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Instinct and Empathy	By : Fenris30 Category: +G through L > King of Fighters Views: 1607 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the King of Fighters fandom, nor anything therein. No money or profit is made from this work.

Chapter List
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Iori arrived back at his apartment fairly late.
He had just set into a very large and rare steak for dinner, along with half a bottle of wine. He was quite good at holding his alcohol-he wondered if his blood burned it away or something, he had no idea-so he was just feeling mildly buzzed at the moment. The steak was as rare as he liked it-he was usually irritated if a place didn't understand 'rare' and served him something actually cooked instead.
Then again, people breathing wrong around Iori could irritate him, so it was par for the course.
A cigarette dangling from his lips, he shoved inside, his mind only wanting to sit down with his bass and perhaps another glass of wine for awhile.
He was greeted with the sight of Athena standing there, examining some of the old posters on the wall. He stopped, shutting the door behind him.
She stepped back a few steps, swallowing hard. “Iori...” she looked over. “These posters. The clothes hanging up. I knew it was you. Why...you brought me here?” She looked a little groggy and confused still, though seemed fine.
He wandered over to the window to glance out. “Why are you still here?” He took a deep drag of the smoke. He wasn't enjoying how his heart had started pounding again.
“I...wanted to see what happened. I remember, I had set a big blast loose. Several. Kensou had chased down some others a distance away, and I had managed to put most of the rest out...but one had very powerful ki. I had overtaxed.”
“So you knocked yourself out.”
She chuckled, blushing slightly. “Almost. I probably shouldn't have met his blast that heavily.”
He heard that people who use that sort of energy can end up overdoing it and knocking themselves out. Kensou had to miss a tournament he faintly recalled in one of his chats with Athena, for the sole purpose of honing some skill he had developed. He was gone for a whole year. It was a bit alien to him as his flames were basically instinct powered by his clan jewel, but he had no idea how psychic energy worked.
“Maybe learn how to control your powers better,” he grumbled, pulling out an ashtray after throwing his shoes off. He knew he had just heaved about seventeen boulders at someone's glass house with that line.
“Way to treat a guest,” she said with a slight scowl which softened immediately; Athena was generally amazingly good natured. “I was going to thank you.”
Iori snorted. “You did, then.”
Athena walked over to him, her arms folded. He looked down at her before he stripped off his shirt to walk over to the window again. The air conditioner felt cool against his chest.
“I'll thank you anyway.”
'Tch', he replied, looking down for a moment before he glanced at her.
“I wouldn't have left you there.”
She smiled softly; for him, this was an acknowledgment. “Why didn't you take me to the dojo?”
“I didn't know where you were staying here.”
“And the enemy?”
“I don't know about most of them, I had left them. The one across from you I killed.”
“...oh,” she said, her voice soft. “Why?”
He shrugged, continuing to smoke. He sort of wanted more wine at this point as he wasn't used to actually answering so many questions.
“You didn't lose control again, did you?”
He looked sharply at her. “Yeah? And if I did?” His tone grew more annoyed.
“Please...” she said. She did not look afraid, though. She wasn't.
She was more sad.
That day where they had...crossed, perhaps entwined spiritually, for lack of a better term, had been unforgettable. Ever since then, she had wanted to see him cast off his intense hatred and rage...but he would not. It seemed to feed him. When he had lost his jewel, he had been so full of sheer malice it almost frightened her. She knew some of the other fighters had been downright uncomfortable around him, as it almost felt like he would snap and tear someone apart at a moment's notice.
Between the two of them, it was the usual over the years. They would exchange some words, and he would end up going off in a dark mood, not knowing what was going on. But she never, ever, felt malice in her direction. Even after four or so years had passed, and even when he was at his most terrifying.
To this day she wondered about that crying child she tried to comfort. She dare not ask him, though. She thought he would push her away for good and she would never be able to try to figure out what had happened. Athena was not one to give up on helping someone. She didn't give up on a fan who counted on her some years back, and she wouldn't give up here, even though she knew she had to approach this much, much more carefully.
