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King of Fighters '97
A local live house. A number of young people are banging away at each of their instruments. During the interlude of the piece, a large man whips the crowd into a frenzy with a guitar solo. Then, all of a sudden, the man stops playing.
YASHIRO: "No, no."
The band members screw up their faces in a familiar "not again" look. Some of the crowd in the club make their way toward the door. After seeing off the leaving members, a young boy looks at Yashiro.
CHRIS: "I thought it sounded kind of good. But then what do I know, huh? Ah!"
A woman pulls back Chris's head from behind.
SHERMIE: "Something's still missing. Right, maestro?"
Yashiro ignores Shermie, who asks her questions with a chiding tone, and takes a seat at the counter.
CHRIS: "What's eating you...? You've already made the grade, haven't you?"
SHERMIE: "Yeah, the song does, at least. But there's some other reason, isn't there?"
CHRIS: "Some other reason?"
SHERMIE: "Didn't you notice it? It happened, you know, before."
CHRIS: "Before?"
SHERMIE: "Look, at the club's line-up...."
CHRIS: "Oh, you mean the cancellation."
SHERMIE: "Yup, that's it. He's been like that ever since that day. Stuff like this often goes on when two bands with the same hair color and notoriety bump up against each other, but the exact same combination...it's just weird."
CHRIS: "Uh...who is it? Um...."
SHERMIE: "Hey, come to think of it, I've forgotten, too... He did have red hair...."
CHRIS: "Yeah, that's the guy. ...But there's only two months until the concert."
SHERMIE: "Yeah, yeah, I know..."
Shermie sits at the counter next to Yashiro, who appears lost in thought, and switches on the TV. A commercial for the King of Fighters tournament appears.
SHERMIE: "The King of Fighters, huh...?"
Without moving, Yashiro shifts his gaze to the TV and stares at the screen.
YASHIRO: "What's...that?"
SHERMIE: "Beats me? Hey, what's that all about?"
Shermie shakes Chris, whose mouth for some reason is filled with ice cream. He continues to eat the ice cream without giving the two so much as a glance.
CHRIS: "It's some kind of fighting tournament. They were showing the preliminaries on TV just before this."
YASHIRO: "Can anyone enter these preliminaries?"
CHRIS: "If they've got what it takes, I think anyone's eligible."
YASHIRO: "Hmm...!"
A digest of the participants now appears on the TV. After a feature on Kyo Kusanagi, the man with red hair pops up on the screen.
SHERMIE: "Hey...Chris!"
Chris leans against the counter.
CHRIS: "Hey! That's him.... Huh, so he's taking part in the tournament too?"
SHERMIE: "Do you think that's the guy?"
CHRIS: "Isn't it? There aren't many people who look like that?"
Biting his bent index finger, Yashiro glares at the screen.
YASHIRO: "So that's where you are...?"
SHERMIE: "So he's not just a musician.... I guess you really can't judge a book by its cover."
YASHIRO: "...We're entering too."
CHRIS, SHERMIE: "Huh?!"
YASHIRO: "Yeah, I want to enter."
SHERMIE: "Enter? That?"
YASHIRO: "Yeah. It looks kinda fun. Let's do it. You guys and me and KOF."
SHERMIE: "Are you serious?"
Shermie looks at Yashiro, confusion contorting her face.
YASHIRO: "Nothing but. I'm going to pay that guy everything I owe him and more and I'll do it during that fighting tournament."
The look of confusion dissolves and Shermie smiles as if everything has become crystal clear to her.
SHERMIE: "That sounds pretty...interesting maybe...."
CHRIS: "...Regardless, the prelims are already over."
Shermie makes a gesture to illustrate her disappointment. Yashiro opens his mouth while staring at the TV.
YASHIRO: "I've got an idea."
Shermie looks at Chris as if silently asking, "What's going on?" Chris shrugs in befuddlement.
Somewhere in the United States. Yashiro and another man are facing off against each other on a dead end street against a brick wall. It appears to be shortly after their battle has begun, and in contrast to the calm and collected Yashiro, his opponent is kneeling on one knee. Shermie and Chris appear. The two combatants face off against each other and lean against the wall.
CHRIS: "So did it go all right?"
SHERMIE: "Yeah, he was a pretty solid opponent. But calling the seed team to a duel...is it worth all this effort? Is this all kosher?"
CHRIS: "He's got his mind set on this and he won't listen to me, so what're you going to do?"
SHERMIE: "Unbelievable."
CHRIS: "At any rate, I'm rather enjoying this. Aren't you?"
SHERMIE: "Don't ask a question you already know the answer to...Here it comes."
The man finally rises to his feet. Yashiro addresses him with a wicked stare.
YASHIRO: "It's over. I'll count to three. Before I finish, I want you to put the invitation down on the ground in front of you."
MAN: "...Shove off..."
YASHIRO: "One."
Shermie and Chris give each other a glance and let out a little titter.
YASHIRO: "Two."
Yashiro drops uncrosses his arms and drops them to his side. He gives the man an even chillier look than before. The expression on the man's face becomes rigid.
MAN: "Bring it on. I've still got a few surprises left."
YASHIRO: "Three!"
The man begins to release a special move once he confirms that Yashiro has begun to rush toward him.
MAN: "Hah, you dare! Hell Bou....Nah!!"
Yashiro covers the few meters that separated them within seconds and comes to a stop right in front of the man. Yashiro apparently grins and rolls right into the man, rising in front of him. He seizes him with an arm and raises him up into the air.
YASHIRO: "It's a sad state of affairs when one with your paltry talents is able to make it into KOF. I guess you could call it simply "luck" that you've gotten this far.
MAN: "You...just who are you?!"
YASHIRO: "I'm Yashiro Nanakase from the Hall of Nanakase Bushin Karate. The athlete that will show whose strongest this year is not Kyo Kusanagi or any of the Bogards, or none of the Kyokugen. It is I, Yashiro Nanakase."
MAN: "Yashiro...Nanakase...!"
The man is tossed aside. He shows no sign that he'll be getting up. Yashiro picks up the invitation that had fallen to the ground and looks toward Shermie and Chris.
YASHIRO: "When did you get here?"
SHERMIE: "A little while ago. Boy, when you say you'll do something, you do it. I'm shocked."
YASHIRO: "Yup."
SHERMIE: "But why the U.S.? Why not someone from Japan?"
YASHIRO: "I just thought that if I'm going to beat a team, it may as well be from another block. It's good to have that kind of rep behind you, don't you think? The reason why I chose the U.S. is I heard this is where a suitable opponent happened to be, and that's that. By the way, how did things go with you?"
Each of the two pulls out their own invitation.
CHRIS: "Well, we have all of our invitations."
Yashiro passes by him, muttering, "Hmph." Chris follows him.
SHERMIE: "Hey!"
YASHIRO: "?"
SHERMIE: "Is there really a Hall of Nanakase Bushin Karate?"
Yashiro rolls his eyes back into his head and sticks out his tongue.
YASHIRO: "Get with the program."
SHERMIE: "...!!!"
Shermie's shoulders shake as she laughs silently at her maestro's hubris.
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