Part Two: A Secret Revealed
[Hayabusa Curio and Antiques/Ryu and Kasumi's home...
Ryu was pacing the living room floor. Kasumi was leaning up against the wall while Kureha was seated on the couch, an amused look on her face. "You keep pacing like that," Kureha said, "You'll make a nice hole in the floor."
"You can't be Kureha," Ryu said. "Kureha is dead. I watched her die back in the village. Doku damn near sliced her in two."
"Yet, here I am," the former shrine maiden said with a small grin. "Have you forgotten what happened the last time the Black Spider clan kidnapped me?"
"What happened?" Kasumi asked.
"Apparently, our bastard uncle Murai did something right," Kureha explained, her expression cold upon mentioning the name of their traitorous uncle. "When Ryu rescued me and brought me back to the village, Murai had designated a decoy, since the Black Spider Clan tends to kidnap girls. One of the girls in the village looked like me, and was chosen. She was the one who died at the village."
"Where were you?" Kasumi asked.
"I was in the mountains, at the old temple," Kureha explained. "I returned just in time to see the village being attacked."
"How do I know you're actually Kureha?" Ryu demanded. "I need proof."
Kureha thought for a moment. Then she pulled down her right sock, revealing a small scar. "I was six when I fell into a ditch and cut my leg on some sharp rocks. You carried me back to the village, and Uncle Joe bandaged me up."
Ryu walked over to Kureha and crouched down. Tracing the scar with one hand he swallowed the lump in his throat. Ryu remembered the incident as well. The injury wasn't serious, but it did made Kureha cry and Ryu carried her piggyback to the village. The scar was about six inches in length, from her kneecap to the calf muscle.
"If you need more proof," Kureha said, pulling an object from her pocket and showing it to Ryu, "then look at this."
Ryu recognized the item immediately.
The Dragon's Eye, the instrumental piece that was needed to transform the Dragon Sword into its complete form, the True Dragon Sword. When Ryu returned to the village, he had placed it on her grave. Kureha was indeed telling the truth.
"Glad to know this thing was useful to you," Kureha said as she placed the item back into her pocket. "I was there at the village when you showed up. It was pretty touching when you placed it on my grave. Too bad I'm not dead. I also heard about your battle against Murai from Muramasa."
"Why now?" Ryu asked. "Why wait instead of thinking that I was the last of the clan?"
Kureha smiled. "You're not the last of our family. Far from it. As always, your father was smart enough to draw up a backup plan."
Ryu blinked. "There are survivors? How many?"
"Out of the entire village," Kureha replied, "close to three hundred families, plus two hundred and seventy-five active ninja. Three of the five council members also got out alive. In order to keep up the deception that the Hayabusa clan was wiped out, we remained hidden. Some are with our allies, the White Crane, the Red Tengu and the Black Falcon Clans, while others have relocated all over Japan. Some are even here in the city. But we all have been keeping close tabs on you and your exploits. Before that, we had to make sure that what had happened to the village wasn't an inside job. Turns out it was Murai's doing. And as you can see, I am no longer a shrine maiden. One of the other girls, Rena, is the new maiden. I wanted to fight."
"So what happens now?" Ryu asked.
"I was sent here from Osaka to look for you and tell you the truth," Kureha explained. "As of this moment, you, Ryu Hayabusa, are the undisputed leader of the Hayabusa ninja clan. Of course, given your responsibilities with your shop, they appointed me as your second-in-command. Whatever you say, goes."
After a moment, Ryu gave his first order to Kureha. "Send word out that the superninja is back and tell them to rebuild the village. I also want a small shrine built to honor those who have died."
Later on that night, Kureha was stretched out on the couch. Following a phone call to the council, who had relocated to Osaka, Ryu offered her a place to stay for the night before returning to Osaka, where the surviving clan elders had taken refuge. Unable to sleep, Kureha, dressed in a pair of Kasumi's jogging pants and a halter top, fixed herself a cup of tea.
"Couldn't sleep?" Kasumi asked as she entered the room.
Kureha shook her head. "Nah. I can only sleep for a moment, then I wake up."
Kasumi could sympathize with her. As she poured herself a cup of tea, Kureha continued, "I've heard about the infamous Kasumi, the runaway who abandoned her clan to avenge her brother. You don't disappoint."
Kasumi sat down across from her. "Most what you hear about me is untrue."
"So why don't you start from the beginning," Kureha replied. "I'm curious about the woman who has my superninja of a cousin wrapped around her finger."
