*Drops down on knees and praises Hayabusa* Finally! Hayate gets his hands dirty! Even only slightly dusty, but it's better then nothing! ^_^

Oh, and this chapter, enter Genra. About time.

Thanks always for reviewing. You guys are my inspiration! ^_^

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That… that arsehole! She fumed mentally. I don't believe he has the nerve to say that sort of thing to me! He would never say that sort of thing to Kasumi, even if it were true. Just because he thinks that he's better then me makes him think that he can treat me like shit!

She had gone down to the store, bought some coke. However, the thirst for caffeine had toned down a lot since before. At least it was Hayate's money. That makes me feel a bit better. Stupid idiot leaving his money lying around, he's kind of asking for it.

She passed them on the way back. They were still talking. She narrowed her eyes, wrapping the change in the plastic carry bag, before throwing it directly at Hayate, hitting him in the stomach. "By the way, here's your change,"

"Ayane, do you have any common courtesy?" Hayate stood up, anger blazing in currently chocolate brown eyes. "Or are you really just-"

A sudden pointed look from Hayabusa shut him up, but she was now ready for a fight.

"Really just what, huh?" she challenged. Hayate kept his mouth shut. "Come on. You started it. Now end it, bitch,"

"Okay. That's it!" Hayate threw up his hands in frustration. "Bring it on,"

He shook his head, ignoring his headache. Ayane and Hayate are always at each other's throats, aren't they? Should I try and stop them? No. I'd be a fool to try and get in the way of that… especially since they're getting somewhat violent now…

Ayane did a forward flip, bringing her feet down as she did so, knocking Hayate to the ground. Hayate jumped up, cartwheeling behind his half sister, before punching her once, twice, three times… the forth punch sent her flying to the ground several feet away.

"Do you two mind!" he finally yelled. To his surprise, they both stopped.

"Wow. It speaks," Ayane mused.

"And it has a volume higher then nothing!" Hayate added.

"Even better, it's not speaking cliché!" Ayane mock-gasped, the sarcasm evident.

Hayate put his hands to his cheeks theatrically. "Must be a mistake!"

"Shut up!" he bellowed.

They both did, looking at him bemusedly.

"What happened to your sense of humour?" Ayane questioned, usual tone back in her voice.

He threw up his hands in frustration. "I'm going,"

"Good work," Ayane's voice drifted back. "Do you want a medal?"

He bit his lip to refrain from not going back and hitting her over the head. Pummelling a young girl probably isn't the best thing. Even if said young girl is just as likely to spear me with her stilettos. Just what I don't want.

At the door, he was about ready to burst into tears, if he was that sort of person, at the sight of his father, even more inebriated then ever, with Raidou and 'that other scum'.

Why don't I just jump on the road and wait for a semi-trailer to run me down? So much quicker and less painful in the long run.

"Damn well took your time!" was the fierce statement that greeted him, along with the overpowering stench of alcohol and smoke. He made a slight face, waving the smoke away as Raidou blew it into his face.

"How's my little girl?" Raidou asked, taking a deep drag on the cigarette.

"A lot better before she found out who her father was, I'm sure," he snapped, not caring about the consequences.

Perhaps I should have… he mused later, lying on his bed. His entire left side ached from the blows he had received, his wrists still burning from the rope that had been tied around them, an exceedingly demeaning gesture, if he said so himself. Who knows what they were planning to do if I hadn't escaped and locked myself in here. One thing I like about this house is my room has a lock. A big lock.

He buried his head into his pillow. I'm sick of them. I'm sick of Father. I'm sick of Raidou. I'm sick of Ayane being so unpredictable. I'm so sick of this.

Half wishing that he could summon up the energy to call Hayate and apologise for his outburst earlier, the other half not giving a damn, he shut his eyes and drifted into an uneasy, restless slumber.

She downed the rest of her coke on the way home. I wonder what stick made its way up his arse. He seemed cut. Oh well. He's so weird and hard to read. I wouldn't know, even if it made its way over and bit me on the bum.

Hayate was walking beside her silently. Neither of them had said a word on the trip home until they entered the door. To her surprise, as soon as she stepped in the door she was swept into a large embrace.

"Ay. How have you been?"

That voice could only have been… "Genra!" she returned the embrace. He was one of very few that she would happily embrace. "I've been good. Missed you, though. I thought you were on a business trip, though?"

"Yes, I was," he smiled. "But I've finished, and came back early so I could see you,"

She smiled despite herself, despite the fact that Hayate was watching. "I missed you, you old codger. So, are you going back down to the hole afterwards?"

"Well, actually, that's why I came around," he explained. "While I was away, I bought a house. You might have seen it, actually. Around the corner from here,"

"Around the corner?" she was shocked. "So that means I can come and live with you!"

Genra blinked. "Don't be so hasty. Discuss it with your father first,"

She narrowed her eyes. "Father? He isn't my father; he's my step-father. And my real father, don't even go there. He's a frigging retard, stupid bastard prick,"

Genra smiled again. "I see you haven't changed a bit, Ayane,"

"Isn't that good?" she questioned.

His smile widened. "Yeah,"

For the first time in a long time… I feel happy. I like feeling happy. Such a rare experience. But it's nice to see Genra again. Nice that someone accepts me for who I am. Nice that someone actually cares for me, instead of just tolerating me. Nice that that someone is friendly. Nice, and cares for me like…

She truncated the thought-stream where it was, eyes wide. "No way," she said aloud, pulling away from Genra.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She couldn't answer.

No way. There must be something wrong with my thoughts. I couldn't have meant…

…nice and cares for me like Hayabusa?

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