"Ayane!" the voice started her, made her turn around. "Ryu did it! He won! The world is safe!"

"Hayate!" she exclaimed happily, looking at him, before walking slowly over to him, trying to make sure that she didn't look overly excited at seeing him. He grinned and nodded.

"Ryu gave me a good knock on the head when we fought. He hasn't told me exactly what's going on, but I'm sure I'll find out in time. At least I remember everything that I've been told, anyway. Ayane, it's good to see you again,"

"After you kicked my ass," she muttered under her breath. Luckily, Hayate didn't hear. To her astonishment, he swept her up in a brief hug before looking into her eyes and speaking again.

"I'm glad that Ryu's okay. You too. How is…"

His voice suddenly drifted away, and Ayane bit her tongue. She knew that Hayate was going to mention Kasumi, and she didn't even want to think about that devious, runaway swine. Not only that, but to some extent it wasn't her story to tell. Ryu had really been the one who took care of Kasumi, her and even Hayate to some extent. He even had managed to save the world while doing so. No wonder he was called the Super Ninja.

Speaking of which…

"Do you know where Ryu's gone?" Ayane asked Hayate suddenly. He shrugged.

"He gave me some cryptic message before disappearing. The basic gist of the message was that he didn't like the media making up total rubbish so he's high-tailed it for a little while," Hayate said. "Trust him to run from the spotlight,"

This bothered her to some extent. "Do you know when he'll be back?" she asked.

"Why?" Hayate asked, raising his eyebrows before looking at her suspiciously. Ayane knew that he was instantly putting two and two together, and tried hastily to think of a feasible excuse.

"You see, I had to find some information about… Kasumi from him," Ayane said, trying not to add extra malice on the word 'Kasumi' although for her it was nigh-on impossible.

"Sure, sure," Hayate said, and she knew that he hadn't believed a word she had said. She sighed and decided to tell him the truth, or as close to it as she was planning on telling anybody.

"He helped me during the tournament. I just wanted to say thank you to him,"

"Oh, really?" Hayate's eyebrows were so high now that they were almost hidden behind his hairline. "How exactly did he help you?"

"Don't sound as if you're jealous that you're not getting all the attention," she retorted. "He helped me after you beat the crap out of me, actually,"

His smile faded, and an apologetic look appeared on his face. "Ayane, look, I…"

"Yeah, I know," she interrupted, waving away the attempted apology. "You weren't you and you didn't know. Just don't do it again, alright? Otherwise I really will fight back instead of standing around like a stunned mullet,"

"Okay," Hayate still didn't look as though the attempted apology had been accepted. "I really…"

"I get the picture," Ayane snapped. "Besides, what makes you think I'd be interested in a cliché ninja like Hayabusa?" she asked sarcastically, hoping that her true feelings wouldn't shine through the sarcasm. Hayate smiled, almost as though the unspoken apology had been accepted.

"It's because ninjas speak nicely, are extremely handsome, have wonderful charm…"

"And big egos," she muttered under her breath. Hayate shook his head, before his expression grew serious.

"Seriously, Ayane. I'm surprised that he's let you go ten feet within the 'girl-proof' walls he's set up. A bit after that darned assassin tried to knock me off and a bit before I left, his girlfriend Irene was murdered. Why else do you think that you haven't seen much of him over the last few months?"

"Because you weren't there," she said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, Hayate, he wouldn't have spoken to me even if he had come. So was he trying to kill everyone who looked like the murderer or something? Going hunting to spill some blood?"

"Far from it," Hayate said. "He was mourning her, of course,"

"You're joking," she said incredulously. He didn't seem the type. Hayate nodded again.

"He went all 'self-blaming' for a while until I threatened to beat it out of him once I was better. He's a really nice guy once you get to know him, you know, which I'm sure you already do," Hayate added unsubtly. The slight flush that graced Ayane's cheeks let Hayate know that his statement had hit home.

"I never thought I'd see the day. Ayane, self proclaimed tough chick, falls for my best friend! What next?" he asked. Ayane glared.

"I haven't fallen for anybody! You thrive on imaginary romance, don't you, Hayate?" she asked mulishly. Hayate grinned, before disappearing in a swirl of leaves, leaving an infuriated Ayane standing there alone.

Gah, stunned mullet, what's this story turning to? (A rhetorical question, that) Anyway, hope you enjoy, as always, and until next time. :)