Vulnerability, a dead or alive fanfic

Vulnerability

Pairing/s: Hayate/Ein/Hitomi

A/N: it seems I have grown a beard just like the great Dumbledore...as I have not written in years! How long has it been? Fifteen years? Perhaps fifty? I forget...

I haven't grown that old, but still...

Anyways, I have been keeping up with the amounts of reviews for E:TROH, and they are tremendous! 151 reviews in total! Thank you so much! I will continue doing the best I can to reach 200 reviews!

By the way, I have good news: my one shot called "Illness", although I did not have high expectations for this one, was quite well received. Some even asked for a sequel...well I've been thinking, and why not? Although I do have a plan on how to start and continue the story, I've been wondering if Hayabusa should or should not die in the end. Should he keep living for the sake of his beloved? Or should he join her in eternal sleep? Also, should Irene die by his hands, or should she repeat what Kasumi did? (Going a little depressing there...T_T)

Please review your ideas! They make my life!:)

Don't forget to R&R!:) This is happening in Dead Or Alive 5 near the bar at the construction site.

In the quiet of the night, only the sound of waves could be heard. The coolness of the breeze could be felt and the salty scent of the sea could be smelled. There, standing under the moonlight, was a young ninja. His long hair moved along with the wind, and his eyes did not move from the moon. This was the only time he had to himself, the only time where he could be anxious, and sometimes scared. After all, tomorrow was the day that he would make a move to foil Donovan's plan. He was the one who had brought so much pain to his family and his village, the one who had made him forget about himself entirely...the one who had made him force his younger sister into exile.

Hayate sighed. He didn't want to. He didn't want his precious younger sister whom he dearly loved to be unable to see their family. He wanted to go back to those times where they were children and carefree. Where Donovan was no threat, and where he was not leader. However, he knew he could not. He could never truly go back to those days or lament to anyone about going back to them.

Because a good leader was never to show fear or anxiety.

He understood that the moment his father had spoken to him about the succession. Because he was the only son in his family, and because he was the eldest, he was destined to be the next leader. He was taught to be calm and collected in every type of situations. He was also taught to hide his emotions in front of everybody. He was to make sometimes cruel decisions for the future, punish for even the slightest mistake. Because that was the way of the Mugen Tenshin. He could never show his emotional side to anybody.

This reality, although harsh, was his reality, and he would live with it forever.

A sigh escaped his lips. Was it so wrong to show emotions? To show that you were outraged by some decisions? Was it so wrong to be vulnerable sometimes? To let out tears of frustration and to express your incapability to make things happen? If not, then why should he hide this side from even his own family? Why should he be a puppet, restrained by strings for the rest of his life, completely emotionless? He wanted to ask the heavens, but he knew their only reply would be silence. That's right. The heavens did not need to answer anything for him, as he already knew the response. Hayate closed his eyes, and reprimanded himself internally for his own foolishness. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. Hurriedly, he turned around, expecting an enemy, or worse; Ayane, but it was somebody entirely different.

"Ein? I mean, Hayate?" There, illuminated by the moonlight, stood Hitomi, eyes wide in surprise. Hayate felt himself relax. He put on a smile as if to cover up his previous dark thoughts.

"Hitomi." He nodded. Hitomi walked closer to him, an expression still of surprise.

"What are you doing here? Don't tell me you're here for the party as well..." She gave him a questioning look. Hayate chuckled.

"No. I was simply here to get some air. I had a mission that had to be completed around here." He casually replied. Of course, Hitomi had not forgotten that Hayate was a ninja.

"Oh, I see. Well there's a congratulatory party for the Dead Or Alive tournament top tens. Since I came second and since the winner didn't come, I was kind of hogged by reporters and all," suddenly, her shoulders slouched, "I'm sorry. I didn't keep my promise to win. I'm sure you were disappointed..." A sad expression crossed her face. Hayate smiled gently, and placed his hand on top of her head - something he always did as Ein to console her.

"Don't speak like that. After all, coming second isn't nothing and just now, did you not say that you were hogged by reporters? That just means that you became another kind of victor. I'm still very proud of you for winning." He then ruffled her hair. Hitomi gasped.

