The following morning, Ryu woke up before Kasumi did. He stared at her beautiful sleeping face. He wanted to have her again. This whole keeping away from her wasn't working for him, every time he had her, he only wanted her more. He watched her, admiring her irresistible lips, moving his gaze lower to her achingly round breasts and those breasts taunted him. He needed to touch her, all over, every womanly inch of her. He rolled over and began kissing her lips, softly. Then his lips moved on to her neck. Kasumi woke up with a smile forming on the corner of her lips. She liked what he was doing. She loved it when he would wake her up that way. Last night wasn't enough. She craved more of his special attention.

"Good morning," He whispered while he nuzzled her neck and ear.

"Good morning," She responded. "Kiss me."

He gladly did, pressing his lips firmly on hers. He looked at her with a hunger and her skin was so silky, her breasts so full and tempting, her nipples puckered, ready for his mouth. He was so hard it hurt.

Her lips parted and their eyes met.

"I want…for us to be okay, you know? To work it out. When we got married, the last thing I ever would have imagined was that there could be distance between us. But now…"

He interrupted her. "We will, We'll be okay…I love you Kasumi."

"I don't know. You say you love me, but you don't seem that happy about it."

Ryu slightly frowned at her. Hadn't they talked enough for now? It damn well seemed like it to him. His lips covered hers once again and Kasumi didn't argue. His hands roamed her body, admiring her curves, rubbing his hardness against her, letting her feel what she did to him. Kasumi let out a tiny cry. Ryu knew how to make her beg for more. His big hands went under her back, pulling her on top of him then gently pushing her down. Kasumi wiggled herself lower until she reached his erection. Her fingers closed around him. Ryu gasped and whispered her name. He thought he would go over the edge right then and there, though all she had done was touch him. And when she took him in her mouth, he knew he was done for, yet somehow he held on. He didn't lose it. He pushed his body forward without interrupting what she was doing to him. He then put his hand on her silky hair, clutching her head, watching her naughty tongue rubbing, teasing, all along the length of him. Amazed at the sight of her soft mouth, stretched around him, so hot and wet.

"I can't," He groaned. "I won't last…"

She peeked at him with a seductive smile. "Oh yeah. You can hold on, and you will…" she bent her head and with a low moan, she claimed him again. He let out a groan so loud it was close to a shout. Kasumi kept on working that mouth of hers up and down his shaft. It became too much, he was close to losing it.

"No…not yet. Come up here." He hardly knew how he got the words out. She did, but Kasumi pushed him back onto the bed. He went down willingly. She smirked at him that said she was in charge. Kasumi then spread her thighs and lowered her body onto him, taking him deep inside her by slow unbearable degrees.

Looking at his woman above him, all the frustrations, the disappointment he had been feeling lately, all disappeared. He never felt so good. It was so right. No woman had ever made him feel the way Kasumi made him feel. She was made for him, had always been. Though he had never known it for all those years…

"Oh…Ryu…it's happening…" Her moan were getting louder, and he felt it too. Felt her tightening around him as she reached her peak. Her sleek inner muscles contracting around him. His climax caught fire from hers, rolling through him like a ball of flames. She cried out loud and collapsed on top on him. Kasumi nuzzled Ryu's neck. He made a low, rough oh-so masculine sound that send chills through her. Ryu wrapped his arms tight around Kasumi and he emptied himself into her.

Yeah. It was good. For the moment, he felt sweet and easy.

For the moment, he felt at peace…

Even though they were being affectionate again after their last talk, Kasumi couldn't help but feel that something was still missing. Their relationship had turned to be pure sexual. In the beginning, they would do many things together and they could talked about anything and everything for hours. The sex was just a bonus then, and now the only time she feel connected to him was when they make love. Other than that, Ryu pretty much keep it to himself. She didn't dare to bring it up again. It was truly sad she thought how she couldn't feel safe enough to talk to him about how she feels anymore. Ryu made it clear that he needed time, time would fix them and then they could go back to how it used to be. But she didn't need time, she was fine. It didn't bother her that she was in love with him but he didn't seem to get that. Why couldn't he just accept his feelings? What was so horrible about being in love with her?

Ryu had a day off from his duty, but he didn't seem like he wanted to do much besides from sitting on a couch in their living room staring at the wall and getting lost inside his thoughts. If being in love with her was such a suffering experience then she will leave him alone. Plus, she had other plans for that day. Kasumi looked for her blue ribbon to tie her hair with that she had forgotten where she put it last.

