'DUST CLOUD COVERS EARTH, SHROUDING PEOPLE IN DARKNESS AND FEARING THE WORST!' the headline of the paper screamed. Ryu sighed to himself. He couldn't help that. When he had beaten the Tengu, the collapse of it had generated a gigantic dust cloud, which had somehow covered the entire world. Not to mention that the DOATEC were up to no good, their desire for power after the previous projects driving them even further. What else could go wrong? If you can't see her again, or she doesn't want you to see her, his mind said. He shook his head.

*

Ayane had gone back to the clan and had been training for the last few weeks after the tournament. In case Kasumi enters. This time, I will beat her and leave her crying for mercy as I slit her throat! She said, smiling at the visual image. That is, unless I catch her first.

As soon as the Tengu had been brought down, the media had gone wild. Unfortunately for them, Ryu had 'disappeared' somewhere, unable to be found. The talk had died down a little, except he was nowhere to be seen. She stopped her training and sat down onto the mats, breathing hard. Ever since the second tournament, she had been pushing herself even harder. And nobody had heard anything from Kasumi. Life was good. She just wanted to see Hayabusa again, though. Thank him for what he had done. Maybe even express a little sympathy over his girlfriend, depending what sort of a mood she was in. She walked outside, and stopped suddenly. I'm physic, she thought, stunned. Hayate and Hayabusa were sitting under a tree, talking quietly amongst themselves. She walked over, and they both stopped talking. She turned to Ryu first.

"I thought you had disappeared. You should probably clear out before one of the students mobs you for your autograph," she said, smiling. She was happy to see him again, and not just because of what he had done for her. He sighed.

"That's already happened. I swear, I've had to write my name at least ten times in the last ten minutes,"

"Too bad," she mocked, holding out her arm. "Make it an eleventh,"

She got an extremely annoyed look shot at her, and she grinned before turning to Hayate, who was grinning as well, but the grin conveniently disappeared when Ryu glanced across at him.

"So! What's happening here right now? Anything important?"

"Not really," Ryu said, glancing at Hayate. "Why?"

"Could I speak to you for a second, please, Ryu?" she asked. Hayate looked bemused, and so did Ryu for a moment, before nodding his assent. Ayane beckoned for him to follow her, and she led him into the closest empty sparring dojo before speaking, sitting down on the mats as she did so.

"Look, I have to thank you for doing what you did for me, both by beating Kasumi and helping me out after Hayate got me. Now that Kasumi is a runaway again and the tournament is over, that means that I can go out and… exert my revenge on her. It was a real big help… thanks," Ayane was feeling slightly embarrassed in spite of herself. Ryu dropped his gaze, and to her amusement she saw a slight flush on his pale skin.

"It was the least I could do for you. Besides, I had to defeat her anyway, to keep my promise to Hayate. It just so happened that my having to do so benefited more then just Hayate, Kasumi in the long run and my own life," he said matter-of-factly.

"Promise you won't go again without telling someone where you have gone," she said suddenly. Ryu looked taken aback, before he nodded mutely. She raised her eyebrow at him and he sighed softly. "I promise you, Ayane," he said tonelessly. She smiled slightly before casually changing the subject to what they had been talking about beforehand.

"About Kasumi, I think I will let her go for a while, let her run. You spoke to Hayate, I assume?" she asked.

"He told me that he will have to send out assassins after her because she is now officially a runaway. I know little else about it, really," Ryu said softly. "I have to go back to my own clan soon, to make sure that everything is running smoothly,"

"You know, you're not as stupid as you look," Ayane said, brushing some hair away from her mouth. There was a muffled sound of laughter from the door. Both Ayane and Ryu turned around to see Hayate who was grinning in a friendly manner.

"Just kiss and make up, guys. You know you want to,"

Hayabusa flushed, but that was nothing compared to Ayane. She turned scarlet, before chasing Hayate away from the door furiously.

"I told you!" Ryu heard Hayate exclaim from wherever he was avoiding Ayane's wrath.

"Two words for you, Hayate, but one of them is censored out for the little kids," Ayane muttered under her breath. Ryu tried not to smile. This was really quite amusing.

After everything had settled down, she sat back on the mats uncomfortably, and stole a glance at Ryu. Smart, she thought. He's not laughing.

She pondered what Hayate had just said. Were her 'feelings' that obvious? So much for being the cool, emotionless killer which she tried to be but just couldn't quite cut it. Cool, she could do. Emotionless, now that was a totally different story. She glanced up at Ryu, who was looking slightly perturbed by the silence. Now, there's a first, she thought.

"Stuff him. Seriously, it was a big help. And thank-you again for looking after me when Hayate decided to bash me up," she added. He bowed his head, and she wondered briefly what he was doing before she realized that he was simply doing a formalized nod.

