A/N: I haven't written a DOA fic in a while and I wanted to try something different with this fic, so I hope everyone enjoys it!

Disclaimer: I do not own DOA. If I did Hayate/Ryu would seriously be canon or at least implied.

Summary: When Hayate notices his friend acting different after he regains his memories and tries to find out what's wrong, only to find that the problem is something he least expected and may not be able to fix. Past Hayate/Ryu and maybe some future Hayate/Ryu

Something had been bothering Hayate since his memories had returned. He had taken his place as the rightful leader of the Mugen Tenshin clan, and at the moment, everything had been somewhat calm. Yet, something was still off and he knew that it had something to do with his best friend, but he just couldn't figure out what it was.

Ryu had been acting strangely since he had found out that Hayate's memory had fully returned. He had grown distant and his visits to the village had become few and far between. He was worried about his friend, but no one he talked to could shed any light on what the problem was.

Hayate sighed and stood up. He couldn't concentrate or focus when all he could think about was Ryu. He couldn't even relax enough to meditate! The sound of the door sliding open drew his attention to his sister. "Ayane? What are you doing here? I thought you had a mission to take care of?"

The purple haired girl nodded. "My mission is done. I was just coming to report back to you."

Hayate nodded. "Thank you. If that is all you may take your leave now."

Ayane hesitated and instead stepped further into the the room, closing the door behind her. "...I have also just returned from the Hayabusa village."

Hayate couldn't stop the surprise that he knew shown on his face. He was afraid to go himself, as he felt that it would just make things worse between them. "How is Ryu doing?" he asked softly.

Instead of answering his question, she replied with one of her own. "Hayate...are you sure your memory has completely returned?"

"Wha—what? Of course it has! What does that have to do with anything?"

Apparently Ayane didn't seem to hear him, as she just sighed and muttered. "I guess he doesn't remember after all."

Hayate began to grow angry. He thought everything was back to normal. He thought he had his life back, but now he finds out there may still be some things that were missing. That didn't sit right with him at all. "What do I not remember?"

"It isn't my place to say. If you want to know that, you need to go see Hayabusa-sama."

"Please..." That stopped Ayane dead in her tracks. She had never heard her brother beg before. "Anything that will help me understand. I need to know something that could help me fix this."

Ayane looked at him sadly, "Didn't you notice anything different about how Hayabusa-sama was acting? Like he was waiting for something? Especially if he was with you?"

Realization flashed over Hayate's face. That described Ryu's behavior perfectly. At first, Hayate just wrote it off as friendly concern. Then came the looks with the emotions that Hayate couldn't recognize, the touches that lingered for just a few seconds longer than normal, and the moments where it seemed like his usually stoic friend would have so much he would want to say but would freeze right before the words would fall from his lips.

Then it all just seemed to stop.

There were no more looks or touches and Ryu seemed to always remain silent unless it was absolutely necessary to speak to him. Their friendly spars grew farther and farther apart and it had been weeks since he had seen his friend. He missed the closeness they shared, the closeness that he had somehow managed to ruin.

"What do I need to do to fix this, Ayane?"

"Go talk to him. That's the only way any of this can even begin to get fixed."

Hayate nodded. "Please tell my father where I've gone." Ayane nodded as she watched her brother disappear.

"I really hope this can be fixed." She said softly to herself as she closed the door to Hayate's room behind her.

Hayate stood frozen outside of Ryu's home. It had always brought up fond memories for him from back when they were children. He had to smile as he thought about all of the times they played there. He slowly walked the through the doors and followed the familiar halls, until he found Ryu's room. He hesitated again. What if he doesn't want to see me? What if I really do make things worse?

He tried to push those thoughts aside as he knocked gently on the doors. "Ryu...It's me Hayate. Can I come in?"

The silence inside the room seemed to last forever, and just as Hayate turned to walk away he heard a soft but slurred, "Come in."

Hayate slid the door open and stepped inside and froze at what he saw. His best friend was surrounded by multiple bottles of sake, and from the smell of the room it was very strong. As looked in the corner of the room he felt his heart break into small pieces. Ryu sat slumped against the wall. Hair unkempt, eyes red, skin pale and still dressed in his uniform which at some parts was torn and others caked with dirt. He looked like he hadn't moved in days and seeing him like that made Hayate want to rush over and hold him in his arms.

The dragon ninja's bleary eyed gaze locked onto him. "What are you doing here Hayate? I know you have much that needs to be done back in the village."

"I wanted to come see you. I haven't seen you in so long and I wanted to know that you were alright."

Ryu grabbed one of the bottles and took a drink. "I'm completely fine." He said coolly. "Now won't you please just leave."

Hayate began to step out of the room and leave as quickly as he could. He didn't want to believe that something he did changed his friend so much. Go see him. It's the only way this can even begin to get fixed. Ayane's words rang through his head and he turned back and began picking up all of the sake bottles and cleaning up the room.

