Chapter Two: The Return
Five years later...
The young woman looked out her window. Nothing but ocean. Gone forever was the meek kunoichi what was Kasumi. What was in her place was an exotic woman of twenty-two. Her hair, once the color of ginger, had she had dyed to a natural shiny dark brown, and was cut short, ending at her neckline, and has been short for the past five years.
She was dressed in a black sleeveless T-shirt, a jacket with a hood, a pair of matching black shorts that showed off her legs and a pair of black hiking boots that stopped at her knees. She had gotten taller, standing at five-feet-eight, having sprouted several inches. Whenever she wore heels or certain boots (save for the ones she have on) she would stand nearly six feet.
She was no longer Kasumi of the Mugen Tenshin clan. That life was over. In her place was Reina Kasumi, a young woman from Osaka attending university in America. Kasumi's back-story was a simple one: she grew up in the Kyushu regions of Japan. Her family had died when she was a child and she was raised in a group home with other displaced and orphaned children. When she turned seventeen, she decided to travel the world and attend college overseas.
Even though she abandoned her primary fighting style of Tenshinmon-ryu Ninjitsu (she did, however, kept in practice), she still retained the quick reflexes and skills of a ninja. In the five years she spent in America, she learned several fighting styles to replace her old style. The first she learned was two styles of Kempo: Shorinji and Nippon Kempo. Kasumi learned both styles from a female chef who worked at the Japanese restaurant where Kasumi worked as a waitress part-time. By the end of the first year, she had gained Shihan status in both styles.
The second style she learned was Aikido. Kasumi enjoyed training in Aikido and by the end of her second year; she was a 2nd dan in the art. The last fighting style she learned to round out her hand-to-hand techniques was a variant of the swordfighting style known as Yagyu Shinkage-ryu. Her former master in Kempo was friends with a master kendoka and offered to teach Kasumi. Kasumi rapidly moved through the ranks and by the end of her fourth year, she reached Shihan level.
Through Ryu's connections, he managed to get Kasumi enrolled in a college in Honolulu. After debating on what she wanted to major in, Kasumi decided on a double-major in Business and Culinary Arts, given her natural talents at cooking. With Ryu helping her pay for her tuition, Kasumi graduated in three years,
given her study habits and her hard work. She also drilled herself in improving her Korean and Chinese, until she was able to speak those languages comfortably, although with a Japanese accent. English was not a problem, since Ryu had drilled her in the language until she could speak like an American, or with an accent.
Seated next to Kasumi, was Lisa. The part-time wrestler and stockbroker looked at her friend after typing into her laptop. "A penny for your thoughts?" she asked in English.
Kasumi looked at the former DOATEC scientist. "No. I'm just anxious in returning home," she replied. Even her voice has changed from a meek teenager to a confident, yet somewhat vulnerable woman.
In the five years she spent in Hawaii, Kasumi had announced her intentions to open a restaurant in Tokyo to both Ryu and Lisa, the latter having been appointed as Kasumi's financial adviser. Lisa had done her job well, using her financial savvy to invest in several stocks in Kasumi's name, giving her the necessary funds needed for her restaurant, not to mention a nice sizable amount of cash (both American Dollar and Japanese Yen) for Kasumi to live off from.
Aside from being a top-notch chef and rising businesswoman, Kasumi also made a name for herself in the martial arts tournaments, having competed in America and the Far East, earning the nickname, 'The Japanese Amazon,' not to mention several rivals as well as respect from the other fighters. With the exception of Ryu, and several others no one recognized her as the person she once was. Not even Hayate or Ayane.
"You're thinking about your family, aren't you?" Lisa asked.
Kasumi frowned. "I haven't thought of them for five years, Lisa. Why should I now?"
"You did see them at that tournament in Kyoto, remember?"
Lisa was right about that. She was in Kasumi's corner when she competed in a full-contact martial arts tournament about one year ago. Hayate and Ayane were there was well, the former in Ayane's corner. Ayane was forced to drop out of the tournament due to a sprained ankle, giving Kasumi a clear path to the finals. When the referee announced her (by her last name first then her personal name, as per to Asian custom) as 'Kasumi Reina,' Hayate and Ayane gave her the once-over, but given her drastic change in appearance and fighting style, they didn't recognize her. They watched as Kasumi took down the former champion in less than five minutes.
After the tournament, Hayate and Ayane confronted Lisa and Kasumi. Kasumi kept her composure, since she didn't want to deal with her estranged family. From what Ryu had told her, Hayate had been wearing black since that fateful day Kasumi had disowned her family and clan and shed her name.
When Kasumi asked about why Hayate was wearing black, he simply replied, "It's my fault. My sister is lost to me and my family."
Even Ayane felt remorse for blindly following the clan's doctrines. She had began to reflect on how she had treated Kasumi during their childhood once she found out about her 'cursed' birth. Needless to say, afterwards, she treated her like crap when all Kasumi wanted to do was help and be a responsible older half-sister.
Kasumi felt no remorse over her actions. Hayate made his choice and he has to live with it. Only a select few knew the circumstances of Kasumi's actions, and most of their anger was directed at Hayate and Ayane for their actions the first year of her self-imposed exile. Even Hitomi took a while to forgive Hayate for what he had done.
