I just wanted to say thank-you to DarKxKunoichi for helping me get this chapter up seeing as I'm clueless and had no idea and for reviewing. And thank-you to spacegal19 for alerting me and, of course, for being the first to review the first story I ever posted.
Chapter Two
Worry not, Kasumi.
Don't die on me, Kasumi.
The dark haired ninja recalled the words Ryu had said to her over the years. Of course he had said several other things to her over the years but these two phrases, as simple as they were, seemed to bring Kasumi to the same conclusion time and time again: As little and frail as it may be, there had to be a spark between herself and Ryu to compel the earnest ninja to drop his cold demeanor for a second to say such things.
Now that Ryu was no longer in the dojo with her, Kasumi felt the cold darkness of the surrounding night creep around her. The sun had gone down completely and only a small sliver of moonlight shone onto the dojo's vast floor. She turned and walked out of the dojo; her footsteps not making even the slightest sound. Once she stepped down the ancient, cracked stone steps, she titled her head upwards and closed her eyes.
Hayabusa....she thought, softly brushing a strand of hair out of her face as the wind played with it, drawing it forward. She took a deep breath and took off at a full sprint.
Running. She was always running. Was this the price she was too pay for avenging her brother? Had all the memories between them turned to nothing but discarded dust because she had cast aside some code to salvage what remained of her older brother's pride? Kasumi felt the unmistakable burning of oncoming tears prickle behind her eyes and she sniffed them back. Crying had done nothing and it wouldn't do anything now. If anything, it gave her position away to any scouting ninjas.
She flitted between the trees; more lithe than any shadow. Kasumi knew where she was going; she wasn't running merely to run. She was heading home. Of course 'home' wasn't really her home. It actually belonged to Tina Armstrong, Kasumi's friend ever since their first trip to Zack Island. The two girls had somehow bonded; ironically forming a friendship between the outgoing rising starlet and the shy out cast.
Amidst their various volley ball games and lounging, Kasumi had accidentally let it sleep that she didn't have a home and that she was always 'traveling' a lot. Tina's heart had gone out to the younger girl and had let Kasumi use a vacation house Tina had in the countryside setting of Japan. The house had originally been a present to Tina from her father, Bass Armstrong, when she won the International Female Wrestling Championship but Tina had opted not to use it only to disband any connection she had to her over protective father. Although she refused to use it, the house was still in her name. Tina said the house was as good as Kasumi's and not to worry about paying for anything seeing as her father, Bass would pay for everything.
So, Kasumi was running 'home.' Before she got to the lake that served as great scenery for the house she was staying in, Kasumi scaled a tree and looked around. She perked her ears for any sounds of assassins or other unruly disturbances. Having heard and seen nothing, she proceeded to run down to the lake and go around until she was under the cliff the house sat on. As soon as she stepped under the cliff, motion sensor lights flicked on and shined on a twisted wooden staircase up to the first floor balcony. Kasumi hurried up the steps and slid open the back door and slipped into the pitch black kitchen.
It took a quick second for her eyes to adjust to the outline of the objects in the darkness. She walked around the island and the kitchen table and slipped around the corner that led to the first set of bedrooms. There were two floors above her, each with their own deck though each went out a little further. She opened the last door on the right and slipped into what she had affectionately called her bedroom.
She choose not to turn on the light for fear of attracting something outside. Instead, she stripped out of her sweat drenched, muddied, ripped clothes and slid under the soft covers. Before she laid her head down on her pillow, she looked around the room for any familiar outlines in the darkness. There was the fish tank with the fish in it that she had caught from the lake herself. A bedside table where an alarm clock she found rested was to her right. There was the closet doors and the dresser that had some of the clothes Kasumi had bought at Zack Island and that was it save the balcony doors that showed a priceless view of the lake when it was light outside. Content with being surrounded with the familiar, Kasumi closed her eyes and wriggled comfortably under the sheets before falling asleep. Had she looked out the balcony doors a few seconds longer, she would have seen a dark figure sheath it's sword before jumping over the balcony and vanishing.
"Can you hear my voice? Can you hear my song? It's a serenade so your heart can find me, oh! And suddenly you're flying down the stairs into my arms baby!"