"Hey! Don't do that!" She then proceeded in trying to smooth them down. This was yet another thing Hayate had done as Ein to console her - and she would always get annoyed at him for ruffling her hair. Every time he did it, he could not help but laugh at Hitomi's cute and angry expression. It did not fail to make him laugh this time either. He covered his mouth and laughed. He soon removed his hand from his mouth and continued to laugh out loud. After a few seconds, he turned back to Hitomi, who was staring at him as if in a trance.

"So you can still laugh like that..." She said, smiling happily. Suddenly, Hayate's smile dropped. What had he done? Wasn't he scolding himself for ever showing expressions to anybody a few moments ago? He had to remain blank. He cleared his throat and looked away.

"I'm sorry," He quietly said, "I got carried away. A ninja leader like me should never laugh this way." Closing his eyes, he went into the process of reprimanding himself again. Hitomi frowned.

"But...why? You always laughed like this back when we were in Germany." She said, cocking her head to the side. Hayate frowned. She was telling the truth. As Ein, he had the freedom to laugh and to show his weaknesses. But not anymore.

"I am not Ein anymore, Hitomi." Although he did not want to make her feel upset, he had said this coldly. He wanted to make sure she understood that he could never be Ein anymore; that he was not meant to be human as a ninja.

"Does that really matter? Whether you're Ein or Hayate? You're still you!" She grabbed his hand. Hayate snatched it away.

"It does matter, Hitomi. A ninja leader, no, a ninja should never show vulnerability towards anybody but himself. That is one face that he must keep secret until he dies. A ninja must be seen as one to have no vulnerability." He said quietly, turning away from her. This conversation was going nowhere. As much as he explained, he doubted that Hitomi would ever understand.

"Then...why don't you share the secret with me?" She said, as quietly. Hayate turned around in surprise.

"What?" He questioned, not fully understanding.

"Even as Ein, I never saw any face where you were vulnerable except the day I found you. You were in pain and confused, and I understood that. But you were always the strong one afterwards. That's why you were always a role model for me and..." Hitomi paused, "and..." She struggled to form words for a few moments but then shook her head, dismissing her previous sentence, "I...I always wondered if you had any weaknesses. But now that you say this kind of thing...I know you do. And I know that you can't show it to anybody since you're a ninja but...to me... you've only been the man I met in Germany to me!" She suddenly raised her voice. Hayate could only stare at her in shock.

"Hitomi..." He said, but was silenced as she took his hands.

"So please...you don't have to be a ninja in front of me. You can just be Hayate!" By then, a tear had slid down her cheek, followed by another. Hayate couldn't stand it anymore. He pulled Hitomi into his arms as she cried.

"Why are you crying?" He asked softly. He heard her sniff.

"Because you can't. So I'm doing it for you." She replied, her voice as soft. Hayate held her tighter against him and chuckled slightly.

"Men don't cry, Hitomi." He stated, finally pulling away from her. He wiped her tears, smiling a gentle smile. Hitomi took a few seconds to calm down and gave him a glare.

"Is that really the only thing you can say? You really have no-" She was silenced into shock as Hayate leaned forward to kiss her forehead. After he did, he smiled at her.

"As a ninja, I cannot be vulnerable. But I won't be a ninja in front of you, Hitomi." He vowed, patting her head once, then walking away into the darkness. There, under the moon, he could still see himself troubled, confused and alone. However, under that same moon, stood a person willing to see those vulnerable faces of his. He looked back to where Hitomi was and saw that she was staring at it, a hand on her forehead. The moonlight itself illuminated her whole body, giving her the glow of an angel. If it were any other person whom had said the things that she said, he would not have acted the way he did. But it was Hitomi, and he could not refuse such an offer from her especially.

What could that mean? Hayate wondered. It seemed that yet another vulnerable face was starting to show...

A/N: I have no idea why I wrote this. Perhaps it's because I never wrote a HitomixHayate one-shot before...

By the way, am I the only one who completely adores Nyo-tengu? Although it upset me quite a bit when I heard that another Tengu arrived (we never really got along, me and Bankotsubo...) I saw her trailer and I think I'll get along with her! However it is a bit annoying to hear that people keep comparing her to Devil Jin when they have nothing in common but wings...

Hope you enjoyed this little one-shot of mine!

Don't forget to R&R!:)