed and looked at himself in the mirror again. His eyes were puffy from the lack of sleep on the plane and his lips were cracked from the lack of hydration, even feeling a certain tightness at the corners of his eyes.
He rinsed his face with water before leaving the bathroom. Terry waved as soon as he came out. Rock nodded and made a beeline for him.
The feeling of being watched suddenly vanished, much to his surprise, and he still didn't know what the reason was.

***

"Well! How you get these things, I still don't know," Xanadu gleefully stated, looking at his false passport. "Look at me! Xonodo. No one would know a thing!"
"At least shave that ridiculous beard of yours," White scolded. "It looks like a whole jungle grew out of your chin."
"I say it looks like a waterfall," Xanadu grinned, running his fingers through his untied beard.
Ryuji Yamazaki started laughing maniacally. "Now we can get a commercial jet to Osaka!"
"First class too," White smirked. "Nice, isn't it?"
"Well, you ain't the one who got you those fake passports," Ryuji frowned, his nose inches away from White's. "At least I got myself a bail. What about you two? A mental hospital escapee and who even are you? Blond Joker?"
White frowned. "I have my own background and my own story. When I was a kid—"
Xanadu started snoring. White growled and stopped.
"Let's just get this plane," Ryuji smirked.

***

"Athena, are you sure it's a good idea to have a concert here while we're in a tournament?" Kensou asked, putting his bag of things in the boot of the taxi. "Athena, don't you think this is a little much?"
"Oh come on, I'll be fine!" Athena chuckled, closing the boot. "Come on, we have a plane to catch!"
Bao and Momoko climbed in first, getting into the back of the Toyota Innova. Athena and Kensou slipped into the second row with Kaoru while Chin sat at the front. His wife decided to stay behind to watch the temple with Lei-Ien.
"Master, don't worry," Athena comforted. "Grandma's gonna be just fine it's Lei-Ien."
Lei-Ien smiled and waved at her grandfather. "Goodbye, Grandpa! I'll be rooting for you and the Psycho Boyz!"
Chin chuckled and waved at her, then looked at his wife through his white fringe. He gave her a toothless grin, which she returned, making a heart shape with her hands. Chin laughed and shook his sake bottle.
"Alright, let's roll," Chin smirked. "A new tournament has landed and we cannot miss it."