- Disclaimer: I guess I must write this so erm..yah..I don't own any of these characters, they strictly belong to Tecmo.
Memories flashed through Shigeru's mind before entering the arena...
When he saw her, all things froze..even the falling leaves..out of mourning..out of fear of hurting her fragile form..and out of the...ethereal beauty.
The lavender butterfly, bruised, fallen under the canopy of the forest of the falling leaves. The butterfly...lost of all its lustre and glory..and yet...it was beautiful.
Now only the arena's spotlight and her determined eyes remained.
Stemming the flow of memories, Shigeru entered the arena to face Ayane in the final match.
Prologue Ends..and now..
"Ayane, receive your orders."
"Yes, Hayate-sama."
"You are to punish the runaway, Kasumi, by death. She has spoiled the family name by being what she is now."
"Gladly."
With that, Ayane exited Hayate's room and begun her mission to search, and destroy Kasumi.
Back in the room, Hayabusa was preaching Hayate.
"I do hope you know what you are doing, Hayate."
"I always did."
"You are making two sisters destroy each other."
Sensing Hayate's silence, Hayabusa continued, "why can't you just send some other ninjas after her? You know they can't harm her, with that you would be fulfilling your duty while not endangering the life of someone who had given up everything just to find you."
"...Only time would tell," was the only response.
~~
Finally, she could officially let loose her wrath on Kasumi, the runaway ninja. Finally, she is the heroine, going after Kasumi the runaway ninja who spoiled the family name. Finally, Kasumi would have the feeling of being the underdog.
"Finally," Ayane's lips curved up almost maliciously at that thought.
Two weeks after receiving Hayate's orders, Ayane received information from a fellow shinobi that Kasumi was lurking in the forest not far from Tenjin-mon's ninja village, which she immediately made her way to.
The Tenjin-mon forest was still what it was, dark and gloomy. Ayane never liked the forest. The forest was also huge, too huge to search a single person hiding among these thick, tall trees. Ayane leapt up to the top of a tree to gain a vantage point. If she had the time, she would gladly have combed the forest to hunt Kasumi down, but New Year was coming soon, and she would have to return then, with or without Kasumi's head. The second choice not being a choice, she would have to act quickly. "Hayate-sama would be glad to hear that I've brought her head back so quickly." But another quick glance at the forest said it all, "I'll never find her here," Ayane thought, "I'll have to make her come to me." Ayane then quickly found some firewood and placed them next to the forest trees and lit them. A forest fire would surely attract Kasumi's attention Ayane thought as she leapt back up to the top of a tree waiting.
As the fire burned on almost merrily, Ayane heard some rustling among the trees. Someone was here. And Ayane knew just who it was. Instinctively Ayane threw four of her kunais in the intruder's direction with one swipe of her hand. The victim, as though sensing the weapons, dodged them also instinctively and broke into a run. Ayane was hot on her tail. As Ayane leapt from tree to tree the way ninjas always do, she reached for her kunais for another throw. She stopped herself. No, she would not allow Kasumi to die just because she had fallen prey to an assassin's blade. Ayane wanted to defeat Kasumi with her own hands. The defeat during the last DOA tournament by Kasumi was still freshly imprinted in her mind.
"Stop running like a coward and face me!"
The figure in blue stopped, not of pride, but of familiarity.
"Ayane-chan..."
"Don't get all mushy with my name! I'm not that close to you!"
Kasumi seemed to have not heard that hurting comment. "So Ni-san has even sent you to claim my life..."
"I would still kill you even if Hayate-sama didn't give me the order!"
Kasumi once again ignored Ayane's hurting words. "So Ni-san really wants my life that badly..."
"Shut up and Fight!" Ayane interrupted impatiently.
"I see..." Kasumi's eyes hardened.
The kunoichi and the ex-kunoichi circled each other.
In a flash, Ayane leapt into a somersault and landed with a kick. Which Kasumi blocked. She then did a low sweeping kick tripping Ayane from the landing of her somersault kick. Falling hard, Ayane instantly shot up and retaliated with a roundhouse kick. Which Kasumi blocked. Returning the blow with another low kick, tripping Ayane again. Ayane rolled back and then ran forward to deliver a spinning wheelkick. Which Kasumi blocked. And once more did a low kick, tripping Ayane. "Would you just stop that!" Ayane screamed. Enraged, Ayane decided to show Kasumi what she is so famous for. Ayane leaped up and delivered a series of her lightning quick punches, just that the punches looked more like karate chops with a thick ninja accent.
Ayane was fighting with vengeance, to remove the humiliation, to regain her pride, and most importantly, please Hayate. But Kasumi was fighting with reluctance, hoping to find a way to escape from Ayane. And that difference in fighting spirit was beginning to show, Kasumi was already finding it hard to block Ayane's attack, let alone counter-attack. Finally with Ayane's jumping turning heelkick, Kasumi's defenses faltered, Ayane was about to finish Kasumi when two flashes came flying towards Ayane. Sensing the danger, Ayane instinctively threw out her own shurikens to intercept those of the unknown assailant. She thought she had saw those weapons coming from a swirl of leaves. Kasumi seized Ayane's distraction and teleported to Ayane's back within a swirl of sakura blossoms. She reached for her blade, if she was to stop Ayane from hunting her ever again, now was the chance, but Ayane was her own blood, and she hesitated. That moment of hesitation was enough for Ayane to unleash destruction on Kasumi's body with her back-facing attacks.
Kasumi lying crumbled on Ayane's feet, Ayane was not satisfied. This was not the way she wanted the fight to end, she wanted to totally defeat Kasumi with her own abilities, not from Kasumi's moment of hesitation. All she got to defeat was a reluctant Kasumi, not Kasumi the heroine that she wanted to humble all so badly.
"This is the last time I let you go," said Ayane in all her arrogance.
Ayane then leapt up to the top of a tree to look for the assassin, though she knew he would have been long gone. "Only two person know of my mission," thought Ayane, and those swirling leaves had already given her a good clue of who that person might be.
Author's Note: The beginning story is set in the time after DOA 2, just before DOA 3, where Hayate has regained his memory and position as leader of the Mugen Tenshin ryu Tenjin-mon clan. And in this story Ayane was defeated by Kasumi during DOA 2. Also, Shigeru is a character of my imagination who would have an increasingly important role as the story progresses. And erm..this is my first attempt so I would really like some advice on my work. Thanks~!! And all appreciation and recognition goes to Team Ninja for creating such wonderful characters of the DOA world.
