She pushed the door open tentatively, peering into the darkness. There was no light on. Suddenly, she heard footsteps, and froze, hands grasping for her katana desperately, falling back into fighting mode. The light flicked on, and she gasped. So much for an assassin not living in such a secluded location.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, unable to contain her shock. The shinobi gave her a sceptical look, raising his eyebrow at her.

"I live here. What are you doing here?"

She never would have guessed. What were the odds of her seeking shelter and the first house that she came across and entered was Ryu Hayabusa's? One in a million? But there he was, standing in front of her, still with a sceptical but now slightly concerned look on his face.

"You must be cold, Ayane," he said, his voice soft and emotionless as it always had been. But something seemed somewhat different; she couldn't quite catch what it was. "Seeing as you've managed to enter my house anyway, you might as well come the rest of the way in, although you have managed to do that quite admirably yourself so far,"

The sarcasm was evident, but she refused to let it deter her. He let her come the rest of the way inside, seating her on a nearby chair and immediately getting her a towel which she took gratefully. It was fluffy and warm as she towelled her hair dry before wrapping it around her. It was then, as he walked back over to the table that she noticed that there was something on it.

No, someone.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed in shock, standing up and walking over. As she set eyes on the prone figure, she gasped. "Hayate?"

"He and Kasumi were fighting. I got there too late," Ryu said simply and somewhat bitterly. "As soon as she saw what she had done, she went into shock. I set her off into the forest and now I have to try and help your brother,"

Ayane frowned bitterly. "Half brother," she said maliciously. "As he kept on reminding me,"

"Is it true that he banished you for your impure shinobi blood?" Ryu asked questioningly, bent over Hayate's body. She narrowed her eyes, the memory awakening the anger that she felt.

"That's what he told you, obviously. Yes, that's the main reason. Just because he and her are as pure as they come. Not that it means anything to you, either. We were told that anyone not of pure blood in the Hayabusa was destroyed,"

"Excuse me?" Ryu asked, surprised, straightening up and meeting her eyes. She could see the astonishment on his face. "Who told you that?"

Ayane pulled the towel closer around her shoulders, even though she was warming up physically; mentally it felt as though somebody had dropped an ice block into her soul. "Hayate, mister pure-blood himself, of course. He said that your clan couldn't abide impure-blooded,"

"That is true, as a general rule. But they didn't kill them. They kept them alive," he said softly. She glanced over at him; his expression was wistful and recollecting. "Of course, some people in the clan didn't approve of it. We were supposed to have been of pure blood, symbolising it as strength for our clan. They tried to change the leader's decision, but he wouldn't be swayed,"

He paused for a moment, staring out of the window.

"The people that had protested thought that it was because the leader had felt guilty. It was his child that was of the impure blood, you know, nobody except for him and his lover truly knew the circumstances surrounding the birth. But the leader denied everything, and letting the young child be raised in the normal way. Other then a few odd incidents with the people opposed to him, the child had a normal life within the clan,"

"How do you know so much about this?" she demanded, although she was ridden with curiosity. It was something about his voice which made everything that he said sound interesting, even when it wasn't, although in this case it was. He turned away from the window to face her, green eyes boring into her own.

"Father told me shortly before he left on clan business. It was his job as leader of the clan to take the initiative for the battle, although the consequences led to his demise,"

It took a while for his statement to sink in, before Ayane suddenly, shockingly, understood.

"You mean that… you…"

He simply nodded.