Kasumi gritted her teeth in determination, ready to fight. Her opponent was some Italian, she didn't know his name, or recognize him from the previous tournament, come to think of it. She readied herself as the loud speaker yelled 'Get ready!' and the door to the D Octagon slammed shut as the word 'Fight' echoed around the arena.

She moved instantly, with three sharp kicks sending him flying, his body slamming into the arena walls. As he staggered up, she performed a series of flips so that she was in hitting distance of him. She attempted a series of punches, except he grabbed her arm as she was about to land the final punch and forced her to her knees, grabbing her right arm and literally pulling it out of the socket.

There was a dull crack as pain flooded through her right shoulder. She fell forward as the Italian let her go, not reacting in time to prevent falling onto her face. She remained there for a few seconds before springing to her feet, anger glistening in her eyes, grimacing slightly because of the pain that it had caused. Her arm was still hurting like hell, except she didn't care. She couldn't let this fool get in her way of finding Hayate!

She sprinted over to him and reached out like a flash, grabbing his shirtfront with her left hand, before using the speed she had gathered to hoist herself onto his face, before executing sharp stomps to push his face into the ground. She heard a distinct groan as she did so, and gave one last sharp stamp to his face before jumping to the ground. He remained motionless for several seconds, until she had begun to wonder whether he had decided the fighting arena was a good place for a nap. She jumped into the air, landing on his back heavily. He made a slight movement as if to get up, but then stopped. She stepped back, and he didn't stand. He was out for the count. She had won her first victory in the second Dead or Alive tournament. And it felt good. She wanted more victory!

She punched the air with her good hand, the excitement of victory consuming her entirely. "This is Mugen-Tenshin style!" she declared happily, as the arena door opened and she strode out. She noticed a few familiar faces in the arena crowd, including one of the Americans from the previous tournament. He was wearing a questionable top which reminded her distantly of a crop-top, and shorts. What was his name? Zack or something? Whatever it was, she hadn't liked him in the previous tournament, and still didn't now.

"Hey, you wanna show me your stuff?" he asked, grabbing her left arm as she walked past him, attempting to ignore him. "You wanna show me your Mugen-Tenshin style?" the last sentence was mocking enough that she clearly understood the 'other' meaning to it. Are all Americans this crude, or just this one? She thought to herself.

"I will if you don't shut it," she responded, smiling sweetly. "I'll show you my famous Oboro. It's perfect for downing rowdy Americans like you. Do you want to see it now, or should I schedule in an appointment?"

He let go of her arm somewhat reluctantly, and she smiled again before continuing up to the arena's exits. If all the fights were this easy, then it would be a piece of cake! She hoped that Hayabusa and Ayane were watching. Then they would be able to see who really was the more powerful out of them. She strode outside, and instantly shivered. It was snowing! The wind was blowing, snow lapping at her ankles. Suddenly, there was a shout, followed by someone grabbing her arm roughly. It was Ayane. And she didn't look impressed.

"What do you want, Ayane?" Kasumi asked airily. "Why did you come when you know that you are going to get defeated?" Meanwhile, she had noticed that people were gathering at the sheltered area just near the arena. They could sense a fight, and so could she, for that matter.

"That will not happen," Ayane hissed under her breath. "Because I am going to fight you now. I will show you the power of Mugen-Tenshin Hajin-Mon. I will bring you to your knees, begging for mercy which I shall not give you. You have reached the end of your fight at this tournament, Kasumi, I will make sure of that,"

"Really?" Kasumi asked. "That's news to me,"

"You always were the heroine!" Ayane hissed angrily. Kasumi raised her eyebrow slightly, but didn't say a word, getting into her fighting stance. To her surprise, the loudspeaker boomed, echoing around the area.

"Get ready!"

Somebody must have alerted the loudspeaker person, and this is another real fight. Kasumi thought. I won't disappoint Hayate. I will defeat Ayane and make her beg for mercy! I will do anything; beat anyone to see him again!

"Fight!"

Several things happened at once. The first was that Ayane immediately lashed out with several fast punches that almost looked to Kasumi as though her half-sister was trying to do an absurd dance. She threw out her arms, so that they took most of the impact, although she did step back a step or two from the sheer force that Ayane was using. She had improved vastly since the last time that Kasumi had seen her.

The second was that she heard some people yelling to her faintly. She quickly glanced over and to her horror saw that all the Americans were gathered at the entrance to the D Octagon arena, cheering her on. She gritted her teeth in determination. If she had an audience, she might as well not disappoint them.

She decided quickly. As soon as Ayane had finished her punches, she grabbed her, performing an Oboro. The lightning fast attack was soon over, as Ayane slumped to the ground. She soon got up, glaring ferociously at Kasumi, who ignored it, and kicked her across the snow with three sharp kicks, identical to the ones she had used on the Italian earlier. Again, Ayane fell down in the snow, but this time as she got up, she performed a kick that Kasumi had never seen before, hitting her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

Kasumi got up slowly, anger burning inside her. Does she want to play dirty, does she? She thought bitterly. If she does, then two can play at that game! She punched her half-sister twice before ending the short combo with a backwards kick, which Ayane managed to avoid, coming back with a series of kicks which made Kasumi fall back into the snow.

This time, however, it was her turn. Ayane came closer as Kasumi stayed on the ground, snow soaking through her kunoichi outfit. Thinking her knocked out, Ayane dropped her guard, and Kasumi struck, with a sharp backwards kick as she was getting up. Ayane dropped to the snow, not moving. She had won again. And this time it was more then some fight to get to the top. This was the fight that she had been training for. To put Ayane down a peg or two.

Her half-sister got to her knees. She was panting, and glared ferociously at Kasumi, who could have sworn that she heard 'How?' escape the kunoichi's lips. Kasumi folded her arms across her chest, before looking across at Ayane.

"You can't defeat me," she said simply, before walking off to shelter, leaving Ayane in the snow, speechless. 

Sorry, guys… believe me, I didn't want her to lose either, but I have to follow the DOA2 storyline as well as writing a little in between stuff… (of which there is so much more later) but as is, unfortunately Kasumi has to win. I am really sorry!