"Ryu, have you seen my blue ribbon?" She shouted from the bathroom.

"No."

Sighing, Kasumi kept on looking and she found it inside the cabinet. She tied her hair in a ponytail and then put some makeup on to get ready to go out. She had invited Momiji and Ayane to a concert in Tokyo since she got three VIP passes. She needed a night out after a long week with missions and dealing with Ryu lately hadn't been easy on her either. Kasumi looked at herself in the mirror one last time, and then frowned when she looked down at her dress. The dress was perhaps a little short, but as long as she didn't bend over then it shouldn't be a problem. She had purchased it a while ago but hadn't had a chance to show it off as nothing fancy was happening. The top of the dress were see through, the rest of the dress covered with flowery pinkish prints. The entire back was bare. To match the above color of her dress, she put on see-through stockings. Since they would be standing a lot, she went for dark brown ankle booties for the footwear. Satisfied with how she look, Kasumi made her way out to the living room.

She would be home late, so Kasumi was looking for the house key, as she didn't want to wake Ryu up when she comes back. Now she had forgotten where she had put her key. Kasumi shook her head at how clumsy she had been with her belongings lately. Ryu glanced at her from across the room. His eyes trailed up and down her sexy figure. He frowned at her dress since it was too revealing and too short. Kasumi bent slightly and he could see her black panties. Unless she was wearing it for him, he wasn't sure he liked it.

"Going somewhere?" Ryu asked.

"Yeah. I'm going out with Momiji and Ayane to a concert." She found the key and then made her way over to Ryu.

"I told you about it a few days ago, but I guess you didn't hear me."

Ryu didn't seem to hear her now either and his eyes studied her outfit. He didn't like the thought of guys checking her out, and with that dress, Kasumi was asking for attention. He wanted to tell her to go change. But there was no point because he had no energy to get into an argument with her.

"Have fun." His voice was flat, as if he didn't really care.

Kasumi sighed and headed out the door. Before closing the door, she looked at him one more time. Kasumi wished she could help Ryu ease his pain, but how when according to him she was the one causing him pain.

Kasumi met up with Momiji by the gate and then they headed to Mugen Tenshin to get Ayane so they could all go together. Once they got there, the gate was slowly opened by two shinobi guards. Ayane emerged. Momiji's and Kasumi's eyes grew wide at what Ayane was wearing. They couldn't stop staring at her chests, and Kasumi thought that her dress was too sexy. Now she felt a little underdressed.

Ayane rolled her eyes. "Stop staring at my boobs will you?"

"I hope Hayate didn't catch you wearing that, and how do you even breathe in that thing." Wondered Kasumi.

"Hey, at least I'm wearing pants." Ayane replied.

The two ninjas guarding the entrance couldn't help but stare as well. Ayane turned her gaze strictly at them and they immediately looked away.

Momiji chuckled. "Come on girls, let's get going already. I think we all look super-hot."

Kasumi and Ayane nodded and they began making their way towards the city.

Soon after, the kunoichis arrived in the city where the concert was taking place. Kasumi looked around, amazed at how many people there were. Many people that passed them by were checking them out. Ayane seemed to enjoy the attention, and Kasumi thought that it was amusing how it wasn't just guys who stared at Ayane's chests but also girls.

"Look at the stage, its huge…who is this artist anyway?" Ayane wondered.

Momiji looked at their tickets, "Tina Armstrong. I hope she is good Kasumi."

"Trust me she is." Kasumi smiled.

Ayane frowned, "Why does that name sounds familiar…"

"From the Dead or Alive tournament while back, remember?" Kasumi reminded.

"Right, the one that talks funny…now I remember."

"Hold on, how did you get these VIP passes?" Momiji then asked.

"I guess I haven't told you guys. I kept in touch with Tina after the tournament. In fact, she let me stay with her in Canada for a while when things got rough between me and Ri...um…"

"Who?" Momiji wondered, since Kasumi didn't finish what she was saying.

"Never mind. But we became close friends. Tina had been trying to get her career going as a rock star, this is her first world tour and she send me these tickets."

