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King of Fighters '97
SHINGO: "I've brought you some rolls and stuff!"
Lunch time at school. A lone young man is in a corner of the school ground that is hidden away from prying eyes. Shingo cradles some bread and runs toward a boy who is reclining against a leafless tree and catching a few Z's.
SHINGO: "Let's see, today I got the chow mein sandwich and the croquette roll."
BOY: "Huh? Uh..."
SHINGO: "I brought you one of those coffee-latte deals, too. I'll put it here, OK?"
BOY: "Yeah, whatever."
It's been more than three months since Shingo has been bringing lunch to this spot.
BOY: "Well, then, I guess you're going to teach me a new move today, then...?"
The boy removes the chow mein sandwich from its wrapper, stands up after taking a sizable bite, and moves to a suitable distance from the tree he had been lying up against.
BOY: "OK, I'm only going to do this once."
SHINGO: "I got you...."
The boy unleashes a sudden series of punches against the tree.
BOY: "Hey, pal? Where's your defense now?!!!"
Ceeee-rack!!!
The tree shakes violently. A careful inspection would reveal that this tree's rather scruffed up and scorched in places. The reason for the absence of its leaves can be chalked up to the fact that it has always been used in place of a sand bag.
SHINGO: "Ah! So that's the Wicked Chew move, eh?!!!"
BOY: "Whoa, way to go, Shingo. You've really been studying, haven't you."
SHINGO: "Uh, I saw it on TV last year! I'm pretty sure it was the move you used to knock out Kensou in the semifinals, wasn't it?!!"
BOY: (How would I remember something like that...?)
SHINGO: "Let's see...first this way...then that way...and this way...."
Shingo simulates the boy's moves in his head, trying to memorize them.
SHINGO: "But yesterday I thought you said you were going to teach me the Rainbow Energy Dynamite Kick-you know, the R.E.D. Kick...
BOY: "Did I say that?"
SHINGO: "Uh, whatever. So, what style is the Wild Chew move anyway?"
BOY: "Uh...I think it's style one hundred...fifteen...isn't it?"
SHINGO: "No, no. That's the Poison Bite you showed me before."
BOY: "Ah, yeah, that's right. So it must be style 114-yeah, that's the one."
SHINGO: "Oh, Mr. Kusanagi. How could you get that wrong?!"
His words sound angry, but Shingo looks as if he's thoroughly enjoying this.
SHINGO: "Let's see...the 114 Wild Chew...yeah, that's it."
As Shingo hastily jots this down in his student's pocket notebook, he emulates the actions of the Wild Chew move.
SHINGO: "Is that how you do it?"
KYO: "Y-yeah. That's it. That's the way you do it."
SHINGO: "Oh, really?! Thank you, Mr. Kusanagi!!! Next, the "flames," eh...?"
KYO: "Right...the flames...."
SHINGO: "I've never been able to do it up till now, but I got the feeling that this time if I concentrate a little harder, I think I make some flames with this move!!!"
KYO: (I think your just imagining is getting the better of you...)
SHINGO: "So I'm going to keep practicing until I can shoot flames like you, Mr. Kusanagi."
KYO: "OK. I think you just might do it. Keep practicing. Well, I got to go back."
Taking the lunch Shingo bought for him, Kyo heads back to school, finishing off the sandwich he had taken a bite out of.
SHINGO: "Thank you, Mr. Kusanagi!!!"
Shingo sees his him off with a deep bow.
KYO: "He's got a good memory, but...you know...."
Kyo reluctantly waves his right hand without looking back and returns to school.
KYO: "See ya. Work hard!"
As Kyo disappears into the school, Shingo starts practice while he tries to remember the move he has just been taught.
SHINGO: "All-rightey!!! Let's master the "Wild Chew" move!!!"
Incidentally these two students had had nothing in common other than being upper and lower classmen at the same school. But one day two months ago, the young Shingo Yabuki suddenly appeared before Kyo....
SHINGO: "You are the Kyo Kusanagi, aren't you?"
KYO: "Yeah, I am...Who the hell are you?"
SHINGO: "I'm Shingo Yabuki in the sophomore class. Kyo Kusanagi! Please teach me your moves! I'm begging you!!!"
KYO: "Say what?"
This was Kyo's first conversation with Shingo. It seems Shingo saw him in the KOF '96 tournament and became an instant fan. At first Kyo blew him off, but Shingo subsequently wore him down and he agreed to teach him his moves. In spite of this instruction, however, since Shingo is not a descendant of the Kusanagi clan, he is only able to emulate the punches of the Wild Chew moves he learned today sans the trademark flames. In spite of this, Kyo continues to teach the dedicated Shingo for a lark, but mainly for the lunches.
SHINGO: (...This way...now that way...and....)
Since he's used this method up till now, it seems he's gotten used to it and even though he only sees a move once, he masters its actions immediately.
SHINGO: (OK. I've got the main actions down...This is it, right?)
Shingo readjusts his stance, focuses his mind, and unleashes his punches with all his might.
SHINGO: "Hey, pal? Where's your defense now?!!!"
Any onlooker would assume this was just another body blow.
Bing-bong, bing-bong, bing-bong, bing-bong.
The school chimes signaling the end to the lunch time recess reverberate through the schoolyard. The students who spent their time outside again flow back into the school from every which way.
SHINGO: (Well then, I guess I'd better go back...)
After school. The weather has taken a sudden turn for the worse, and the drizzle of the early afternoon is now a steady torrent. Students react to the downpour in a variety of ways: some open up their umbrellas and head home, others without dash home and soon get drenched, and still others hang around the entrance, waiting for the rain to let up.
SHINGO: "Hey, pal? Where's your defense now?!!!"
While the rain pours down, Shingo works on the moves he learned from Kyo where he always does, in the quadrangle. Practicing in the deserted quad after school has become part of his daily regimen and he goes through every move from the first he learned to today's "Wild Chew," and he does this every day regardless of the weather. But he's become vaguely aware that there are limits to simply practicing.
SHINGO: "Huff, puff, puff...I still don't got it..."
Taking a little break, Shingo plops down on the drenched ground. He goes over the doubts he's had since noontime and contemplates his future training.
"The King of Fighters."
Because he happened to see KOF on TV last summer,@Shingo is who he is today, on his way to be like his hero, Kyo. And another tournament is coming this summer.
SHINGO: (Enter the King of Fighters...but can I do it?...Me?)
A few months before, he wouldn't have imagined raising his fists against another human being; that's not why he took up this pursuit. But now things are different....
SHINGO: (I do so want to enter and be more like Mr. Kusanagi!)
He anguishes over this in his mind, and then, as if inspired, he makes up his mind.
SHINGO: (That's it...The worst I can do is lose!!!)
Shingo shoots to his feet, psyches himself up, and resumes his practicing.
Later Shingo makes his way through the individual preliminaries of the King of Fighters without any trouble, and goes on to the finals.
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