Kasumi jerked awake at the sound of a voice, no matter how sweet it was, in her room. She quickly scanned the room and clutched the covers to her chest. She turned her head to the side and noticed the clock was blinking and the voice was singing from its speakers. Kasumi laughed at herself and turned the alarm clock off. Funny...I don't remember setting it....it's not like I have something to set it for, she thought. Either way she yawned and threw the sheets off of her. She climbed to her feet and crossed over to the dresser. The ninja pulled out a pink chemise (or more like a more revealing version of a night gown) and put it on before she sauntered out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. Her reflection looked pale and a little haggard as if she hadn't gotten much sleep. She couldn't even remember what she dreamed about provided she dreamt at all. All she could remember was arms....strong arms around her, protective arms securely wrapped around her quivering frame. She couldn't see anything but she could feel those arms and the sense that they were holding her together somehow.
Kasumi turned to the shower and turned on the water. Only after feeling that it was to her liking did she lose the chemise and step in. The water felt good against her skin as it combed through her hair gently. There was soap and shampoo Kasumi had taken from Zack Island so the runaway could wash normally. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her before stooping and picking up the chemise. She sauntered out of the bathroom and froze as a voice echoed from her bedroom. It was a melodic voice and had a thick note of melancholy in it. Kasumi tip toed over and looked in the bedroom. There was nobody there but the alarm clock had gone off again.
"Cause you were made for me. Somehow I'll make you see how happy you make me. I can't live this life without you by my side; I need you to survive so stay with me. You look in my eyes and I'm screaming inside that I'm sorry..."
Kasumi cautiously stepped into the bedroom, spooked that the alarm clock had gone off again. Because she was into fortune telling and the supernatural, she believed that nothing happened twice for coincidence. She was positive she hadn't set the alarm yet it went off and now, when she was nowhere near it, the alarm clock had gone off again.
Kasumi reached out a timid hand and turned it off. She looked around as if to see an assassin casually leaning against the doorframe but there was nobody there. Kasumi shook her head and dropped the towel to wrap her hair in it. She went over to her dresser and, because she was so spooked and distracted, she opened the draw she had neatly placed her swimsuits. On top of them all was a picture of her and Ayane.
Kasumi blushed fiercely. Those days on Zack Island had been some of the best of her life; not just because she could do whatever she wanted and wear as little(if she desired to be as risqué as the other girls)as she wanted but because she had reconnected with Ayane on a level they hadn't been on since they were children. Kasumi was wearing what seemed to be a crop-top version of a tux and black bikini bottoms with an ace of spades sticking out while Ayane wore short denim shorts and a yellow bikini top at least two sizes too small.
At the time, Kasumi could have cared less that she was wearing something she would only think an indecent woman would wear because she had been free....but now looking back at it....she wondered what she had been thinking. Kasumi ignored the fact that they were wearing little clothing and focused on what the two were doing which was hugging each other with big, genuine smiles on their faces. Kasumi ran her finger over the picture softly, a small smile creeping on her face as she took a stroll down memory lane. After a minute or two, Kasumi put the photo away and got dressed. She wore a denim skirt and sleeveless pink shirt with white heeled boots. A nice, warm pink scarf wrapped comfortably around her neck and finished the look. Sure, such attire would be suicide if she was running around in the forest all day but she was planning on staying in the city and she wouldn't be caught dead wearing some of the things she took back from Zack Island in the public eye.
Kasumi walked down the hall with her boots clacking against the hardwood. She didn't stop in the kitchen; she wasn't even that hungry. Besides, she would probably buy something out. Which reminded her...she hurried back into the bedroom and took a wad of money out from under the mattress. She had taken a lot from Zack Island, including the winnings from her poker games. She stuffed it in one of her boots and hurried out of the house.
No sooner had she taken a step onto the first step descending the balcony did a shruikan appear from nowhere and nearly take off her nose. Only the fact that her quick reflexes told her to lean back an inch saved her from getting fatally wounded. Kasumi turned her head, thinking it was Ryu. Her heart did a somersault once she realized who it was sprinting towards her.
Ayane.
Kasumi didn't give Ayane the chance to catch her standing still. Keep moving, Ryu had said Kasumi reminded herself. She placed one firm hand on the left banister before kicking the right banister and sending herself flipping up towards the solid ground the balcony provided. Kasumi moved out of the way as Ayane landed in the spot Kasumi had just occupied. Ayane grinned at Kasumi, a look so cold it could have frozen Australia. Kasumi decided to keep her face in a neutral expression.
"After all this time...living it up in a house like this was the least place I'd expect to find you. But then again...I suppose even the princess can somehow get whatever she wants." Ayane said, lifting her hand. Kasumi swallowed nervously. She wasn't nervous for herself, she was nervous for Ayane. Time and time again Kasumi and Ayane had engaged in a fight with a ferocity that could only be rivaled by two lionesses. Time and time again Kasumi came out on top and leaving Ayane's pride a little more wounded each time.
