He had received mix reactions when he had arrived back. About half of the clan, some his distant relatives, actually, had greeted him warmly. Others had shot him a 'You've done it now' look. Ryu sighed. He knew that they were right. But as the only true descendant of his father, one of the most prestigious ninjas ever to adopt the Hayabusa clan's name, what were they going to do? If he died, their line would be finished. Even the ones who hated him realized that. Most of those were ones who had despised him since childhood, or the ninjas older then him who would never adopt the clan's name. He was one of the highest ranked in the clan, apart from the Elder. It was rather daunting, really.

He had heard word that there was another tournament fairly soon, something to do with the DOATEC. Great, he thought. I wonder what they've done this time. Probably something to do with that article I read a few weeks ago.

He was lying down rather inelegantly on the tatami mats in his room now, staring up at the ceiling. He was back, the place he called home, to some extent. Yet he didn't feel reassured, in fact far from it. Even here he could hear the noises of people laughing, the voices of the teachers as they trained the students. He suddenly longed to get away from it all, go up to the mountains and spend some time there by himself, but he knew that the Elder would get suspicious if he left again so soon.

It gave him time to think, the most privacy that he was going to get, anyway. For some reason, Ayane kept on drifting into his thoughts. What was it about her? He sighed. I feel for her. That's the problem. It could get me killed. Irene, that was weak enough, but an assassin? I might as well sign my own death warrant. What a fool I am.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door, breaking his train of thought.

"What?" he muttered, and then realizing that he wouldn't be heard, raised his voice. "Yes?" he asked slightly louder.

"Ryu-sama, may I come in for a moment?" asked a small voice from the other side of the door. He didn't recognize it; it was probably one of the students or something. He gave his assent, and a small dark haired girl stepped in uncertainly.

"Sayuri-chan?" he asked, surprised. "Is something wrong?"

"Far from it, as far as I know. I'm sorry to disturb you, Ryu-sama, except there is somebody here to see you. The Elder does not recognize her and so has forbidden her to enter until you give your assent, because she says she knows you," Sayuri blinked, amber eyes not unlike Kasumi's looking innocently at him.

"Who would that be?" he asked, bemused by the notion. "I'll be there in a minute. Thank-you for bringing the message," Sayuri bowed before exiting. It was only after she had gone when he grabbed his sword in its holster and put it on.

He padded softly barefooted down to the outside area where this mysterious person would no doubt be waiting. He started as he realized who it was.

Why is Ayane here? Is something wrong? His footsteps on the stone path alerted her to his presence and she turned around.

*

She had never seen Ryu dress so informally. He was in a lot tighter then usual black shirt and black baggy pants, completing the somewhat monochromatic ensemble with black fighting gloves. He had his hair flowing down over his shoulders, something she had never seen before. His expression was one of mild concern as he looked at her.

"Ayane, what's wrong?" he asked anxiously. She shook her head.

"Hayate's being an ass. As per usual. I suppose I shouldn't have let it bother me so much," she said, sighing. "I don't know what's gotten into him. This whole clan leader thing has made his head swell to twice the size, and you know that Hayate and the word 'ego' are not unacquainted," she added bitterly.

"So you came here because of that?" she noticed the surprise he was not able to completely mask from his voice. She shrugged.

"Nice of you to leave me a note this time,"

"What did Hayate do?" Ryu asked. She hesitated. How did he know already? Had Hayate told him what he had said to her? The words still stung, the malice which he had used, and even him mentioning it in the first place. It was her problem, not his. He had no right to use what wasn't even her fault against her. For the first time ever, when she thought of Hayate abhorrence filled her. He knew all the time, of course. He was just waiting, biding his time until he could use those words to full effect.

"It's none of your business!" she exclaimed angrily. "Why don't you just leave me alone?"

"Why did you come to see me if you want me to leave you alone?" Ryu asked; his tone straightforward as usual. She mentally chastised herself, he had her there.

"Look, can you go back and speak to Hayate? I know you probably don't want to, but he's assuming all sorts of radical things and maybe you could talk some sense into him. He's automatically assumed that because you left it was because he was stronger then you or some crap like that," she said. She would tell him about what he had said about Genra later. He looked surprised. "Did he really say that?" he asked.

"As I said before. His head's swelling faster then a swollen ankle," she muttered.

"Hang on a minute," he said, before walking to the door. "Sayuri-chan?" he asked as the little girl poked her head around the door. She had dark brown, almost black hair, but amber-like eyes. Like hers, Ayane thought, immediately taking a disliking to the girl. "Could you please tell the Elder that I am going to see my friend from the Mugen-Tenshin clan and I will be back shortly,"

The little girl smiled and nodded. Ayane stared curiously at her. Her eyes were about the only similarity to that bitch Kasumi that she had. Sayuri smiled almost mischievously. Ryu nodded with a slight upturning of the lips, and she bowed to him before shutting the door.

*

The trip back to the Mugen-Tenshin clan was somewhat quiet. Ryu noticed with amusement that he had forgotten to change before leaving his clan, but at least he was still armed. Finally, Ayane decided to break the silence. "That girl…"

"Sayuri," Ryu interrupted. Ayane nodded. "Yes, her. Is she related to you?"

"She's my cousin's daughter," Ryu said simply. "She's a good little fighter,"

"Is that all you see in people?" Ayane asked somewhat skeptically. Ryu looked sideways at her sharply, before his eyes drifted back to the path in front of them, seemingly ignoring the question. She decided to steer the question away from it. "You just seemed… happier, because of her then I've seen you," she said awkwardly. "Look, Hayate's the problem. He mentioned that Genra has gone missing, and made some snide comments about my… illegitimacy," she said, the word not coming out smoothly. "That's why I came; I just wanted to get away from him. I can't believe him, that's all… I don't even know why I'm telling you, it's not as if you could do anything or I would let you do anything, I guess I just wanted to talk. First time for everything,"

"If you could have helped it, you probably should have tried and avoided the subject," Ryu said, brushing some hair out of his face for about the tenth time in five minutes. "Hayate has a lot to say on the subject of illegitimacy,"

"And you would know how?" she asked curiously.

"Long story. And we're nearly there. Not enough time," Ryu said hastily, pointing at the houses and temple in front of them. She glanced sideways at him except his expression was the same as it always was, cool and unreadable. "…So you want me to speak to Hayate and get him sorted out?" he brushed his hair out of his face for the eleventh time. Now she was beginning to realize why he didn't wear it out very often.

"Please. The only reason I'm telling you, or I came to tell you, was because it involves you more then me and I though you should know,"

There was a moment of silence as they approached the clan's area, before Ayane asked the question she had been thinking about since the third hair-brushing.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?"

He turned and looked at her. "No, why do you ask?"

"Because you look… different, you know; hair out and everything. I thought maybe I had caught you during a bad time,"

"No, I was just lying down on my floor pondering things, as always. Absolutely nothing for the common good," he said. She sighed. Number twelve.

"For God's sake, tie it up when we get inside," she muttered, opening the doors.