She hadn't told them much about her trip, only that she stayed in Canada for a while. Ayane had been asking about Rig after Hayate made such a fuss about it, but Kasumi somehow managed to avoid any details about what truly happened to her. She had to be an example to Ayane as she didn't want Ayane to think that it was okay to be treated like crap by a man. But now that she thought about it, her sister was a lot smarter than she was, and she doubted that Ayane would ever get in an abusive relationship.

The concert was held in a large stadium with the security guards on each corner. The girls went ahead and showed the guard at the main gate their tickets and got inside the stadium to find their row and seats. Kasumi took a moment and gazed around, and the crowd has a life of its own. Everyone looked pumped and happy. Looking at how many people there were was making her slightly claustrophobic. The stage was wide, full of colorful lights. There were wide screens on the left and right corner of the stage. It was amazing. Kasumi couldn't wait to be entertain.

Soon, the band began playing and Tina came out greeting to the crowds. She walked back and forth the stage, as she welcomed everyone loudly through the microphone. Then Tina spotted Kasumi at the front row and waved to her. Kasumi waved back. Tina began performing her first song, and it was a fast one. Everybody was dancing and singing along while the music fill through their souls pumping their adrenalin with happiness. The girls seemed to have a lot of fun moving along with the crowd. The atmosphere was electric.

After a good one and half hour show, Tina presented her last song. The song was about friendship. She dedicated the song to Kasumi. Ayane and Momiji looked at Kasumi and smiled. Kasumi placed a hand on her chest feeling honored. Once the concert finished, the girls were invited to Tina's suite in a fancy hotel in Tokyo. It wasn't far away from the stadium and so they began making their way to the hotel. As they were walking through an alley, Kasumi tripped on a small rock and stumbled to the ground.

"Just my luck…" She sighed.

Ayane and Momiji hadn't noticed Kasumi had tripped and went ahead of her. Kasumi then hurried back up and then bend down quickly to pick her items that had fallen out her purse. Two males passes her by. They were checking out her behind, studying Kasumi's figure in her revealing dress. Suddenly, one of them gave her a hard slap on her butt and laughed while doing so. In a heartbeat, Kasumi turned around in a ninja speed making cherry blossoms petals appeared around her, quickly grabbing the guy's neck, slammed him hard against the wall and then lifted him up against the wall with only one arm. Her eyes changed the color from honey brown to crimson red, giving the guy an intense killing stare. Momiji and Ayane heard the fuss behind them, they immediately turned around and hurried back to Kasumi.

"Hey! Let my friend go, what the hell lady?!" His friend shouted and tried grabbing Kasumi's arm off his friend. Kasumi punch him in the stomach with her free hand, sending him to the ground spitting blood, but kept her eyes on the guy that had slap her butt.

"Say you're sorry or I will end you right here." She growled.

Momiji and Ayane looked at Kasumi with wide-eyed.

"Kasumi, I think he's learned his lesson…" Ayane nervously interfere.

"Not until he say he's sorry."

The guy looked beyond terrified and his face was turning blue, "I'm...sorry…" He could barely get any words out. But Kasumi still didn't let go.

"Kasumi let go of him!" Momiji told her. She didn't seem to listen. Ayane prepare herself to stop Kasumi before she shut that guy's lung for good, they didn't need this kind of attention and they do not hurt random civilians. Kasumi was getting out of line.

Suddenly, Kasumi released him. The guy fell to the ground holding his neck in pain trying to catch his breath. Her eyes turned back to her natural color. The guys slowly backed away from them.

"What kind of a psycho are you lady…what are you a witch or something…?"

Ayane rolled her eyes. "Do you want to stick around and find out or do you want to live? Get the hell out of here!"

They ran out of there in a flash. Kasumi bend back down to grab her purse, as if nothing had happened.

Momiji and Ayane exchanged a what just happened glances. Kasumi rose back up and looked at the girls.

"Let's go." She said.

"Wait, Kasumi, what was that just now...?" Ayane asked.

"He slapped my butt and I showed him. Did they really think they can disrespect a girl like that without any consequences?"

"But you almost revealed who you are in a public place like this, and you almost killed that guy..." Momiji added.

"But I didn't. Look, can we just go?"

"Yeah, I guess." Momiji was still confused. Though she thought that those guys deserved it, Kasumi's cold behavior however concerned her a little. She truly believed that Kasumi would had killed the guy if they hadn't stopped her.