"I can't leave, my friend. Not until we talk." It wasn't like Ryu to drink. Not even when his clan was massacred did Hayate see him drink any alcohol to help ease the pain. "I want to know what's hurt you so badly, so maybe I could help ease your pain."

"My pain...you want to help ease my pain, when you're the one that caused it!" Ryu shouted, as he stood up and marched over to Hayate. "I don't need anything else from you!"

Hayate looked at him in shock. Ryu's words were exactly what he didn't want to hear. He was hoping that it wasn't him and now that he found out that it was, he didn't know what to do to fix it.

"How did I hurt you?" he asked softly.

Not many things scared Hayate, but the angry growl that answered him stuck instant fear into his heart, but Ryu's answer wasn't full of anger or shouting. In fact, Hayate had to strain his ears just to hear what he had said. "What did I do to you, Ryu?"

Ryu had looked away from him, focusing on the ground rather than look into Hayate's eyes. "You forgot. You forgot everything."

Hayate's eyes widened. That was the was I the problem? Ryu was upset about him losing his memory? But it couldn't be. He was the one who helped him get it back. Why would he still be upset?

"Ryu, my memories have returned, you know that. You were the one that told me what I needed to do to get them back."

"You don't understand! Your memory came back, but you still forgot." Ryu walked back over to his corner and slumped down again. "I guess those memories weren't important enough to be brought back."

Hayate knelt in front of his friend. He was deeply confused. It didn't feel like anything was missing. He knew who everyone was, what had made him lose his memory to begin with, he knew everything. Before he could ask more questions, Ryu spoke again.

"At first, I thought you were faking it. I thought that acting like you didn't remember was your way of telling me that we were through. That you didn't want me anymore."

"What? I-I could never..."

Ryu just ignored Hayate and continued on. "But as time went on I realized that you weren't faking and that you really didn't know, but for some reason, the fact that you didn't know hurt more than the thought of you pretending."

"Ryu please! What don't I know?" he shouted desperately.

"That we used to be lovers!" Ryu had finally looked at him again. His cheek streaked with tears and his eyes filled with ones that had yet to fall. "We used to be lovers." he said again, though this time much softer and sadder.

Hayate couldn't speak. He didn't know what he could say that would make Ryu feel any better. This was the last thing he was expecting him to say. There was no way they could have been lovers and Hayate not remember. There was no way he would allow memories as precious as those to slip away forever.

"Ryu...I don't know what to say. I mean I really don't remember any of that. Is there anything I can-"

"Don't! I don't need your pity. It's not like that would bring back my Hayate. Nothing else I did worked."

Then it dawned on him. All the touches and looks. All of that was... "to get me to remember." Hayate said softly to himself. He knelt in front of Ryu and held him tightly to his chest. He felt the dragon ninja struggling as he tried to escape his hold, before finally giving up and going limp in his arms.

"Don't do this to me Hayate." he whispered. "You're only doing this to make me feel better. Not because you really want me."

Hayate released him and held Ryu firmly by shoulders, forcing their eyes to lock."You're right. I don't want you. Not in the way you want me to." The hurt in Ryu's was so strong that he instantly wanted to take the words back and do his best to soothe his friend, but he knew this needed to be said, or Ryu's pain would never start to fade.

"But won't you at least let me try?"

Ryu pushed him away forcefully, knocking the other man on his back. "I—I don't...you shouldn't force your self to do this. We can just go back to being friends. I don't want you to force yourself to be with me when it's not what you really want."

"How do you know what I want?" Hayate shouted as he stood. "I may not remember anything that we shared before, but I do know that these last few weeks were pure hell! Knowing that you were avoiding me and to find out it was because of something I did hurt me to no end. I do love you Ryu. Can't you give me some time to figure out what kind of love it is?"

Ryu didn't want to hear this. He wanted Hayate back, but he wanted his Hayate back. What his friend was saying was so alien to him, even if this was what part of him truly wanted, he didn't know if he could except it.

Hayate had continued speaking, his voice laced with sadness, regret and what Ryu would have swore was the tiniest bit of hope. "I want to try. I really do, and while I can't promise that things will be the same as before, I can at least try to make them better than they are now right?"

Ryu just remained silent. He walked over to the door to his room and held it open. "Hayate, please just go. You've said enough. I just want to be alone now."

Hayate sighed but nodded his head. "Fine. I understand." As he walked passed Ryu, he leaned in and quickly placed light kiss on his lips before he could react. "I'll see you later Ryu."

Ryu watched Hayate leave in shock. He suddenly wanted to call out to him, to make him come back, but he couldn't. His pride wouldn't let him. As much as he hated to say it, he couldn't move on. Even when Hayate had offered him everything he had lost, he couldn't accept it, because it wouldn't be the same. Even though Hayate wanted to make him feel better and wanted to love him, Ryu still rejected him, and because of that rejection, he may have just watched the best thing in his life possibly walk away from him for good.