The King of Fighters XIII/Team Stories

This page includes English translations for the team stories

Team Yagami
It was a pleasantly cool night in Japan.

And yet, something caused Chizuru Kagura to lay completely awake in the dead of night.

The full moon light shone through the shoji and dimly illuminated the room with a blue hue. When Chizuru noticed a slim silhouette appear in front of the shoji, any traces of sleep she had completely vanished.

"Who's therel?"

Immediately after she asked for the intruder's identity, Chizuru felt foolish. She didn't need to ask; she should have immediately known who this visitor was.

"...You've become weak, Kagura."

A cold smile appeared.

"You too..."

Chizuru sat up from her futon.

"You too have lost your flames, am I correct?"

"What does that matter?"

Chizuru had no reply for the arrogant response. She knew that he must have knocked out the many guards that patrolled the estate. Even though he'd lost his purple flames, his strength hadn't faltered.

‘This represented a world of difference when compared to her own situation. After she lost her power of the Yata Mirror, she lost her will along with it.

"I came to see if your power had returned... But it seems I do have to kill that kid."

As she sensed the man shift his weight and begin to depart, Chizuru extended her arm and asked the visitor to stay for a moment.

"Wait, Yagami! This is a big chance for you!"

"...What is?"

The flame of Yagami, the Magatama of the Yasakani... Since they were fused together with the blood of Orochi, in order for him to ever part ways with Orochi, he must permanently forsake his own flames.

But at the same time, she would also lose one of the "Three Sacred Treasures"—the means to seal away Orochi--forever.

This dilemma caused Chizuru despair.

"Don't worry. Your mirror will return," the man reassuredChizuru.

"......But of course, this time you'll lose your sword."

"Don't do it, Yagami!"

Chizuru got out of her futon and opened the shoji.

But the moon only illuminated the quiet garden. The red-haired visitor was nowhere to be found.

Whenever large trucks passed underneath, the walkway shook.

Exposed to the elements, the walkway paint had peeled, and rust slowly ate away at the structure. The dilapidated structure looked like an animal carcass left to rot in the sun.

lori Yagami climbed the skeleton and stopped to view the night's moon.

"............."

When the cigarette in his right hand was reduced to ash, lori spoke.

"...What do ghosts want with me?"

His line of sight moved from the heavens to the earth, locking onto a shadow lurking by the edge of the walkway.

"Have you appeared to spit your grudges at me? Or do you feel like dying by my hand again?"

The darkness responded to lori's words.

"That's some way to greet us, Yagami... It's been so long."

"Look at the sky once more. ...Don't you remember what I told you before? We'll meet again on a full moon."

"..........."

The seductive voices elicited no immediate response from lori.

The shadow squirmed under lori's gaze. Quietly, gradually, the shadow began to take form.

When it finally made the transition from the 2nd dimension to the 3rd, the shadow had taken on the look of two shapely women in business suits.

Iori cast aside thecigarette butt and muttered.

"...What regrets do you have that tie you here?"

"Regrets? We have none."

The redhead Vice answered as she twisted and stretched her body. The display made her look like a snake ready to strike.

"...It wasn't our desire to come here."

"So why are you here?"

"I wonder why. ...Maybe it's because you were all so much more incompetent than we expected?"

Mature, the blonde woman, answered lori cryptically as she held the eyepatch on her right eye and smiled.

"...What are you trying to say?"

"Kagura was defeated, and now you too, Yagami? By that Ash Crimson boy?"

"We're hearing that some strange group is after the power of Orochi, right? ’Those From the Distant Land,’ was it?"

"...I don't care."

"'Of course you don't. You don't even care about yourself."

"But we have to care."

"It's vexing just having someone come and take Orochi's power, you know?"

"That's why we came. Because you humans couldn't prevent it from going this far."

The three eyes of the women shone mysteriously.

lori's lips curled into a wicked smirk.

"I commend you for coming all the way here to clean up Kagura's mess. But what can YOU do?"

"I think the proper phrasing is what can WE do? We both have reasons to use each other, right?"

"You want to find Ash Crimson, and we are looking for that group... If we form a team and advance through the tournament, we'll certainly both achieve our goals.”

"...I say this every time, but it's a pointless farce."

"You’re right. But in the end, the fastest path is to play along with that farce. And you can't play without teammates, Yagami."

'"Hmph..."

lori let out an apathetic grunt and started walking. He passed between Vice and Mature and walked down the staircase.

"Let me tell you now: If you don't serve my purpose--"

"Yes, we know already."

Vice stifled her laugh.

"We'll be looking forward to seeing your strength without your flames. I'm sure you won't disappoint us."

'"...Your smooth-tongue hasn't faded even after death, I see."

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, lori stopped and turned around

The women were gone; the only thing lori saw past the front of his hair was the blue moon.

"..........."

lori pulled out another cigarette and lit it with an old lighter...