Not wasting any more time, they continued making their way to the hotel. Once they got there, Kasumi knocked on the door to Tina's suite. The door opened and Tina screamed in excitement.

"KASUMI! Oh my god woman, it has been too long." She bear hug her friend.

Tina's large chests were suffocating her. "Tina, I can't breathe…"

"Oh sorry." Tina looked at Momiji and Ayane. Then her eyes tracked to Ayane's chests.

"Ooh la la, that is one…slutty outfit you got there."

Ayane slightly leaned to Momiji, "Did she just call me a slut…?"

Kasumi quickly changed the subject before Ayane say something rude back. "Uh Tina, you remember my sister Ayane and this is my friend Momiji."

Tina smiled. "Good to meet you Momiji, and wow you're stunning. You look like an elf princess."

"Um, thank you."

"Good to see you again Ayane. You were just a baby back at the tournament, obviously you're all grown up now." Tina raised a brow at Ayane's breasts.

Ayane gave her a are you kidding me smile. "Good to see you too Tina, still talking funny I see..."

Kasumi couldn't help but giggle. Finally, someone who got just as big blunt personality as her little sister. It was funny to her somewhat.

"Alright girls, what are we standing out here for? Get inside."

They all went inside, and all eyes grew large at how huge the suite was. Almost like an apartment hotel. Large TV screen, a living room and even a bar around the corner.

"Wow Tina, you're leaving large now huh... I'm happy for you." Kasumi said while gazing around in a amazed expression.

"Hard work always paid off, and I never forget who my real friends are who believed in me when nobody else did." Tina replied, handing them all champagne glasses. She then raised her glass and toasted with the girls.

"Feel free to do whatever you want girls, make yourself at home. Mi casa su casa."

Momiji and Ayane decided to head out to the balcony to check on the view. From that high of ground, they could see the whole Tokyo from up there. But Kasumi stayed inside because she was dying to catch up with Tina. They sat down on a large white fluffy couch.

"So Kasumi, how have you been?" Tina asked.

"I've been good. I've gone back to what I used to do."

"I'm glad to hear it. I missed you when you left, you were like my best friend."

"I missed you too, Tina. I'm glad that we kept in touch but you know why I had to leave..."

"I sure do honey. He made your life a living hell didn't he, if I had known things were that bad between you..."

"It was my own fault for letting it go that far." Kasumi interrupted. "So um, how is he doing nowadays?" She asked out of curiosity.

Tina chuckled, "I don't know what you did to him but after you left, he found god or something. He literally did a one eighty change."

"I see..."

"Kasumi…"

"Yes?"

Tina suddenly hesitated to continue. "Never mind, the words slipped out of my mind. I forgot what I wanted to say."

"Oh, okay." Kasumi didn't think more of it.

Her gaze tracked to Kasumi's finger. "Wow, what is that?"

"Yep!" She waved it with a giggle, confirming indeed that it was a wedding ring.

"No way!" Tina grabbed Kasumi's hand to look closer. "Damn girl, who is the lucky guy?"

She was about to answer...

"Is it the best friend you always talked about?"

Kasumi nodded with a smile. "Congrats! I knew you wanted him, your eyes always sparkled every time you talked about him."

"He had always been a very important person in my life." Kasumi replied.

"That's great Kasumi, you deserve to be with a good guy. But why didn't I get any invitation to the wedding? and I thought we're friends..." Tina pouted.

"Believe me, I would have invited you but we got married in a non-traditional way, so there wasn't any big celebration or anything. Just him and I."

"I get it. People do crazy thing when they are in love." Tina teased.

Kasumi smiled with a twist, thinking how funny she would have sounded if she had said her husband hated being in love with her.

Then Momiji and Ayane got back inside. They continued their nights with drinks, talking, laughing and singing until they realized it was very late. The girls decided to head back to their villages and Tina made Kasumi promised to hang out that week, since she would be there for another week due to promotions of her album. They said their goodbyes.

When the elevator door slid open, a person came out. Kasumi's body stiffened like a statue, her purse dropped from her trembling hand and hit the floor when she looked at who it was. Ayane and Momiji went inside but they held the door for Kasumi.

"Kasumi are you coming?" Asked Momiji.

"Yeah, hang on." She replied in a hurry.

"She is so clumsy today..." Ayane frowned.

