"That isn't the case, Ayane, and you know it. Kasumi has cleared her name; there is no need for you to continue hunting her now. You realise that if you kill her now, the clan will punish you for going against their rules,"

"Did I say that I was going to kill her when I found her?" she asked icily.

"You don't have to say it for me to know," I retorted.

The first blow hit me across the face, and judging by the location of the pain I realised she had hit my right eye, although I couldn't see the effects because I was already blindfolded, I could feel my head pounding with pain. Admittedly, I had taken worse, except before it was in a tournament to win, not kill. I could tell that winning wasn't what Ayane had in mind. The second one hit in the same spot, and by the third my head was spinning.

"You're prepared to suffer the pain just for Kasumi? My, aren't you loyal," Ayane hissed. "The promise has been kept, Hayabusa. Why do you continue to risk your life for her?"

"I am not risking my life for her, I am merely staying with what is right," I said sadly. "You have no need to bother Kasumi-san anymore. Why continue to stalk her relentlessly? There is no reason for you to know where she is, unless you want to hurt her,"

"The reasons that I want to know where Kasumi is are none of your business. Just tell me where she is before I end your sad life," Ayane snapped.

"If you kill me you will never know where she is," I retorted. "All the effort you put into capturing me will be wasted. Surely you wouldn't want that?"

"You're right," Ayane said. "I'll simply make you tell me. Not even you can stand up to pain forever. When I push you to breaking point, you'll wish that you never stood against me, that you simply did what was asked of you,"

"I'll remember that," I said coldly. "But I am not saying a word,"

"Suit yourself," Ayane snapped. "Mark my words; I am not going to stop until you tell me where she is. I hope you realise that. You're such a fool,"

The next blow came to my stomach. I assumed that she had kicked me. It took all my self-control to not try and double over, although that was nigh on impossible as I was still chained, I didn't want to give Ayane the satisfaction. Unlike when I had fought her before, she was attacking more ferociously, and suddenly a barrage of punches rained down on me. In only a few seconds it was over, except the pain lingered. Then I heard a metallic scrape, and Ayane's harsh words confirmed my unspoken fears.

"I'm holding a sword, Hayabusa, a very sharp sword. Unless you tell me, I will cut your skin, hack through your limbs if I have to. Are you going to tell me yet? Or would you prefer to exist as a limbless torso?"

I shivered, I couldn't help it. Ayane would carry out her threat, I knew. She was a remorseless killer. I… I was trained in assassination as well as ninjutsu, except I wouldn't be able to carry out torture. I did have a limit as to what I would do. Ayane, however, obviously didn't. She brought the blade closer, until it was touching my right arm, the metallic coldness extremely discomforting.

"This is your last chance, before I do something you'll regret dearly,"

"I will not betray Kasumi!" I exclaimed, my voice raising a notch or two. Inside, I was chastising myself. What happened to control? Ayane touched my right arm softly, if it wasn't for the cold brush of metal that still remained there, I could almost fool myself that it wasn't Ayane there touching my arm, almost like a lover, it could be… someone else.

"You're a fool, Ryu, and you have made this so much more difficult then it should have been," she whispered before she increased the pressure on the sword. I winced slightly as I felt the blade digging into my flesh. The pain increased, and I was about to cry out, except I bit my tongue in fortitude. After what seemed like an age, Ayane stopped, and withdrew the sword. Luckily for me she hadn't done what she had threatened, yet. My arm was burning with a pain I had never felt before, and as she undid the chains from around my arms, the first thing I did was sit up, and gently touch the wound, examining it. Even the small touch hurt, and I wondered if I was going to be able to use it properly enough to continue ninjutsu, at least for a while. Untying the blindfold from around my head took more effort then one would think necessary, my hands were shaking and I wasn't sure if I could remain sitting up. As soon as I had taken off the blindfold, I realised that the blows that Ayane had dealt earlier had swollen my right eye shut. Wonderful. I glanced down at the wound she had just inflicted, it was still bleeding freely. I looked up at her.

"Why aren't you fulfilling your threat, Ayane-san? Didn't you just say that you were going to hack through my limbs to make me tell you, in your words? What happened?"

Eh… this is Em, also known as Crimson Heart to most of you, posting this because my co-writer HanR doesn't have this story on her computer right now. Tee. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. We wrote this a while ago, so if it sounds dodgy… that's why. (I need an excuse, lol) :)