...BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS ...
chapter 1
"Tournament..?" A brown haired girl asked. "Yes. Its called the DOA Tournament, you remember..." He told her. "Umm..I dont know father..am I really ready for this ?" She asked. "Hitomi..I've trained you very well. Youre getting better all the time." Her father had told her. She looked away. 'DOA Tournament..? Why does THAT sound familiar..?' She thought to herself. "Do you remember? A few years back, when Ein was still among us..You two would talk about this tournament that you would enter together." He mentioned to her.
She looked back at him. "Father! You promised me, you would never mention his name, again!" She blasted. He looked down. "I wonder where that boy is right now..." He mumbled. She looked down. "I'll think about it..." She told him, and walked away. He watched her go back to the house, and smiled. "I hope she says yes.." he told himself.
That night at dinner, the subject came up again. "So...are you going to enter?" He asked her. She looked at him. Her mother watched her. "I think...yes. I'm going to enter." She told them. Her father was so happy that he jumped up and held onto her daughter very tightly. She smiled, and had a sudden flashback.
...FLASHBACK...
"Hyah! " The boy watched the girl. "Good job Hitomi. Youre really getting better...I guess..." He teased. She aimed for him, but he caught her punch. "What do you mean I GUESS?" She smiled at him. "I'm kidding!" He told her, as he ruffled her hair. She stood up. "You treat me like i'm still a little kid!" She said. He smiled at her. "Maybe...its cuz you act like such a baby..." She grinned, and gave him a kick to the shin. "Ow! Hey! That hurt!" He yelled. She stood up, and grinned once more. "Now who's the one acting like a baby..?" She teased.
He laughed, and she threw another punch at him. He caught it, and pulled her onto him, and their bodies were against eachothers. "Then, maybe we should grow up, and act like adults..." He smiled, as he touched her lips with his finger. She blushed and looked into his eyes. He grinned and backflipped over her, causing her to fall over. "Heh. Gotcha." He told her. "H-Hey! Thats not fair ! That was dirty!" She yelled out to him. He walked away, whistling.
She got up and the two went for a walk through the park. There was flower petals falling, and it looked so romantic...
"Ein..?" He looked at her. "I was thinking..." she told him. "About...?" He asked her. "About, the DOA tournament...Do you think we're ready to enter...?" He smiled at her. "Maybe..we should train a bit more. We aren't FULLY ready yet.." He told her. She grinned. "You mean...YOURE not ready yet..." She teased. He laughed. "Kidding..."
The two sat down on a bench next to a beautiful fountain. "But...promise me something..?" she told him. He looked down at her. "We'll enter together...? And encourage eachother till the end..?" She asked him. He smiled. "Of course..." He told her. "say it..." She told him. "I promise." he swore. She smiled.
...END OF FLASHBACK...
...MOUNTAINS...
"Hayate!" He heard. Then he turned and found his little sister running after him. "Kasumi..." He sighed. "What on earth are you doing?" He asked her. "What do I look like i'm doing? Following you!" She shouted happily. "What? Why?" He got angry. "Because i want to join the tournament too!" He looked at her. "Please, Hayate! Pretty Please!" She begged. He looked down. "Okay. Fine. Lets get going then." She jumped up happily.
"So...tell me again, WHY youre entering this tournament ?" She asked him. "Why else do people enter tournaments..?" He asked her. "Uhm...to prove theyre the best..?" She wondered. "Exactly." He told her. The two continued on, and finally reached the city that the tournament was held in. "Wow. Its huge..." She said in amazement. "Lets keep going." He commanded.
...BACK WITH HITOMI ...
"Goodbye father." She smiled. He was very proud of his daughter. How grown up, and strong she was. "Goodbye, Hitomi. Please be careful." She nodded. "I will. dont worry about me." She told him, then she turned to her mother. "Bye dear. Take care of yourself...Here. take this money." She told her. Hitomi nodded. "Thanks. Well, gotta go! Buh bye!" She yelled one last time, and she left.
"Hmm...so..I go straight...and...huh ?" She then notices another girl. "Uh, hey! Excuse me, miss!" She yells. The girl turns and watches her. Hitomi runs over to her. "Do you know, which way the DOA tournament is being held..?" She asks her. The girl nods. "I'm heading for there too. I guess you will be one of my opponents..." The girl says. "Oh ? How exciting. My name's Hitomi. What's yours ?" She asks. "Ayane." The girl tells her.
"Ayane ? Okay, so do you know where youre going ?" Hitmoi asks her. She nods. "Just follow me." Ayane tells her. "Okay, thank you." Hitomi says. The girl just nods, and starts to walk away as Hitomi follows behind her.
A few hours later, they end up in a city full of people. Hitomi is amazed. Then Ayane points to a building. "There it is. Are you going to join right now ?" Ayane asks her. Hitomi nodded. "Yep. Are you ?" She asks. The girl shook her head. "I have someone I need to find. Go ahead." She tells her. "Thank you again, Ayane. It was nice meeting you, and it'll be an honor to get to fight against you." Hitomi smiles. And then, for the very first time, Ayane smiles at her.
