Chapter 6 : 3 Survivors
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"Oh no... argh! Okay, you can stop now." Hayate whimpered weakly. He was lying face down on the floor, unable to move, while Ayane was kneeling on one knee placed against Hayate's back. She was twisting his arm before she stopped.
"All right, Ayane, you win this time. I suggest you two team up in the tournament, would it be fine with you?" Hayate looked up at them from the floor, seeing that Kasumi was smiling at him, which he assumed approval to his suggestion.
"Sure. Okay, Hayate. But don't disgrace yourself in front of Master Ryu, alright?" Though Ayane's anger has faded a little, sarcasm stayed in her voice. Hayate gave her an uneasy look, unsure whether she was right about him. Kasumi had always encouraged him to become stronger, to be even stronger than what he used to be before his disappearance. At the thought of this, he began to understand why Ayane had despised DOATEC. Both his sisters wanted him to be more powerful so that he can carry burden of the clan on his own shoulders, and to regain self-respect. Ayane had always been sarcastic, but deep inside he knew what she desired him to be like. In fact, she was actually trying to raise his determination and to encourage him to be stronger like what Kasumi wanted, so that he won't ever have to take in insults like what Ayane just did to him. These insults were just to motivate him.
"Nii-san, what's wrong?" Kasumi asked, seeing that her brother was hanging his head low, and he looked sad.
"Uhm... nothing. I just want to know what I was like before I was captured."
"Don't feel that way, Hayate, it's not your fault. Since that day when I became a runaway, all I wanted was you, regardless of whether you like me or not. It didn't even matter whether you wanted to kill me or didn't even recognize me. Even if looking for you meant running away to my death, I would do it rather do it than live to regret for the rest of my life. I just wanted to see you for that one last time. Nii-san, I can't express how grateful I am that you have accepted me back into the clan." Kasumi confessed, "Please understand, we're not pressurizing you to be better in a flash, just take your time, Hayate, and work hard."
"Hayate, you weren't that arrogant or cocky at that time like you were in the last tournament because you knew you were leader of this clan, neither were you acting like a coward and feared even your siblings or your friends, when you found out the truth about us. Before the day you were gone, you were bold, courageous and responsible, as well as a caring brother of your two sisters here and a good friend of me. I understand what DOATEC had done to you, you have to start life once over again and try to become a worthy leader for the clan. Nevertheless, you have been good enough for yourself. You are the heir of the leaders, therefore, prove yourself to your enemies and the rest of the clan and show them what you're really made of." Hayabusa said.
"He's right, Hayate. You are what you are. You're not anybody else. Don't ever try to be someone you're not, not even your past. But you must become stronger, that you'll be able to survive even if we're gone. Train hard." These last words came from Ayane, who was expressionless as usual.
"I will, Ayane. Thank you everyone."
Ayane closed her eyes and nodded slowly. Hayate knew from the start that his half-sister was hard to understand at times. She tends to hide her personal emotions, but that did not mean that she could not be understood, for he knew who understands her the most, and the one who saw her as his most prized treasure, which is none other than Genra.
Meanwhile, back in the same store where Hayate bought the newspaper on Megido, the ninja who spied Donovan was there, newspaper in hand, stranded in a long, snake-like queue. Though it was a small and humble shop, this time it attracted more customers than ever expected. The owner of this shop, which provided items for sale, as well as a service centre for mobile phones, had gone bankrupt and needed money badly, he had no choice but to lower the prices to sell more quickly. Standing on front of the ninja-in-disguise, also stranded in the long queue, was an impatient man garbed neatly in a black suit with a red tie. His curses could be heard as he spoke loudly on his mobile phone, which suggested that it needed a little repair.
"What do freaking think? Standing in this freaking long queue when I need this freaking phone repaired in a damn freaking hurry! And this freaking, old shop owner can't even move faster! He's absolutely delaying the whole freaking queue! How I freaking wish I could just blast his freaking head..."
Just then he felt an hand hit him in the elbow, causing his mobile phone to slip from his grasp and land on the floor, breaking into pieces.
