He had been keeping to himself for the period of 'socializing' they had been given before the tournament for the sole reason that he didn't feel the urge to socialize with any of them. His head was aching less frequently now, the pain sometimes subsiding to a slow throb rather then the agonizing pulsing it had been for the last few days. What had led him to this tournament in the first place? He remembered nothing before waking up in dense scrubland, and having to stagger out of it, injuries sustained from who-knows-what hindering his progress. That had been a few months ago now. On his aimless journey around, he had heard of a fighting tournament. The Dead or Alive tournament, it had been called. Only the second one to have ever been held. So he went for it, training in karate by a school in Germany kind enough to teach him. One of the girls there had particularly caught his eye. Hitomi was her name. She reminded him of somebody, but who that person was he would never know. She was the one who had named him too, made him an individual again, rather then a nameless nomad.
He had been sparring with a girl a few years his senior by the looks of her, named Hotsuko. He had landed a striking blow to her left shoulder. The brown eyes had flashed with icy determination, the teeth gritting. He had seen the determination in her, the utter fortitude to win. So he had grabbed her, before delivering a sharp blow to her head. She fell to her knees, before slumping unconscious to the ground. The match was over, he had won. He felt the excitement of the victory flow through him, consuming him, so all that was left was a fierce happiness.
"I did it," he said. "I won. I mastered karate,"
"You did," Hitomi had said, smiling at him. "You're number one. Ein! Nice work, my friend,"
It was his name now, Ein. He had left the school not a week later, to fight in the tournament. Hitomi had desperately wanted to go, except her father was stubbornly against the idea. They had said their farewells and he had departed. Now he was here. Sitting in the corner of the lounge-room, hidden behind a bookcase. Nobody could see him unless they looked directly behind the shelves, but he could see everything from his position, including the people going up and down the stairs. He was sizing up his opponents for the upcoming battle.
A pretty young girl walked down the stairs, catching his eye. She had long, orange hair, naturally streaked with auburn and blonde by the looks of it, and was tied up with a blue ribbon. She was wearing a simple shirt and shorts. She looked around subtly before stepping down the final step, almost as though she was wary of somebody in the room that she was about to go into.
He stared at her with increasing frustration and annoyance. He was sure he had seen her before! She seemed familiar to him, as though he should know her. But the harder he tried thinking about her and what seemed to be familiarity, the more his head began to throb and the more confused he became. He was just about to move from his hiding place and go to get some painkillers when the girl suddenly spun around. Somebody had appeared in front of her in a rush of swirling leaves. At first he thought that it was a female, but when the figure had turned around slightly he realized just how mistaken he was. Well, the hair did make me wonder, he thought to himself. The male's hair was long, just as long if not longer then the young girl's, but a rich auburn color, with tinges of gold. Suddenly, the male turned around right, looking right where Ein was sitting. Not wanting to be seen by them, he moved quietly further back into the shadow. The man turned away, and the girl glanced in his general direction.
"Hayabusa-san?" the girl asked. Her words were polite, but he could hear the undertone of… almost bitterness coming from the girl's voice. "What is it?"
"I thought I heard something…" his voice trailed off uncertainly. "It was almost as though someone was there,"
"Forget about it," the girl said briskly. "Probably just your ninja senses leading you astray. Would it be the first time? Probably not," There was no denying the bitterness then. The silence that followed was thick enough to walk on, the man staring at the girl from his higher stature, the girl staring defiantly back.
Ein fidgeted in his chair. Was this a conversation that he was supposed to be hearing? Both these people seemed familiar to him, yet he didn't know why. He knew he hadn't seen them in Germany, and he was sure that he hadn't seen them before…
"Hayate asked me to protect you and I will do the best job I can of doing so, nothing else. Your stubbornness to find your brother lets me do little else,"
Hayate… why did that name ring a bell? Who was this Hayate person? This girl's sister, obviously. He decided to sit back for a good eavesdrop, to see if he could find out more.