Iori looked closely at something outside and suddenly turned to head into his kitchen area....or what counted for it. It was a stovetop, a microwave, a fridge, and some other odds and ends in a part of the room with a sink. She would probably go nuts living someplace like this, but it didn't seem to bother him. She wondered if he even knew what comfort was.
He came away with a bowl filled with something-it seemed to be milk-and a can of...tuna?
She blinked as he walked by and set them on the windowsill. A small gray striped cat soon appeared-a skinny little thing-and nosed up to Iori's outstretched hand for a moment as he scratched it behind the ears; for such a small cat, it had a loud purr and seemed to enjoy it. It head over toward the food after a few moments.
He sat by the window in his ragged leather chair, watching the animal.
Athena could not have been more surprised if Kensou and Chin had burst into the room riding mammoths.
She walked over to watch.
“...Is it yours?” It was a tiny little thing. Fully grown, but slim.
He shook his head. “She just comes around. Was friendly. Probably abandoned. Guess she just eats whatever scraps people put out.”
Holding out her hand, the little cat rubbed her head into it, purring, before going back to her food.
Iori looked over at Athena, a tiny smile creeping onto the corner of his lips; something else that rarely seemed to happen. “She usually runs away from other people. I've watched her from up here.”
“Does she have a name?”
He shook his head. “Not mine to name.” He reached a large hand out, letting the little cat walk over to it after she took a break from eating. She crouched on the sill, rubbing against his fingers and purring. Iori looked fairly calm, much more than he usually did.
“She likes you.” Athena walked over and crouched next to the low sill, standing fairly close to the two of them. She felt Iori tense, though he did not move his hand. After a time, the little cat went back to eating, finishing up what he had brought. Nudging against his hand again, she turned to leave.
Iori sat back, lighting another cigarette.
“I didn't think you had it in you.”
He just shrugged. “She doesn't bother me.” Iori found he sort of liked the little cat's company. Given that he shut himself off from people most of the time, he welcomed it.
Athena went back over to look at the posters; they were old, some were faded and dog-eared, though they were kept in otherwise decent condition for the most part; one seemed to have been slashed by a set of claws...along with the wall behind it.
She had a feeling what happened there.
Having been a musician herself, she liked to look at where he had gone. He had played quite a few gigs in his time, though he hadn't in awhile, she knew. After he started getting worse, he had started to shut himself in more.
She heard him get up and watched him go over to start getting coffee going. He looked at her questioningly.
“Having some?”
She nodded, a little surprised.
Iori figured he could at least attempt to be hospitable for once. Athena was one of the few people in the general vicinity that he could stand the company of for more than a few minutes if it wasn't for business purposes. While he wanted to end Kyo-or, well, apparently-his girlfriend was tolerable, and he had even rescued her once, though he wouldn't consider her someone he'd particularly want to have long conversations with. Chizuru was generally okay for short periods of time if Orochi was involved, but her lectures got a bit annoying otherwise.
Everyone else either grated on him at absolute best, or at worst-in the tournament-he ended up wanting to either severely beat or occasionally kill them, for some of the most insufferable ones. Which was probably not the healthiest mindset, but he had long gotten used to it. If they stayed out of his way, he was fine, but if he had to fight through people, that was it.
“Don't have much to eat. I usually go out.” He nodded toward a pile of random food; mostly junk food and ramen. He always kept a large slab of some sort of meat every week in the freezer, for the days he didn't feel like being sociable at all.
“That's okay.” She noted that he practically kept more in the place for the cat than himself. “Thank you,” she added.
He didn't reply, but he nodded once. He found keeping busy kept his thoughts in check, and it almost felt like being in her vicinity for awhile was settling him somewhat; perhaps he had gotten used to her psychic power or something. He wasn't sure. Maybe it didn't affect him as much as when he saw her again.
He remembered immediately after the incident-after he had left and ran into her later-the feeling was so strong it made him angry, and he had left quickly, with a lot of yelling. And then those two pains in the asses went and broke into his apartment and wouldn't leave him alone.
They still came back to haunt him every so often, but ever since he had violently relieved them from their mortal coils, it was only during tournaments.
Running a hand through his thick hair, he grabbed two cups to wait until the coffee was done. He wandered back to the window, seeing if the cat was still around. She had probably head off to do whatever cats did.
