The King of Fighters Tournament

Glowing

The Ikari Warriors arrived at the Esaka Station after what seemed like forever. The first thing they did was find a restaurant to have their lunch.
"Where is this tournament?" Ralf asked, tightening his bandana while they waited for their food.
"It's in a stadium very close to Esaka," Clark said. "So is our hotel. All we have to do is take a bus, our hotel is very near to the bus station."
"Sounds like a plan," Seirah shrugged. She turned to Leona and noticed how she was silently staring at her cutlery. "Hey, is everything okay, Leona?"
Leona looked at her and shrugged. "It's just that... everything is going really well. I have this sinking feeling that something bad would come our way."
"Come on, don't worry about that," Heidern comforted. "It's not like we can't take on whatever that thing is."
Gaidel nodded. "He's right. We can take on it together, all of us."
Leona nodded, smiling slightly. "Thank you."
Their food soon arrived and the six of them hungrily ate, especially Ralf. After that, they boarded a bus and made their way straight to the bus station nearest to their hotel.

Another bus was waiting in the station just as the Ikari Warriors got out. The passengers shuffled out in an orderly fashion, with most of them making a beeline for the nearby restaurants to relieve themselves after a long journey from Yokohama.
"I guess it's a good thing we took the train instead," Gaidel remarked. "It must be a long journey by bus."
"It is," Heidern agreed. "Anyway, where's the hotel?"
"Over there," Ralf pointed at a tall building on the opposite side of the road. "We need to cross."
Seirah frowned thoughtfully as she spotted a convenience store in the bus station. "You guys go over first, I'd like to do a little shopping. Anyone wanna follow?"
Ralf noticed that no one wanted to and raised his hand instead, stepping forward. Seirah shrugged and led the way, the colonel at her heels.
"You ran out of bubblegum, didn't you?" Seirah said as they walked over to the shop.
"Yeah, and I also want something to drink," Ralf said. "Feels like I didn't drink enough water during the ride here."
"Same," Seirah admitted. "Come on, let's get some stuff for the rest too."
They entered the shop and got some snacks and drinks, with Ralf grabbing a few packs of bubblegum and breath mints.
"Does your breath smell that bad?" Seirah couldn't help but remark. "You always have these on you."
Ralf only shrugged in response as he settled his payment. Seirah shook her head and paid for the chocolate bars and drinks that she took. The bells hanging on the front door rang, signalling that a new customer had entered the shop. The two of them heard the sound of footsteps loitering about the shop, stopping in certain places as they picked up things that interested them.
Ralf spotted an ATM at the other end of the shop and told Seirah about it before wandering off to withdraw some money. He felt a little alert when he caught sight of the other shopper pausing behind him as he inserted his card, especially because of the recent bank robbery cases he read online.
But the person didn't seem to disturb him, not in the least intent on doing anything sinister by the looks of it. Ralf shrugged and took out the money and stepped away from the machine to shove the money into his wallet. The other person stepped towards the machine— whom Ralf noticed was a man in a hoodie and sunglasses— and proceeded to insert his card into the machine too, pushing the shades up his nose as it slid down.
Ralf noticed something a little familiar about the man, but shrugged and made his way back to Seirah, who was now waiting for him near the door.
"They have an ATM," Ralf remarked as he joined her. "Good thing too, I was running out of cash."
"Yeah," Seirah nodded, glancing at the machine. "Shall I take some money as well? I'm running out too."
Ralf shrugged. "Up to you."
Seirah frowned for a moment, feeling a little indecisive. In the end, she decided that she needed some money too and went to wait for the other man as he withdrew money. He eventually moved away so she stepped up and quickly took out some money as well. By that time, the guy had made his way to the counter to pay for the things he took. They heard the sound of a receipt being printed and torn, and the sound of the cashier thanking the man for his purchase.
But then there was a sound of something falling, a soft shattering sound came next. Right after, the cashier let out a piercing scream, followed by the strange man running out of the shop as fast as he could.
Ralf ran towards the cashier. "Did he steal anything?"
The cashier shook his head. "No. He... he didn't."
Seirah came over and spotted a pair of sunglasses on the ground. "Then why did you scream?"
"His eyes..." the cashier shivered. "They were glowing!"
The two mercenaries exchanged glances. Seirah picked up the sunglasses and looked at them. There wasn't much to be done at the shop so the two of them quickly made their way towards the hotel across the bus station.

"Glowing?" Heidern said in surprise. "You're sure?"
"That's what the cashier said," Ralf shrugged. "I think he saw it when the guy's sunglasses fell off."
Seirah took it out of her pocket and put it down at the centre. It would've looked odd, seeing how they had all gathered in Ralf and Clark's room, seated in a circle as if they were having a game at school.
Leona picked up the sunglasses and looked at it. She folded the earpieces inwards and spotted something sticking out from the hinge. It was a short strand of hair.
"There's some hair stuck to it," Leona said as she carefully pulled it out. "Should we check it?"
They all turned to Clark, who shrugged and went over to his luggage. He brought back a medium-sized briefcase and opened it, revealing a set of portable lab equipment. He took the hair that Leona handed to him and analysed it.
"Any match?" Ralf asked, leaning towards him to look, a cup in his hand. He took a sip as he watched the results appear.
He nearly spat it out as he let out a surprised gasp. The others realised that Clark looked just as surprised as well.
"Who's is it?" Gaidel asked. "It's not a Hakkesshu, right?"
Clark shook his head. "No." He turned the briefcase to show them. "Far from it."
The others looked to see an image of Kyo adorning the screen.