Note from me! - Hey! Sorry it's been so long! My friend let me borrow his Xbox and I've been playing DOA3, DOA: XBV, and Ninja Gaiden ever since... but I've torn myself away from the T.V. screen, (And Hayabusa's yummy third outfit) to update. So feel special!

Random Note- What the hell does 'Mugen Tenshin' mean? 'Mugen' means 'Eternity; Infinity', But I couldn't find 'Tenshin'. The only thing that comes close is 'Tenshi' and that means 'Angel'. So could it mean 'Eternal Angel'?
What about Hajinmon? 'Haji' means 'shame; disgrace'. Mon can mean 'gate' or 'family crest'... Argh... got to study more...

Wolf- yep, she should've listened to Hayabusa, but hey, this is Ayane we're talking about. She's not just going to sit there quietly and behave. Hayabusa's lucky she didn't vandalize something on her way out... Heh...

Kurmoi- Whoa, people use peroxide to bleach their hair? And here I thought its sole purpose was for my mother's twisted pleasure of putting it on my cuts and watching as I scream in agony... I'll tell you what though; it makes me twice as cautious around sharp objects... Damn Peroxide...

One Last Note- I love coffee...

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Chapter 8:

He didn't like to leave her alone like he had, but he needed to talk to Hayate. He had a right to know what Ayane had done to herself; he was her brother after all.

"It looked pretty bad when I found her. She had lost a lot of blood, but I think she'll be fine now..." Hayabusa said, sitting across from Hayate in a café not to far from his shop. It was still early morning so besides a man at the counter, the place was empty.

Hayate sat with his head in his hands, no longer wearing the annoyed expression he had arrived with, "Are you sure she wasn't attacked?" Hayabusa nodded, his arms crossed over his chest.

"The knife was still in her hand when I found her, the blood still wet on the blade." Hayate shook his head and looked up at his friend.

"Maybe she had fought back and stabbed the person that attacked her." Now it was his turn to shake his head.

"No Hayate, she wasn't attacked, there were no signs of her having struggled with anyone and only her arm was hurt. Ayane had cut herself, there's no way around it." Hayate sighed and looked at the coffee sitting in front of him.

"When you called and said we needed to talk about Ayane, I didn't expect you to tell me she hurt herself... Hurt someone else, sure, but not herself..."

"It seems what you said to her upset her a great deal." Hayate said nothing; they sat there in silence for a while. Hayate studied his coffee and Hayabusa looked out the window they were sitting next to.

"It may have upset her, but it's the truth. I don't want her to kill Kasumi. She says it's for the clan but I know it's more then that..."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know..."

"You could try talking to her about it."

"Really Ryu, do you think Ayane would sit there and listen to me?" Hayate pushed away from the table and stood up, "No, she'd probably tell me to go to hell... I've have to get going, call me later."

He didn't bother to stop him, only watched his friend's back as he left through the cafe's doors. His shoulders were slack with his hands in his pockets, if he could see his face there's no doubt it would have the look of worry.

One sister is running from the assassins he himself had to send and the other sister, half-sister, has an inferiority complex and wants to kill her half-sister herself. She won't tell Hayate her true reason for doing so, but I'm sure he knows...

He stood and was preparing to leave when the waitress tapped his shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir. But your friend forgot to pay for his coffee." She held out her hand, her foot tapping. Hayabusa shook his head and pulled out his wallet.

Same old Hayate...

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"Ow..." It was the only thing she could say. Her head hurt as if something was drumming on her skull. She laid face down on the rough pavement, trying to think, but with each thought the drumming grew louder.

Ok, so I'm outside of Hayabusa's shop... Ow! Damn head... It's still early so I shouldn't have to worry about anyone seeing me on the ground, but Hayabusa said he would be back soon. Crap, I have to hurry up and get out of here before he gets back...

Placing her hands beside her, she pushed at the sidewalk as if she was trying to do an extremely hard push up... Her body felt like lead and just moving her hands had been a test of her strength.

Sudden footsteps startled her, stopping her in her attempt to get up.

Crap, please don't let it be Hayabusa, he'll give me that dull stare of his and shake his head at me. Just let it be someone who will help me up and mind his or her own business...

It wasn't Hayabusa who turned the corner in front of her, but she instantly wished it had been. Turning the corner in front of her were the three scumbags she had encountered the other night, they were wearing different clothes, but the lanky one still had greasy hair...

Maybe if I just lay here they won't notice me...