The man stared at Kasumi, and he looked just as shock as she was. Their eyes locked intensely. Kasumi soon snapped out of it and quickly grabbed her belongings from the floor that had fallen out her purse. He bend down in front of her to help gather her things but Kasumi quickly stopped him.

"I got it."

He stopped and raised back up but didn't take his eyes off her.

"Kasumi…" He said her name in a low whisper.

Kasumi didn't respond. Once she was done, she walked passed him towards Ayane and Momiji. He suddenly grabbed her by her wrist.

"Wait…please." He pleaded.

Kasumi paused, looking at his hand on her wrist. The memories of that painful day when he beat her black and blue came brightly back in her mind. He looked at the scar on her arm, the scar he had given her. He let out a deep sigh of shame.

"Let go of my hand Rig." She kept her voice low to avoid Momiji and Ayane from hearing her.

He let go and Kasumi went inside the elevator. He was still looking at her, Kasumi looked back at him until the door closed.

"Did you know him Kasumi?" Momiji wondered. But she didn't hear Momiji. Her eyes were getting teary and she was trying all she could not to let her tears spill in front of the girls.

"Kasumi?"

"Uh, no I didn't know him. He thought that I was someone he knew." She lied.

They didn't questioned her any further. Ayane however didn't buy it. She knew that the guy was the famous Rig Donovan that made Hayate's blood boiled hot. She didn't know much what was up with Kasumi and him but if Hayate got that furious, he must have been bad news, thought Ayane. It had been a long night, so she left Kasumi alone about it for tonight.

Ayane got home first. Then Kasumi said her good night to Momiji and headed back to the house. She grabbed her phone from her purse and called Tina.

"Tina, what the hell. Why didn't you tell me that Rig was here too…?"

"I tried to, but I didn't think that you want to hear his name and I didn't expect that you would run into him either."

"You're right, I don't care really. I was just a little surprised that's all, and what is he doing here anyway?"

"I hire him to work for me. He is one of my bodyguard now. Sorry Kasumi, I should have told you."

"It's fine, like I said I was just a little surprised. Alright, good night Tina."

"Good night Kasumi."

Seeing Rig again opened up the old wounds that she couldn't help it. Once she arrived at the house, Kasumi grabbed the house key out of her purse and open the door. She went straight to the kitchen to drink a glass of water, to calm down and to get rid the aftershock feelings after seeing Rig again. He looked so different, she thought. His eyes were so full of regret and his deep voice. His voice used to make her so weak.

"Snap out of it…" She told herself, drinking another glass of water.

Ryu had been leaning against the kitchen door for a few minutes now but Kasumi hadn't noticed him. He frowned strangely at her since Kasumi had been mumbling to herself ever since he got there.

"Is everything alright?" He asked.

Startled, Kasumi quickly turned around dropping her glass to the floor shattering it. How did she not notice him there? Kasumi wondered, a lot was clearly on her mind.

"God, don't do that, you always do that..." She bent down in annoyance to pick up the broken pieces of the glass. "Why am I so clumsy today…" Kasumi continued mumbling to herself. Ryu trailed his gaze to her hand. She was shaking and it made him frowned strangely. He then lowered down in front of her, placed his hand on hers to stop her from picking the rest of the pieces.

"I'll do it." He softly said, and she let him.

Soon Ryu rose back up and looked her in the eyes. "What's wrong?" He asked, as Kasumi looked furious. She didn't answer but only stared into his eyes.

"Kasumi, you can talk to me."

"Can I Ryu? Can I really?" She crossed her arms in annoyance. All the bottled up frustrations for the past month became unbearable. Something about that night triggered her and she finally have had enough. She couldn't ignore the distance he had put between them.

Ryu frowned at her.

She began letting out her frustration. "The reason why I married you was because we were so right with each other, we could tell each other anything, it was wide open between us."

"You can still tell me anything," He looked at her dead-on. His eyes gave her nothing and his voice was flat.

"What about you, Ryu? Do you think you can tell me anything? Because if you do, I'm not getting it. Except when you're making love to me, I don't feel the least bit close to you anymore. I don't…I don't know what you think anymore. I don't know what you feel, it seems like…it's all tangled up between us."

He said nothing for several seconds that seemed like decades. Finally he muttered, "I'm sorry you're upset."

She was mad as hell with him. "You didn't answer my question. Do you still think you can tell me anything?"

Another long silence. Then he responded, "Yes."

"I don't believe you."