Hitomi entered the building and noticed many people entering the tournament. "Wow. Thats a lot..." She told herself. 'Am I really going to make it..?' she askd herself. She walked up to the desk, and finally entered. "Thank you, Hitomi. The tournament is in five days. So I think its best you get ready." The woman told her. "Thanks." Hitomi politely said, and walked out of the building.
"I guess I needa check out a hotel, for 5 days...?" She asks herself and continues walking, when she spots, a purple haired girl in a dark alley with another person. Hitomi takes a peek. 'Ayane..? what is she doing in the alley? with that guy...?' She thought to herself. Hitomi listens to them.
"So you've seen him? He's here?" Ayane asks the man in a shinobi outfit. "Yes. And he is being accompanied by Kasumi." He tells her. She looks down, angered. "Kasumi..." She mumbled. "Wait." The man tells her. And he looks Hitomi's way. And she gasps. Hitomi is about to run away when suddenly, the man that had been in front of Ayane was now directly in front of her. Her eyes widened. "H-how did you..." She started.
"Hitomi ?" Ayane asks her. Hitomi turns and faces her. "You know this girl..?" The man asks. "Yes. She's a friend." Ayane explains. "What are you doing here Hitomi..? Arent you suppose to be registering right now..?" Hitomi nods. "I already did. I was just looking for a hotel, and I saw you, so I came over...sorry. for..listening..." She tells her. Ayane laughs. "Its okay. But if you need a hotel, just turn right at the next turn. Its a really good hotel, and many competitors in the tournament are staying there." Ayane tells her.
"Thank you once again, Ayane." Hitomi smiles, and she smiles back at her. She was about to leave but saw the man watching her. Hitomi politely bows and walks away. "Who is that..?" The man says. "Dont worry Hayabusa. She's no threat to our problem." Ayane smiles. "But she WILL be, if you continue to see her. Be careful." Hayabusa tells her. "Dont worry.."
"Wow. Ayane, was right. This looks like a really great hotel! oh, wow! a sparring room, and even a hot springs? How cool!" She jumps for joy. Hitomi then walks up to the counter and heads up for her designated room. Then she changes into a tank top with jeans, her usual training clothes. She headed down when she noticed a man with orang-ish hair. Hitomi's eyes widened as she leaned over to see who this man was, but she fell over when the man left, and a strange orange haired girl ran over to help her up.
"Are you okay ?" The girl asks. Hitomi nods and apologizes. The girl laughs and asks, "Were you trying to take a peek at my brother?" She smirks. "M-Me? uh, no! no! i was just uh...he looked familiar! Im sorry!" She laughed once more. "Dont worry! I wont tell him! Hi, my name is Kasumi, whats yours?" Hitomi bowed and said, "Hitomi. Nice to meet you, are you joining the tournament too?" Kasumi nodded. "Yep! with my brother." Hitomi nodded. "well, i got to get to training, nice meeting you! Bye!" Hitomi told her and walked down the stairs. "Buh bye!" Kasumi smiled.
On her way to the sparring room, she thought she heard her name being called. As she looked back she had accidently bumped into someone. When she looked up she saw the man she had saw earlier with Ayane. "Oh, um, excuse me sir." Hitomi told him. Then he held his hand out to help her get up. "I'm Hayabusa. You are..?" He asked her. "Hitomi." She stated. "Thank you for helping me up, but I got to get to training.." She mentioned to him. "What a coincidence." He smiled. "I'll walk you to the sparring room, and maybe i'll help you train?" He asked her. "Oh, thank you! That would be great!"
The two were walking to the sparring room when Hayabusa had spotted an orange haired man. "Hayate?" He mumbled to himself. Hitomi looked up. "Huh?" She wondered. Hayate looked over to them, but hadn't noticed Hitomi, all he was doing was looking to Hayabusa. "Nothing, lets get going." Hayabusa told her. She nodded and the two continued walking. Hayate had followed them, wondering who that woman was.
When Hayate got to the sparring room, he had noticed a brown haired girl competing against Hayabusa. "Why does she seem familiar?" He asked himself out loud. He continued to watch from the window. Then, he saw what he never expected Hayabusa to do. LAUGH. Hayate's eyes widened. 'He's...laughing?' He thought to himself. When the two had switched sides he looked at the woman's face, and he almost fell to the ground.
"HITOMI?" He asked out loud. Hitomi had heard her name and looked over to where she had heard it, but Hayate had hid himself. Then she went back to training. Hayate walked over to the door having his back turned, and walking in, wanting to know what the two were talking about. So he had hidden behind a pedestal right next to where they were training, and listened to them.
"Hyah!" Hitomi had tried to hit him, but missed. She bent down and took long breaths. "Your...not going to enter this tournament, are you?" Hitomi had asked him. He laughed. "Why, am I just to hard for you to handle?" She laughed. "Yes sir!" He smiled at her, "No, i'm just here looking for someone, dont worry. But you're really actually pretty good. I'd say you're as good as Ayane." He told her. "Really? Are ya sure? Ayane looks tough!" Hitomi told him. "Not really." He laughed. "Can we take a break? Please? Pretty Please?" Hitomi begged. He laughed. "Alright then."
TO BE CONTINUED.