"What the... hey! What do you freaking think you're DOING?!" the man turned and glared dangerously at the ninja, his thick eyebrows furrowing with frustration.
Despite the man's anger and his looks, the ninja remained calm and consoled.
"... freaking accident."
"Well, I ought to remove the freaking hell out of you then!" the infuriated man lifted up his arms; he felt his patience gradually leaving him. He struck the ninja but his arm was caught in mid-air by yet another hand. The ninja held on to the man's arm with one hand and with his free hand, he turned the man around to make him face the counter. Until then did the madman realize what he had done. The queue in front of him was already gone. He was absolutely the one delaying everybody. The cashier just stared blankly at the man.
"Fine, whatever." He left the queue and stormed out through the door. The ninja walked forward and laid down the newspaper, along with the money, on the counter's desk.
Ayane woke up the next morning this time at about 3 a.m. She brought with her again the scroll and set off into the darkness outside. As she stepped out into the woods, she noticed a weak gleam of light emanating from a distance, what came to her mind first were spies sent from DOATEC, but she could not be sure just yet. When she heard someone speaking from that spot, Ayane made a quiet sprint towards them and ran up a nearby tree and sat on a branch.
"See that? You should know why I had resented him since the beginning." It was the ninja again. He was speaking to a friend and had his 4 katanas laid on the ground. he was a tall ,and a bit lanky, man. He had short hair like most men should have. The other ninja was about Ayane's height, though a little shorter, and he appeared stocky. He had shoulder-length hair tied back in a tiny ponytail.
"He's gone haywire!" the stocky lad exclaimed, staring down at the newspaper.
"It's sad though, I'm sure Ayane has seen it. Well, you can imagine just how she feels..." the tall ninja said gloomily. This time, his friend's eyes widened.
"What you mean... she's..." he stuttered.
"Yes. She's alive... and she's here."
"Huh?! What the... where?!"
"Don't worry, she's quite close to you." The taller man gestured with his finger up in front of him.
The stocky ninja turned behind him and looked up to a tree. He stared at the figure sitting cross-legged on a branch, but the short hair was all too familiar to him. The figure jumped down and landed on the ground noiselessly. The short ninja jumped up in surprise.
"Hi, Ayane. Long time no see." The tall ninja spoke.
"You survived." Ayane said.
"Yeah, we escaped from the battlefield instead of fighting. We know we would lose anyway, so there's no point dying. Then I spotted one of them taking you, I wanted to see what happened but soon enough they saw us. We had no choice but to disappear. From that day, we assumed they shot you dead, until..."
"Until what?"
"Until I heard Donovan mention you."
"You spied him?!"
"Yeah, in Hong Kong, where the their headquarters is situated. I escaped when he noticed me, then both of us secretly boarded a ship to return back here."
"Why didn't you come back to the clan? You know the Tenjinmon sector still exists."
"We can't, the soldiers had been guarding the forest for a long time, because they were in search for us. They didn't want the Tenjinmon clan informed about the incident so that no one would get into their plans. They wanted to make sure no one from the Hajinmon clan survives. We had no way to gain access to the rest of the clan unnoticed, but..."
"... but I survived to tell the truth." Ayane continued.
"You're right." He said, "but in the end, they succeeded. Genra's identity was taken away and turned onto nothing but a mere puppet working for Donovan. Then he was used in some kind of a tournament, and there, he died..."
"... and I won." Ayane interrupted him again.
"What?'
"Yes, I killed him. I entered the tournament 3 times, and for the third time, my main purpose was to put an end to his misery. Although I met Kasumi there, I set aside the thought of killing the runaway, I deliberately disobeyed Hayate's orders to back off. My determination paid off... and now Genra's dead.
"I guess you have to do what's best."
Ayane nodded, "Master Ryu's clan was also destroyed. He has taken his revenge, and now I'm taking mine."
"Ayane, I have a lot to tell you about what I've heard while I spied Donovan, and I think it'll be best if your friends get involved too. But I think it's still too early." The sky was still dark and Ayane grinned. She pulled out the scroll which caught them ny surprise. Ayane led them to her "training grounds" and she rolled open her scroll.