Heading back over to pour the hot drink for the two of them, he handed her the cup and walked back to his chair. After a few moments he looked over at her.
“If you need to stay another day, go ahead.”
“I think I'm fine,” she said. “Besides, we're staying at a dojo that's not too far.”
He raised an eyebrow at the 'not too far' part. “Are you saying you want to come back?”
Athena was silent. She did, but she almost thought-especially seeing how he was able to at least somewhat care for another being-that it was because she maybe could help him, after all.
She could be stubborn, and the idealism he spoke of was true. Yes, she was idealistic and she thought she could try to help people. She did it through her music years ago, and she tried to help out the people she considered friends. While Iori could not really be considered a friend yet...she was never able to get the haunting feeling of the overwhelming sorrow and loneliness that she was hit with to the point where she broke down crying for near on half an hour.
Grief, it was, as if she had lost several of the people closest to her all at once. If it hit her that badly, she had no idea what was going on with him.
She noticed even now in his place she was less...cheerful and happy-go-lucky. As if there were a sort of cloud here that she was still connected to. She was still positive, but it was almost like there was unfinished business.
Iori had noticed this somewhat, but he said nothing.
The other competitors steered clear of him more often; after the tournament where he had lost his powers, he had beaten Kyo of all people horribly-and his power was renowned-and broke poor Shingo's body so badly that he was in the hospital for longer than most could remember. Benimaru, generally sweet, pleasant and chill Benimaru-had been livid, and she remembered Kyo-who was still a bit battered himself despite healing more quickly than your ordinary person-and Goro having to talk him out of going after Iori himself.
As she was lost in her thoughts, Iori continued to look in her direction. Athena snapped back, running a hand through her extremely long hair and pushing it back somewhat.
“If...I mean...” she looked around. “We have the same enemies. Sort of,” she added quickly, given that she did not consider Kyo an enemy. She had a crush on him for a long time, though she had abandoned that after high school, given he was quite happy with Yuki.
Iori sighed. She got him there. She could be useful in dealing with them, in fact. “Just...let me know first.”
He had a feeling she would end up finding him somehow otherwise. Given that she hadn't given up on him even after a few years, the fact he bailed her out of a bad situation was now probably enough to make her wish to somehow 'thank' him for real or something, despite him saying the contrary.
There was also something-a small-tiny, even...the tiniest voice that somehow actually felt just a little bit comfortable around her these days, when she wasn't trying to psychically pry into him while she was asleep, that was. He felt strange at times, but other times he felt even mildly calm.
He wasn't sure if he simply didn't know how to handle that.
“I'll give you time.” She walked over to him. Thinking for a moment, she touched the side of his face lightly. He flinched back, withdrawing a bit...though not forcefully, and not completely. He would not have let anyone else even come close to doing that these days. Some years back, sure, but not now.
“Iori,” she said. “Thank you. Try not to...destroy too much before we meet again?” She wanted to say 'destroy anything', but she knew that would be pointless.
“No promises.” He was fairly blunt. He could just tell her to never come back...but...perhaps he didn't mind talking to a person sometimes. He somewhat missed it now and again. He didn't think he wanted to spend a lot of time around her or anyone for that matter. She also had enough in the powers department to keep tabs on Those from the Past, they did indeed mostly have the same enemies, and if he had to talk to someone about things, she was the person that he felt the...calmest around, overall.
“I suppose that works,” she replied, gently taking her hand away from his face. She turned to walk out.
“Athena,” he suddenly said.
She turned. “Hmm?”
“What did you see then?” To this day, he never knew. He suddenly decided he wanted to know what exactly she saw that made her so...insistent on poking around his business.
She smiled sadly. “Someone who I wanted to help.” She didn't know how else to put it. “Someone crying.”
Iori turned, looking out the window. “Thanks.”
Athena smiled behind him, walking out.
He didn't remember crying, ever. There was a lot he didn't remember. The Riot of the Blood seemingly screwed with his memory.
Sighing, he stood, cracking his knuckles. He had a feeling he would end up finding more trouble tonight...or it would find him.
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Instinct and Empathy