"As I said before, it was the least I could do. And it wasn't as though I could have just left you there, unconscious. Kasumi would have had a field day, had she noticed,"

"You didn't have to," she insisted. "So why did you?"

"I told you that evening, a few weeks ago," he said, his voice dropping so low in volume that she had to strain her ears to hear him. "And you said it yourself. I'm supposed to help the same people that I run away from. I suppose you could say that I'm cowardly in that respect. So I didn't run. I stayed to fulfill my destiny," his voice trailed off. "That wasn't the only reason," he said, looking away from her.

"Continue," she said, crossing her arms.

"He's scared of the dark and thought you would be too," Hayate said sarcastically, stepping into the dojo. He was shot two extremely dirty looks and held up his hands in self-defense. "It's okay, you two. I was only joking. No need to get so uptight,"

"I've already let one person die because I didn't help them when I could," Ryu said, looking at his hands. "I didn't want to make the same mistake. I refuse to make the same mistake again,"

"As if I would have died," Ayane scoffed. "Stop being so paranoid,"

He looked up suddenly. "Kasumi could have got rid of her competition. The only way that anybody knew that she is a runaway before she didn't return to your clan after the tournament is your word. She could have easily disposed of you that night, and claimed it was an accident. Then she would have been welcomed into the clan again,"

"She ran when Hayate went. People noticed that she wasn't there," Ayane retorted. Ryu shrugged absently.

"That means nothing. I'm often absent from my clan months at a time, yet I'm not a runaway. You were the only person that heard her say 'I'm coming, Hayate, no matter the costs,' and watched her pack her things and go," he said.

"Think back," Hayate urged. "You were the only one that saw her go,"

Ayane nodded. They were right. She had watched in stunned amazement the night that Hayate had left, as his seemingly brainless, stupid, good-for-nothing sister had packed her bags and had declared herself to finding Hayate, at exactly midnight when everybody else was asleep. She had been awoken by the commotion. Nobody else saw the next kunoichi in line for the position of clan leader run from the clan that had brought her up.

"I'll find him, no matter what it takes. I'm coming, Hayate, no matter the costs!" she had exclaimed. Ayane looked at her, scorn filling her eyes, masking the pain she felt for her now most likely deceased half brother.

"He's probably dead yet you still search for him. Doing so will make you a runaway, and that means that your beloved probably dead brother, if he inherits the position of clan leader will have to send assassins after you! You'll be a runaway as well as a twit!" Ayane retorted.

"I don't care!" the orange-haired kunoichi had cried before running out the door with her bags.

"I never thought of that," she said as humbly as she could manage, although secretly she felt rather good that she had influenced the entire clan to kill Kasumi after what she, Ayane had been the only one to see. "I guess you're right. But as if she'd have the guts to do that, anyway, kill me," she added as an afterthought.

Hayate looked grim. "She has more guts then you give her credit for, Ayane. But we'll see just how much guts she has when I send the assassins after her,"

"You're still going to do it, even though she is your sister?" Ryu asked, turning towards Hayate questioningly. He nodded.

"It's my duty as clan leader to assassinate the runaways. It doesn't matter who they are related to or who they are to me. I cannot neglect my duty just because she is my sister," Suddenly, Hayate had adopted the rule-abiding half of himself which Ayane was simply not used to. No, she preferred the fun, good natured side. She stole a glance at Hayabusa. He was staring out the window again. Almost like what happened all those years ago, to some extent, she thought. But Hayate's here, thank God. And I can see what Hayate meant about Ryu. Sort-of. Sometimes.

"Don't look as though you're interested or anything," she said out aloud, making him start and look at her. He looked into her eyes for a few moments until she shifted uncomfortably. "Quit it already," she snapped, causing him to drop his gaze to the floor.

"I was just thinking about… things," he said softly. Hayate shot a glance at him.

"Starts with 'I', ends with 'E', with an 'R, E, and N' in the middle?" he asked him tactlessly. Ryu looked up at him, and for once Ayane could read his expression. It was an 'I want to sink into the ground right now' sort of expression.

"Yes," he said instead. "Do you have a problem with it?"

"Hayate told me about Irene a few weeks ago, when you vanished, and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about it, for what it's worth," Ayane said hesitantly. He looked at her and nodded politely to her. "Thank-you," he said simply. A thought suddenly hit her.

"When I went into your room and you made me tea. You were thinking about her, weren't you? That's why you were acting all… weird," she said, surmising the incident as best as she could think of. He nodded again.

"You went to his room?" Hayate asked, stunned. Ayane glanced sideways at him.

"Jealous?"

"What have you two been doing during the tournament?" Hayate said, sighing, as Ayane shot him a glare.