Fat chance, as soon as they turned the corner they stopped dead in their tracks, looking at her.

"Hey! Ain't that the same girl from the other night, the one that attacked us?"

"Well, we did attack her first..."

"Shut up!" The lanky one pushed her onto her back roughly with his boot. Ayane tried not to groan from the pain, but the ass had drug his boot into her hurt arm.

"Yep, it's the same bitch, my, my, how the tables have turned." His voice sounded amused, and she didn't like it, "What's the matter, girlie? Feeling under the weather? To bad..."

He kicked her, hard, in the ribs. Ayane tried to twist away from him, clutching her ribs in agony. She opened one of her eyes and glared at him, but he only smiled at her.

"So what are we going to do with her?"

"What do you think? We're going to mess her up so bad, no one will recognize her." What was she going to do? She could glare at him all day, but it wasn't going to help her.

"Stop lookin' at me like that!" He kicked her again, but she twisted in time to avoid him hitting the same spot twice.

"Go to... hell..." She said the words between clenched teeth. The pain in her ribs searing through her chest.

"Bold words coming from someone in your position, sweet heart." He laughed at her.

"Come on; let's pull her into the ally." The man moved to grab her but was stopped by a strong voice behind him.

"Step away from the girl," Ayane turned her head the best she could, barley seeing Hayabusa's outline behind her assailants. "Now."

It had surprised him that was for sure, seeing Ayane on the ground and those thugs standing around her.

Why is she outside? I told her to stay in bed...

The taller one, the leader probably, gave him a look, which was supposed to be menacing, he guessed.

"Listen, pretty boy. This is between us and the girl, so how about you just mind your own business and start walkin'." The fool had made the mistake of looking back at Ayane and was instantly floored by Hayabusa's heel.

Ayane looked up, seeing him standing there. His foot was placed firmly in the idiot's back and there was a small paper bag under his arm. The other two gave surprised gasps and ran at Hayabusa.

The first to reach him swung for Hayabusa's head only to be dodged and have Hayabusa's knee rammed into his stomach, followed by a kick to his back, placing him next to his leader on the ground.

The third tried for a kick to his side, but missed and was thrown down, landing on top of the other two. Hayabusa stood over them; the paper bag still neatly tucked under his arm.

"No, I suggest you listen." His voice was low, almost dangerous, "If you ever come near this girl again I'm not going to be so nice and let you leave intact. Now, I want you to get up and start running..."

They didn't complain, only stumbled over each other and started to run. He stared after them for a while before looking down at Ayane. It was a dull look followed by him shaking his head.

Ha! I knew he would do that!

"I told you to stay in bed," He said as he knelt beside her, "Are you ok?" She rolled from her side and on to her back to get a better look at him.

"My head's throbbing, my arm still burns, and that asshole kicked me in my ribs. So yeah, I'm just dandy."

"That's what I thought... hold this." He handed her the bag he was holding and lifted her off the ground with ease.

"Whoa! I can stand on my own! Put me down!"

"If you can stand then why were you laying on the ground just now?"

"I felt dizzy and... passed out..." She mumbled the last part under her breath, hating to admit that she had done so, but he didn't say anything, only walked towards the front door.

Her legs were dangling over his left arm while his right held her beneath her arms. He was remarkably gentle, not applying any pressure, just letting her lie in his arms.

"You're going to have to open the door," He bent his knees slightly so she could reach the doorknob, but when she turned it, it didn't open.

"It's locked..."

"The keys are in my right pocket, can you reach them?" Ayane looked at his shirt, no pockets there... So it had to be in his pants pocket.

"Can't you reach it?" She could feel her face getting warm.

"Not while you're in my arms, I could drop you and I don't think that would be pleasant for either of us."

What does that mean? Ayane set the bag in her lap and reached up to wrapped her arms around his neck. The movement startled Hayabusa but he didn't say anything,

"There. Now you can use your arm without worrying about dropping me."

This brought her closer to Hayabusa then she had ever been before, her face just inches from his neck. She could feel the muscles in his shoulder move as he reached into his pocket to fetch his keys. And he smelled really good... like... coffee?

She looked up at his face and saw that his full attention was on the door. His eyes were a vibrant shade of green, and his skin had a healthy tan. Little wisps of his almond hair had escaped his ponytail, trailing over his ear. Her hand itched to reach up and tuck them behind his ear...