"Ayane....I-"
"Save your excuses, Kasumi. You made your choice-"
"But can't we just go back to the village together? That's what I was trying to tell Hayate! DOATEC is destroyed! Can't we forget this ever happened and-"
"Ignore the fact that you betrayed your village?" Ayane interrupted, her hand going into her belt and coming back up with another shruikan. Kasumi sighed.
"I did what I had to, Ayane! I avenged my brother...our brother-"
"At the cost of your whole village!" Ayane reminded. Kasumi shook her head sadly.
"Are you telling me you would not do the same? Would you not avenge the one you love?" Ayane glared at Kasumi; the younger ninja's bottom lip curling in disdain.
"No one person is worth the dishonor." Ayane said thinly, lifting her head arrogantly.
"Even if that one person is the only person you look up to-!" Kasumi gasped and had to jump backward onto the railing to avoid the shruikan Ayane hurled at her. The weapon buried itself in the wood under Kasumi's feet. Kasumi crouched low before pushing off hard and grabbing onto the balcony floor above her. She swung up and flipped over the railing to land on the second balcony. Kasumi turned and did it one more time until she reached the roof. The wind caught her face, whipping her long tresses into her face. When she ran her hand through them to clear her sight, Ayane was already on the roof.
"I will finish what no other assassin has even come close to starting," Ayane swore. Kasumi held up her hand with her palm outward.
"Ayane, you don't have to do this. Genra is dead and it was he that ordered my life to be taken wasn't it? Isn't the demand to kill me voided automatically?" Kasumi asked. Ayane frowned at her.
"It was but Hayate had reordered it." Ayane said. Kasumi knew this but she didn't understand her family's blind devotion to laws that deemed it acceptable to kill one's own family. Kasumi looked around for an escape. She could jump over and take the sixty five foot drop and land into the lake....hopefully it was deep enough. Or she could try to make the twenty yard jump across to the trees. Fall to death and hit ground...or fall to death and hit water...oh the choices.
"Ayane...please-"
"Pleading gets you no where!" Ayane snapped. "Prepare to die!" Kasumi frowned and closed her hands into fists.
"I told you once, Ayane. I won't be defeated by you." Kasumi reminded thinly. Ayane sprinted at her older sister.
"We'll see about that!" Ayane yelled.
"Will it ever end?" Kasumi whispered sadly. She took a step back and Ayane flew into a fury of intense combos. Kasumi dodged and stepped back, avoiding her sister's attacks easier than Ryu's.
Ayane karate kicked at Kasumi and Kasumi blocked the first foot but Ayane's second foot was faster than expected. Kasumi gasped as Ayane kicked her older sister so hard that Kasumi flew into the air and landed hard on the ground four feet away. Kasumi rolled to her feet as Ayane kicked her square in the face. Kasumi's head snapped back with the force of the kick and she was stunned for a second. Ayane grabbed Kasumi by both arms and jumped and kicked Kasumi full in the chest. The move should have dislocated both of Kasumi's arms had Kasumi not slipped out at the last second. Never the less, the force sent her flailing backwards off the roof.
She landed on the glass table on the top most balcony, falling through the table and hitting the hardwood deck. Kasumi cringed and pushed herself to her feet. She brushed the glass off of her and rotated her aching arms.
Ayane jumped down in front of her. Ayane got one good punch at Kasumi's face before Kasumi took the offense. Ayane tried for a left hook to Kasumi's right cheek but Kasumi dodged it and grabbed Ayane's wrist. Kasumi quickly unwrapped her scarf from around her neck and tied it around Ayane's wrists.
Kasumi kicked the legs out from under Ayane and at the same time, swung the scarf. Ayane had no choice but to swing into the railing. The railing broke and Kasumi held on for a second, letting gravity work in her favor for a good twenty seconds. Ayane was poised between mid-fall which meant she was being choked by Kasumi's scarf. Kasumi twisted the scarf viciously, giving Ayane a rope burn on her neck before she let go.
Ayane let out a strangled cry before she fell down to the middle balcony. Kasumi heard a resounding crash and looked over to see Ayane lying amidst a pile of broke pottery and flowers. Kasumi watched as Ayane rubbed her throat for a second before she coughed.
Stay down. Kasumi begged. Of course, Ayane got to her feet and looked up at Kasumi with hatred. Ayane jumped back up to the balcony she had just been thrown off of as Kasumi stepped back.