Kasumi smiled. She was liking Ryu's cousin already. "You probably know that Ryu and I have been friends ever since childhood. We grew up together, Hayate, Ayane, Ryu and myself. When I was nine, Genra took Ayane away to become his pupil. At the same time, Ayame, our mother, confessed to Ayane that she was indeed her daughter, that she was a product of rape. Raidou was her father, as well as uncle." Kasumi's face was a hard line. "That bastard lusted after my mother, but she loved my father. One day, while my father was out of the village, Raidou returned and raped her."
By this time, Kureha had focused her attention on Kasumi. She had heard rumors that Ayane was a 'poisoned child' and a 'half-breed' of sorts, and Kasumi verified it.
"Why didn't the clan send their ninja after him? Because the relationship was the same with me and Ayane, destined to live in the shadow of the elder sibling. I'm the elder sister by a year. Then one day...Raidou returned. He wanted the clan's ultimate technique, the Sky Torn Blast. He stole it from Hayate, and nearly crippled Hayate by using the blast on him."
Kasumi's brow furrowed. "With my brother incapacitated, they wanted me to take over as clan leader. I argued with them, saying that killing Raidou was to be the top priority, not to force leadership onto me. But the clan wanted to sweep what had happened to my brother under the rug. I left the clan to avenge him, but in doing so, I became a nukenin."
"A runaway shinobi," Kureha said.
Kasumi nodded. "I avenged my brother. I fought against Raidou and I killed him. But a nukenin can't return to their clan and I was marked for death. For the past year, I was chased all over Japan. It was until after the clan, along with Ryu and myself attacked DOATEC's Tritower, I left Japan.
"I found myself in Hawaii, and after some soul searching, I decided enough was enough," Kasumi continued. "There was a saying I heard while I was in America, 'If you want peace, prepare for war.' I decided to take the fight to Hayate and the clan. I learned Karate, as well as Hajinmon Ninjitsu and Kendo once I returned to Japan, as well as sword fighting. Ryu was nice enough to let me hide here while I declared war on the clan."
Kasumi smiled. "My plan was to force Hayate to lift the death sentence. In order to do so, I had to fight. Upon returning to Japan, I called Hayate and Ayane out, and they didn't disappoint. Ayane send the Hajinmon after me, I would send them to the hospital. Then Hayate was next. I lured him to a warehouse and attacked him, beating him within an inch of his life. My plan was to challenge him to a match for my freedom. But since I know my brother well, he can't fight me, so he had Ayane fight in his place."
"And you won," Kureha said.
Kasumi nodded. "By using the same technique on Ayane that Raidou used on Hayate. Now, the death sentence is lifted and I don't have to worry about the Hajinmon chasing me all over Japan. In order to save face, Hayate declared me a ronin. I haven't spoken to my family since that day. They chose the clan over me."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Kureha said. "Your clan was always harsh in its doctrines."
"So what's your story?" Kasumi asked. "I told you mine."
"If Ryu didn't already tell you," Kureha replied, "I was the shrine maiden assigned to guard the Dark Dragon Blade back in the village. And as you saw earlier with the Black Spiders, I have a talent for archery." She smiled. "Ryu saw me messing around with his archery equipment one day and offered to teach me."
"He taught you well," Kasumi admitted. "You're quite a shot. Did he teach you hand-to-hand combat as well?"
"No, one of the senior ninjas taught me how to defend myself. As I said, I was at the mountain temple on a personal vacation when I came back to the village. Doku and the Black Spider Clan were killing everyone in sight. I saw Miki, the girl who was my decoy, get killed by Doku. Even though we were crippled, we were not wiped out. While Ryu dealt with the Vigoor Empire, the surviving council members, as well as myself, led the survivors to safety.
"At the same time, I had to find out who was responsible. When it turned out to be Murai, I wanted to kill him myself, but Ryu beaten me to it. Since then, we have been in hiding, waiting and rebuilding our numbers. As I said, the clan has appointed me as Ryu's vice-leader of the Hayabusa clan."
"He has proven to be worthy of the task," Kasumi said. "I mean, taking on the Demon Clan on two separate occasions, not to mention crooked government agents, the Vigoor Empire and who knows what else..."
"You heard about the Demon clan?" Kureha asked.
"Ryu has told me about his run-ins with them," Kasumi replied mildly. ⌠It was during the festival. It was also where we shared our first kiss." She looked at Kureha. "But why the schoolgirl get-up?"
"No one's gonna suspect a schoolgirl to be a up and rising warrior from the Hayabusa clan," Kureha said, grinning. "Besides, I'm only nineteen. The schoolgirl outfit is only a disguise. Sometimes the best way to hide is out in the open."
The two girls spent some more time talking about their lives until they went to bed. This time, they were finally able to get some rest.
