He was floating in a pool of confusion, or so it felt like. It was swirling around him, threatening to smother him in its… completeness. He had finally realized that yes, he did feel for Ayane, but that didn't mean that he had to admit it. And what would Irene say? For crying out loud, she had only been dead for a few months, and yet he had become attracted to another? A pang of guilt hit him. How could he?

"Irene…" he murmured, half to himself. "I'm sorry,"

"So I am right!" Hayate exclaimed which caused Ryu to open his eyes and look up, surprised. His friend was grinning. "You do! I'm so smart," he said offhandedly.

"What makes you say that?" he asked carefully, not wanting to drop any unwanted messages. Hayate shook his head.

"Why else would you have just apologized to Irene if there was nothing to apologize for?" he asked.

Good point. I should really learn to keep my mouth shut.

Suddenly, there was a brisk knock on the door, and in came Ayane herself, still looking rather annoyed at Hayate. "Can I come in, or haven't you finished your 'guy talk' yet?" she mocked. Hayate glanced at Ryu, before raising an eyebrow.

"Come in, Ayane. The guy talk's just starting, but you're more then welcome,"

Ryu shot Hayate a death-glare which he conveniently ignored, as Ayane sat in one of the chairs.

She looked across at him.

"So. Have you two sorted it out, yet?"

"Umm," Ryu managed to get out. Great! He thought bitterly. This is just great. I can't even speak properly. Hayate will jump to conclusions so quickly that I'll get whiplash from the speed that he's going. He remained silent for several minutes, all the while trying to get his words out in a sentence comprehensible for the average person. "Yes, I think so," he said finally.

"Are you all right?" Ayane asked, looking across at him somewhat suspiciously.

"Umm," he repeated, before mentally chastising himself. I can't think straight! It must be all that talk that Hayate and I were having before. It's done something to me. "No… yes!" he said suddenly. My god. What's wrong with me today?

"Oh my god," Hayate managed to say. Ryu looked over at him and saw his friend trying and not overly succeeding to contain his laughter. "Oh my god,"

I was fine earlier. Ryu couldn't contain the little flame of indignation which had ignited with his friend's laughing. "…I'm glad that I'm so amusing, Hayate," he said.

"Me too," Hayate choked out.

"Okay, what's going on?" Ayane asked. "Ryu, you're acting like you're drunk, and Hayate, you're acting like a girl. What's your problem, both of you?"

Hayate managed to regain his control. Ryu sighed, twisting a strand of hair around his finger. Darn Hayate. Trust him to make me feel like an absolute idiot, he thought bitterly. "Look, I'm sorry, both of you. I'm not with it today,"

"I know what you are with…" Hayate started before Ryu held up a hand, standing up.

"Don't you dare, Hayate," he said softly. "Don't you dare,"

*

Ayane watched as Ryu left the room. What had gotten into him? He was acting weird. Couldn't even string a sentence together properly. He was fine earlier. Maybe… it couldn't have been. Getting tongue-tied in front of Hayate, perhaps? She dismissed the thought almost immediately. No way. He doesn't look the type, and besides, what person in their right mind would go gaga over Hayate?

"Please explain," she said, looking at Hayate, who grinned.

"He… I don't know whether I'll be in one piece after telling you this, sis," he started. "I guess we should cut to the chase. He's got a crush on you,"

"Yeah, very funny," she scoffed. "That is so… juvenile. Trust you to come up with some cock and bull story about that, Hayate,"

"It's true," Hayate looked slightly indignant. "I managed to squeeze the information out of him, and I don't think he meant to say what he did. I just deduced the facts, because I'm overly smart and wonderful…"

"A little bit of modesty works wonders," she muttered under her breath. She thought about the facts. That could explain him helping her so much, but he never showed any type of affection or anything towards her. But she couldn't see him doing that anyway. What surprised her the most is that when she thought about him liking her, she didn't feel resentment or anything of the sort towards him. In fact, she distantly didn't mind the idea, which scared her. She shrugged, before standing up. "I'll leave you to it. I want to talk to him,"

"Invite me to your wedding," Hayate said. Ayane shot him a glare before walking out, making sure to slam the door after her.

*

He had been pacing the footpath rapidly, ignoring the stones digging into his feet. What was wrong with him today? This was how he had acted on the first date that he and Irene had gone on. Totally out of it. Couldn't get a sentence out without stuttering or a number of 'Umm's in it. He decided that he was tired. Surely he needed some excuse.

The door opened, and Ayane came out, slamming the door behind her. She came straight up to him with a 'Don't-lie-to-me-because-I-know-the-full-story' look on her face. He sighed, and sat under the closest tree, her following suit.

"True? Affirmative or negative," she said briskly. Trust her to cut straight to the chase. He dropped his gaze to the ground. Those little flowers coming out of the dirt are nice, he mused, totally forgetting what the question was.

"Hello? Earth to Ryu," she said sarcastically. "What's going on?"

"Oh, …umm… sorry…" he replied hesitantly. "I wasn't listening…"

"And it was so obvious," she said, rolling her eyes. He was beginning to get a headache. What was it with women? "So? What's going on? Is what Hayate said true or bullshit? Knowing him, either is quite plausible,"

"What did he say?" he asked, trying to bide time, but one look from Ayane told him that that was out of the question. "Umm… no," he said. "Hayate was just jumping to conclusions,"

"Oh," she said. He looked at her, surprised. It might have just been him, but she sounded distantly disappointed.

*

She didn't know why she hadn't been expecting that response. Hello, he's a ninja, Ayane, she told herself. They're supposed to be all cold and emotionless. Ha… emotionless my ass.

"That's good," she said finally. "At least Hayate can focus on his job as opposed to our imaginary love-life,"

"Ayane…" Ryu said suddenly. She looked at him, and he was looking down at the ground as if it was about to swallow him up. Then he suddenly looked at her, those glaring green eyes boring into her. "I… think that I do… like you…" he said softly, so softly she wasn't sure whether he did actually say it or she had just imagined it. "But… look, I'm sorry. This is ridiculous, and nothing will come from it," He stood up. "I have to go. Everything's sorted out with Hayate, and I have to get back to my clan otherwise everybody will get suspicious, especially after what happened before. I'm sorry,"

"Why are you apologizing?" she asked bemusedly. "I might be a bitch, but I really don't mind about-"

"Just forget it," he said. "Farewell,"

And with that, the super ninja vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving a stunned Ayane behind.

Ooh, a confessed love… but a returned love? Now that is the question. Sorry for the length of time between updates, but you'd never believe it… three days after I got my computer back, the hard-drive failed. You can guess who was a really happy chappy after that, can't you? :)