"What else do you expect me to do, Hayabusa?" All politeness had dropped from the girl's tone now, she was whispering angrily to avoid attracting too much attention. "You're his best friend. You could have at least done something, rather then let him go. Look where that got him. Paralyzed, and now who-knows-where. He could be dead! And all because you didn't stop him,"
"I tried," the man the girl addressed as Hayabusa retorted. "Your brother would listen to little I said. The last thing he told me was to protect you at any cost,"
"I wonder why he doesn't listen to you," the girl snapped. "Maybe because you're full of-"
Whatever obscenity the girl was about to come out with was interrupted by the arrival of another girl. Aside from the obvious hair difference, considering this girl had a lavender-colored bob barely shoulder length, they looked surprisingly similar. The purple-haired girl glared at the other girl, before turning to the man.
"Did Hayate mention what costs you could go to protecting her? Would killing her protect her from my wrath when our clan tries to assassinate the runaway kunoichi shaming the Mugen-Tenshin Tenjin-Mon line?"
The man turned to her, his expression cool. "Please do not try and stir the waters, Ayane-san, otherwise you will see how far I will go to keep my word to my best friend,"
"Woof, woof," the orange-haired girl mocked bitterly. "The dog following its master,"
"The 'woof, woof' coming from you is a bit hypocritical, Kasumi, only in a different sense," the purple-haired girl snapped. Both the man and the orange-haired girl turned to her as though they hadn't expected her to say anything along those lines.
"Standing up for him now, are you?" the girl Kasumi asked. "Or just trying to get back at me? Mark my words, Ayane, it won't happen. I will find Hayate and avenge him, and then I will rejoin my clan. And you will be doomed to follow in my footsteps again, as you have all your life,"
"The clan wouldn't take you back," Ayane hissed. "The Mugen-Tenshin clan would never accept a runaway back into their fold. You've just signed your own death warrant,"
She pushed past Kasumi and stormed up the stairs, purple hair bouncing as she walked. Kasumi shot a glare at her departing back, before turning to the man she had addressed as Hayabusa. She looked different, almost softer, and gentler. This made her look even more familiar to him. But why was that?
"I will avenge Hayate. Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't take out my problems on you," Kasumi's voice had softened, and risen back to normal volume. Hayabusa looked slightly surprised, and Ein had to wonder how long this argument had been going on for between the two. He leant back in his chair, still listening for all he was worth. "I know Hayate leaving wasn't your fault, and Ayane was right, I have been horrible to you. I don't mind you protecting me, especially if Hayate wanted you to, but please don't try and stand in my way. This is something I must do before I can rest peacefully,"
"Hayate would kill me if I let you get hurt, Kasumi," Hayabusa's voice had softened as well, although it still held a noticeable degree of coolness in it. "For all I know, he is watching, waiting for me to slip up just so he could punish me for it. You know as well as I that the consequences would be dire if I let injury befall you,"
"I'll be careful," Kasumi promised, before turning and running up the stairs. Hayabusa stood there for a few moments before walking slowly up the stairs as well. Ein got the distinct feeling that Hayabusa hadn't promised that he would not hinder the young, somewhat naïve Kasumi in achieving her goal to find this Hayate.
Ein simply sat there, the information he had heard buzzing around in his mind. He forgot his headache as he simply tried to make sense of the information that he had heard.
Obviously this Kasumi girl was very loyal to her brother. Something had happened, and she wanted to avenge his injuries. …Ayane, she had something against Kasumi, although he had no idea what. Hayabusa, the soft spoken male, was fulfilling a promise to Hayate, who was Kasumi's brother. This Hayate character was missing after he had been injured, from the information that he had heard. Ein stood up, and walked to his room, thoughts running through his mind. He felt as though he should understand this, but why? Did he have something to do with it? Why did he feel as though he knew these people? Who was this Hayate person? What the hell was going on with everything?
He flopped heavily onto his bed, quickly dismissed the fact that it was about ten in the morning, and shut his eyes as sleep overtook him.
This won't be applicable for a while, but while I think of it… I started this story (and finished it as well, more the pity) before Tecmo had released the fact that the upcoming Ninja Gaiden game is actually two years before the first Dead or Alive, meaning that Hayabusa's clan would have already been killed before the start of the DOA series, which means that the facts aren't right when Hayabusa returns to his clan later in this story. Don't they know to be considerate of people's stories? *Sob* So the facts are out in that respect, but it won't matter for a while. I'll put this note in the first chapter it becomes applicable as well. Of course, if I heard false news and NG is coming out in a different part of the time period, please tell me! :)