He shook his head lightly, "This is going nowhere…"

"You're right. This is going nowhere, fast. I ask you over and over if something's bothering you. You always say no and yet, every day you feel farther from me than the day before. So I…I worked up my nerve, I tell you I love you. You say you love me, too. But you're not happy about it. To you, loving me is the worst thing that ever happened to you."

"That's not what I said…" He kept his voice low and calm while Kasumi raised hers.

"But it is what you meant. Don't try to deny it. You told me you loved me too. And when I asked you why you never talked to me about anything that matters anymore, you said the state you were in wasn't conducive to conversation, and that was all. You wouldn't say any more about it.

He held his silence and listened to everything she had to say with a deep frown. She wasn't sure what he was thinking, he might be mad at her and she felt like a living, breathing definition of the word nag, but she couldn't stop.

"We made love. It was wonderful and everything was fine again. Except it wasn't fine, It's not fine. It's not fine in the least. It's…its empty, Ryu. It's going through the motions. That's what we do, we go through the motions. We don't have what we started out with. I had a best friend at the beginning, and I don't anymore. I want to know, Ryu. What in hell have you done with my best friend?"

He didn't answer. What a surprise. He just stared at her, a distant kind of stare that said he didn't want to deal with this… he didn't want to deal with her.

"What do you want me to say Kasumi…"

Frustrated tears burned in her eyes. One spilled over, she felt it dribble down her cheek.

"Why don't you just yell at me? Why don't you just do something to let me know that you're in there, to let me know that you care?"

His lip curled in a sneer. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? If I started yelling at you, maybe broke a lamp or two and maybe I'll get angry enough and even put a few bruises on you. It would make you feel right at home."

She put her hand to her throat and sucked in a shuddery breath. "H-how…could you…" She backed away a few steps from him. "That really hurt, Ryu…"

Ryu sighed. At least he looked sorry. "That was out of line…but can't you just be a little patient? Can't you just give it some time? Things will get better, you'll see."

More tears spilled over. "And what if they don't?" She wiped at her damp cheeks, one and then the other, with the back of her hand. "What if we just get farther and farther apart, in our hearts? What if you just keep on dragging around here, looking like somebody shot your dog, only coming to life when we're in bed together? I don't know if I can stand that."

"Just wait you'll see. Things will get better." He said the words again. Making her wonder who he was trying so hard to convince.

She argued the obvious. "But things aren't getting better. They're getting worse."

He rubbed his eyes, and then scraped his hands down his weary face. "Kasumi. Can we just leave it? Can we just…let it be?"

"No, we can't. I'm sorry but letting it be isn't working for me."

"What do you want from me?" He was getting frustrated with Kasumi. He hates arguing.

"I want to… understand why you're not happy anymore. I want you to explain to me what is going on with you."

He let his arms drop heavily to his sides. "I'm crazy for you, okay? Its…not what I wanted. But it happened. And now, I'm only waiting for the craziness to pass."

Her frustration rose again. She tried her best to keep it under control, to speak quietly. "Realistically Ryu, what's so horrible about us being in love with each other?"

"It's not what we…"

Her frustration rose up a level and now she couldn't no longer control it and raised her voice. "Okay, okay. It's not what we agreed on, not what we planned. It was a shock for me too at first. But, hey. Try learning to live with it, why don't you? I have. And I've discovered that it's just not that much of a hardship to be in love with my own husband!"

"You're shouting," He said darkly.

"You're damn right I am!"

"I hate it when people shout…" He gave her a slight warning look.

"But you don't seem to hear me Ryu!"

"Bring it down, Kasumi." He spoke so softly, but the look in his eyes threatened dire consequences if she didn't lower her voice.

Somehow, with great effort, she dialed it down a notch. "The real truth is, I think it's kind of wonderful to be in love with you."

To that, he made a low disgusted kind of sound. She resisted the powerful urge from picking up the nearest lamp and hurled it at his thick skull.

She shouted again. "It happened… Love happened. You act like it's the end of the world, what is so terrible about being nuts over your own wife?"

His teeth were clenched so tight, a muscle leaped in his jaw. "The point is, I don't want to be nuts, not even over you. I'm not a nuts kind of guy."

"Oh, please. Think again Ryu. You are nuts over me, you said so yourself. You were nuts over Irene and that makes you a nuts kind of guy."