What the hell are you doing? Snap out of it and stop looking at him like that! This is Hayabusa! Kasumi's knight in shining armor! Who cares if he's hot? He's on Kasumi's side!

The door soon opened with a soft click. He deposited his keys into his pocket and brought his arm back to hold her, knocking her out of her trance.

"You can let go if your arms hurts." She let her arms fall back to their dangling state, dragging her eyes away from Hayabusa. He walked passed the door and kicked it closed once they were inside.

He started to climb the stairs and took her back to the bedroom. His bedroom, she reminded herself. He slowly set her down on the bed, being careful with her arm. She handed him the bag he had given her earlier.

"What's in there, anyway? It's warm." Hayabusa set the bag aside and knelt beside the bed.

"I'll tell you later, how are your ribs?"

"They hurt." It was a blunt answer, but it was true.

"Is anything broken?"

"No, what's in the bag?" Hayabusa gave her his normal 'look' and grabbed the bag. Ayane watched as he opened it and pulled out a café style cup of coffee and two doughnuts wrapped in wax paper.

"I thought you may be hungry, plus, sugar is good for blood flow. I didn't know what flavor you'd want so I just took what the lady gave me."

"You went to a cafe? No wonder you smell like coffee..."

"Pardon me?"

"Nothing." She pulled the doughnuts out of their wrappers, one was chocolate, always a good choice, but the second one had sprinkles on it, and that just wouldn't do.

She tossed the sprinkle-infested doughnut back into the bag and started to nibble the chocolate one. Hayabusa raised an eyebrow and looked at the doughnut she so readily disposed of.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Wrong with what?" She focused her attention on the doughnut in her hand.

"The doughnut, the one you threw in the bag just now."

"It has sprinkles on it."

"You don't like sprinkles?"

"No, I don't. They're evil."

"Sprinkles are evil?" Hayabusa tried to think of how sprinkles could possibly be evil but dismissed the thought instead.

"So, do you always go to cafés when you have injured girls in your home, or am I just special?" Hayabusa walked over to the window and opened the curtains to let the now rising sun find its way in.

"You the only injured girl to come here, trust me, it's not something I do on a daily basis." He unlocked the window; lifting it open and felt the cool breeze flow through.

"Not even with..." Her voice drifted off as she realized what she was about to ask him.

Not even Kasumi?

Luckily, Hayabusa didn't ask her what she was going to say. It would have been embarrassing and she didn't really want to know.

"I doubt there was a long line at the café you went to, so what took you so long to return?" She said, not looking up from her doughnut, "Why were you really there?"

"I met Hayate there and we discussed your current situation." She instantly stopped chewing and swallowed.

"So last night in the forest... Hayate sent you?" Hayabusa turned away from the window to look at her. She had put the doughnut back in the bag and was now staring at nothing.

"Yes, believe it or not, he does care about you."

"So he told you about..."

"Yes, he told me everything."

Silence fell over both of them. What did Hayabusa think of her wanting Kasumi dead? He was still protecting her, she just knew it. She had found his number and address in Kasumi's 'room'.

And Hayate... What did he think when Hayabusa told him what she had done? Did he even care? Was he mad at her? Even more then he was last night?

"He was worried about you..."

Ayane shook her head, Hayate was worried about her? Yeah right...

"He only worries about Kasumi. She's the one he cares about." It hurt saying it, but she knew it was true, "The only on he's ever cared about..."

"Ayane that's not..."

"Shut up Hayabusa!" Her eye's were tightly shut, her fists clenched. "You don't know anything! How could you? So just shut up!" He didn't say anything. What could he say? He simply walked to the bedroom door and opened it.

"Try to rest Ayane." He pulled the door shut. Ayane grabbed a pillow from behind her and threw it at the door. It hit the door with a soft thud and fell to the floor.

He didn't know anything! He didn't know what living with Hayate and Kasumi had been like after her mother's death! He had no right to say anything!

She feel back to the remaining pillows and hid her face among them. He didn't know anything at all... How dare he try to say Hayate cared for her? She knew he didn't.

He let her move away from the estate just so he wouldn't have to deal with her. So he wouldn't have to talk or look at her... It was the truth...

All he cared for was Kasumi. His sweet, perfect, little Kasumi...

Hayabusa stood outside leaning on the door. It was soft, but he knew she was crying. He didn't know why, but it angered him to hear her gentile sobs through the door. What had Hayate done to her? What did Kasumi do? What made her the way that she was?

He walked down the stairs to his shop, shaking his head.

Poor girl...