"I'll bet you can't wait to see Ryu again," Lisa said, snapping Kasumi out of her thoughts.
Kasumi blushed at what Lisa was implying. Both her and Ryu had been dating for four years, sending letters and e-mails back and forth to one another. Whenever they could actually see one another they spent those moments as if they were their last. In fact, one time, when Kasumi and Lisa were sharing an apartment together, Lisa would have to bury her head underneath the pillows to drown out the obvious sounds of Ryu and Kasumi having sex in her bedroom. Who knew that the proper Kasumi was quite a screamer?
Kasumi smiled sheepishly. "About that...sorry about the noise."
Lisa waved Kasumi off. "Don't worry. You know I like to mess with you. Anyway, I'm glad to see that you're happy with Ryu. You've been through so much the past couple of years with being a runaway and the death sentence, you deserve it."
"Is everything ready once I arrive?" Kasumi asked.
Lisa nodded. "Everything is on schedule. I even amaze myself."
Kasumi nodded. "If the grand opening goes well, then you can expect a bonus."
Lisa grinned. Life was good.
Tokyo International Airport, the following morning...
Following a trip through customs, Lisa and Reina Kasumi headed for the baggage claim. Ryu Hayabusa would be waiting for the both of them. After Lisa grabbed her suitcase and Kasumi retrieved her sportsbag, they saw Ryu Hayabusa approach.
He was older now, more wiser than his twenty-seven years. Aside from the curio shop, Ryu, like Kasumi, had taken several college courses and gained his doctorate in archaeology, and was working part-time as a university lecturer. The superninja continued to operate his curio shop, but at the same time, he was assisting his father with the rebuilding the Hayabusa clan. Fortunately there were survivors of the carnage and they were willing to help bring back the greatness of the clan under Ryu and Joe's leadership.
Kasumi dropped her bags and ran over to Ryu, who easily caught her and lifted her in the air before bringing her back down in a long embrace which was followed by a long kiss.
Lisa rolled her eyes at the couple. After she cleared her throat, Kasumi and Ryu separated. "Welcome home," he said.
Kasumi smiled back at Ryu. "It's great to be home," she said.
The pair and Lisa then left the airport.
About 30 minutes later...
Kasumi had sent out invitations to several of her friends and close acquaintances from the past DOA tournaments to the grand opening, as well as several Japanese businessmen and officials. Deciding not to just make the restaurant strictly a Japanese restaurant, the restaurant would also specialize in Chinese and Korean cuisine, as well as Japanese dishes.
The trio were at Ryu's flat, located above his curio shop. Lisa was fast asleep on the couch while Ryu and Kasumi were in the kitchen, drinking tea. With Lisa out like a light, Kasumi and Ryu got a chance to talk about themselves.
"So the grand opening of your restaurant is in three days?" Ryu asked.
Kasumi nodded. "Yeah. I'm so excited."
"Have you figured out what you're going to call it?"
"I was thinking about The Red Geisha, to be honest," Kasumi replied. "All the good names are taken anyway. Got a nice ring to it." After a moment, Kasumi asked the question she was dreading. "How are the others?"
"Hayate still leads the clan," Ryu said. "He is still wearing black, because of what had happened. Ayane has changed the most. After you left, she searched for you all over Japan. When she couldn't find you, she almost snapped, but I managed to help her through her depression. She just graduated from Tokyo University, majoring in Education and Eastern History. When she is not leading the Hajinmon, she works as a high school teacher. She has an apartment over in Chiyoda."
Kasumi blinked. "Ayane? A high school teacher? That's shocking. And my parents?"
"Shiden is still a tough nut to crack. Ayame is relieved that you managed to escape the death sentence. She was shocked as to what you did to Hayate and Ayane. She said that your little declaration messed Hayate up real bad. Kasumi, don't you think it's time to forgive your family?"
Kasumi leaned up against the counter. "I had five long years to think about this, Ryu. No matter how much I think about it, it still angers me," she replied, her mood somber. "But what's done is done. I got a good life now."
"You still keep in practice with your ninjitsu?"
"Of course. Because of those skills I managed to stay one step ahead of Hayate and the Hajinmon. But I don't use the Tenshinmon style as much as I used to."
"What do you use then?" Ryu asked.
"I learned four styles in five years," Kasumi replied. "I trained in Nippon and Shorinji Kempo, Akido and Japanese swordfighting. The Kempo I learned from my mentor. She is a chef and when I told her that I was opening the restaurant in Japan and that I needed a head chef, she agreed to help. Her friend was a master kendoka and trained me in the Yagyu Shadow style. I took an interest in Akido from a friend of mine. Her sensei taught me."
"Impressive."
"Should be. You know I won several championships because of the training. And with Lisa as my personal accountant, I managed to come up with the funds to open and operate the restaurant."
The two continued to chat with each other over what had happened with their personal lives for the past five years. Ryu's shop was one of the most popular places to shop and given Ryu's knack for archeology, the shop was packed with antiques and artifacts.
The jet lag then caught up with Kasumi. Excusing herself to Ryu's room, she stretched out on the bed was soon fast asleep. Ryu decided to leave the sleeping girls alone and went down to manage the shop.
The next few weeks will be interesting indeed.