Kasumi didn't back down, "You're punishing me and yourself for what they did to you. Irene and your mother. I am not like them, I would never betray you and deep down you know that. But you treated me as if I had done you wrong. I don't deserve this Ryu!"

He shook his head. "You don't…understand Kasumi, this problem I have, being in love with you…it's only temporary. There's solid science on this whole problem and…"

Kasumi stared at him with wide-eyed, frowning deeply. He was deflective to anything she had to say. She interrupt him. "This problem. The problem of being crazy in love with me?"

"Yeah."

"I'm a problem…I'm your problem."

"That is not what I said."

"Gee. It sure sounded like it." She rolled her eyes.

"Kasumi. This is going nowhere, I don't want this. I don't want to fight with you."

"I don't either, but what did you expect me to do or how to feel? We promised that we would never do this to each other, screaming and yelling and yet look at us."

"I have not raised my voice at you." Ryu quickly replied.

"That's just terrific, so now I'm the bad guy. In case you didn't noticed we're on our way to divorce court."

Divorce…oh god, I said it.

She regretted letting her words get that far. But it was too late. The D-word hung there, poisoning the air between them. Ryu stared at her. Silence surrounded them.

In a low calm voice, Ryu asked. "Is that what you want, then, a divorce?"

Tears raced down Kasumi's cheeks, finally feeling beat down and overwhelm by everything.

"No… how can you even think that?" She didn't look at him.

"Well Kasumi, you said it."

Sighing deeply, she lowered herself to a chair nearby, feeling hopeless, miserable and utterly defeated. "Ryu. I don't know what to say to you, how to deal with you, where to…go from here…"

She hoped that he would come to her, put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and tell her again that it would be all right. Even if it wasn't true. If he would only reached out a hand to her…

But he didn't. He stayed where he was. "I think enough has been said for one night. More than enough."

Kasumi sighed and forced herself to look at him. "Um…yeah, you're right. We should go to bed. I guess…you go ahead. I'll be there…in a while."

Ryu gave her a stern look. "All right, then." And that was it. He turned to the bedroom and left her sitting there.

Kasumi never joined Ryu in their bed that night. She slept in one of the spare rooms. Ryu heard her slammed the door to the other room and thought, fine. Let her sleep alone. He was furious at her. Furious, and cut to the core. He didn't dare try to deal with her anymore that night. The violence and confusion within him might get loose. He might say or do something from which the two of them as a couple would never recover. They'd end up yelling at each other. Going at it blow for verbal blow. Living his worst nightmare. Hurting each other beyond the point of saving what they had together, getting completely out of control. Becoming his own father. An image of his father screaming and yelling at his mother emerged in his mind. He remember him putting his hand on her, that night when she left, they had the worse argument and he had slapped her across her face. The image terrified him until this day. He had that urge, for a brief moment, he felt that urge to slap Kasumi when she refused to back down and left the subject alone.

Kasumi couldn't stop the tears, she had been sobbing ever since they stop arguing. Somehow, she felt like it was her fault, and that she shouldn't have yelled at him. She was desperate. Her phone made a beeping sound. She forced herself out of bed to see who had send her a message in the middle of the night. It was from Tina. She had asked Kasumi to meet her at a 24 hours coffee shop in Tokyo. She found it a little strange but due what just happened, she'd rather be anywhere else but home. Not thinking twice about it, Kasumi grabbed her sweater, put her boots on, then ran out of the house and disappeared towards the city. With ninja speed, it didn't take too long for her to get there.

She arrived at the coffee shop. It seemed like she got there first. She went ahead inside, took her seat, and waited for Tina. She wondered what was so urgent that Tina needed to talk to her this late. The door to the coffee shop opened wide grabbing Kasumi's attention. Her eyes grew wide, and her heart pounded crazily when Rig was the one that walked through the door. Kasumi tried to look behind him, hoping that Tina was with him. But no one… only him. Did he trick her? Tina would never had let this happen. Knowing Rig, he had probably snooped around Tina's phone to find her number and tricked her there. Now her blood was boiling hot. How dare he, thought Kasumi. After what happened with Ryu, she wasn't sure that she had enough energy to deal with Rig. Rig went over to her and took a seat in front of her. She froze where she sat, arguing within herself to get her butt moving so she could leave. However, a little part of her wanted to stay. So she decided to stay and hear what he had to say.