"Nice move," Ayane said, tossing the scarf at Kasumi. Kasumi snatched it out of the air, knowing what Ayane was only using it as a distraction. Sure enough, no sooner had Kasumi grabbed the scarf did Ayane unleash two shruikans towards Kasumi's midsection.
The fortune teller ninja grabbed the scarf in both hands and held it taunt. The shruikan cut through it but it gave Kasumi enough time to shift her body slightly and avoid the deadly weapons. Ayane front flipped towards Kasumi, hoping she would catch Kasumi unawares and use both feet to kick Kasumi into the air. Kasumi bent over backwards and watched as Ayane sailed right over her and over the balcony into empty air.
Kasumi bent back even more so that she was lying flat on the ground and shot her hand out. She grabbed Ayane's hand and held on. She grunted as the weight plus gravity slid her against the floor, giving her several splinters. Kasumi stopped right before she too would fall into open air. Kasumi twisted so that she was on her stomach and looked over to see Ayane glaring up at her.
"You should have let me fall!" Ayane snapped.
"That....wouldn't do...anything. I'm trying to regain my life...not make it worse by killing the ones that make it so hard to begin with," Kasumi grunted. For a brief second, a look of guilt flitted across Ayane's life before it was replaced by anger.
"You're as foolish as ever!"
"Maybe... but I'm not about to lose my sister..." Kasumi sighed. She gave one great heave and Ayane used it to hoist herself back up. She stood at least four inches form Kasumi. For a small second, Kasumi wanted to throw her arms around Ayane in relieve.
"Ayane..." Kasumi started. Ayane's face twisted into a mask of such disgust and fury that Kasumi let out a little gasp of shock. Before Kasumi could move, Ayane's hand flicked out and stabbed Kasumi in the stomach with a shruikan.
"......."Kasumi was speechless. She looked down at the metal weapon protruding from her body and back at her sister. Ayane grabbed Kasumi by the hair and dragged Kasumi to the edge of the broken balcony. Ayane forced Kasumi on her knees as she took out a dirk from her boot. Ayane forced Kasumi's head back and held it to Kasumi's throat.
"It's so unfair that Genra died when he did nothing wrong but a traitor like you was permitted to live so long," Ayane hissed into Kasumi's ear.
Ayane...I never wanted this....I'm sorry. I'm sorry Ayane...and Hayate....Kasumi thought. Kasumi found it odd that, at a time like this, she found herself remembering what Ryu had said to her. "I made a promise to your brother to protect you." Kasumi looked down at the great fall she knew she wouldn't be alive even to experience.
Ryu....your promise...did it count for protecting me against my own family as well? Kasumi thought. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ayane bring the dirk in a ghost of stroke, preparing to make the final cut. Kasumi closed her eyes. Ayane bellowed a battle shriek and Kasumi tensed up. Suddenly, Ayane's cry was cut off as if the power switch had been turned off. The next thing Kasumi knew, Ayane was falling past her with a shruikan buried in the knot of her spine. The look on Ayane's face was one of total shock as she pitched forward.
Kasumi's mind went blank. She ignored the cold fire the wound in her stomach was pulsing through her, igniting every nerve in her body and sending her head spinning. All she knew was that Ayane was in trouble and she, Kasumi, was in the position to save her. Kasumi reached out and grabbed Ayane. Of course she was no match for gravity when she was wounded and Kasumi was pulled forward off the balcony. She hugged Ayane to her and twisted so that she was on the bottom...so that she would cushion Ayane's fall and at least give Ayane the slightest hope of surviving if she was not already dead.
Kasumi looked past Ayane up to the house that was rapidly getting further and further away as the wind screamed in their ear due to their fast descent. Kasumi began to lose consciousness. Before her eyes closed, she saw a trail of green leaves cross her vision before she saw only darkness.
.....TO BE CONTINUED.....
If you're interested, the two songs that were on the alarm clock was Nobody Wants to Be Lonely by Christina Aguilera& Ricky Martin and Forgive Me by Evanescence. I put the songs in there cause I thought they fit what the two are going through. Sorry if I sounded perverted or obsessed with DOA Beach Volleyball cause I'm not. I don't even have Xbox 360 but I figured I had to explain what Kasumi was doing in a bed in a room with a fish tank when she was supposed to be running around the woods at the end of DOA 4 as well as explain where she gets all her outfits from. Thanks again for the reviews and I'll update soon!