Note from Nashi - Good morning! Actually, it's not that good... I would've had this chapter up sooner but the floppy disk I was using went corrupt and I can't get any of my files from it. But, lucky for me, I always keep back up files on my Computer. (Even though this file didn't have half as much work as the one on my floppy... Gr.)
Once again, something happend to my indentions... sorry, but I'm too lasy to go through it all and space each line to make it look indented...
Metal Overlord - Hey! I was wondering about your name, did you get it from an anime called "Metal Overlord, King Gainer"? And yes, One point for the Ayane team, Kasumi team... zero...
Razzie- Nice foreshadowing! How long do you think you can keep it up? Hehe...
Kaze ookmai- what happened to "Wolf Runner"? Did you get tired with it? Kaze means wind, breeze, but just what the jibbies does "ookmai" mean?
Kurmoi- Hehe thanks for the note on Tenshin, and yes, Hayabusa does have the Ninja Gaiden outfit in DOAU; I have it as my desktop on my computer. (Mmmmm, Hayabusa thighs...) About the sprinkle thing...
Hayabusa- the readers want to know... why are sprinkles evil? Do they remind you of Kasumi?
Ayane- not everything I hate reminds me of Kasumi...
Hayabusa- so why do you hate sprinkles then?
Ayane- because they're brightly colored, nasty tasting pieces of crap that always get lodged in my esophagus when I try to eat them, therefore making them evil.
Hayabusa-...
And now... On to the story...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------
Chapter 9:
The Hayabusa clan and the Mugen Tenshin had been allies since he was a little boy, probably longer. He had known Hayate and his sisters since his first visit to their estate, the same estate that Hayate owned now.
He didn't know what to think when he first met Hayate, a wild looking little boy who wore an even wilder grin. But they had become good friends over time. Naturally, since he knew Hayate, he soon met Kasumi and Ayane.
Kasumi was a bright, cheerful child who lit up a room as soon as she entered it, always smiling and eager to please anyone she could. She would always welcome him with a smile; outdoing the last one she gave him when they last met.
Ayane was different though. Quiet, keeping to herself, she didn't have the sunny attitude that came to Kasumi so easily. When they met she just glanced at him, gave a slight bow and continued to look at the floor.
No one seemed to notice her. They would greet Kasumi and not even bother to look at Ayane. It made him mad how her own clan treated her, as if she were some outsider, someone who wasn't worth his or her time.
He asked his father about Ayane and why no one seemed to like her. It was then that he learned of her disgraceful lineage. How she was Hayate and Kasumi's half sister and how her father was evil. But it still wasn't right. She couldn't help how she was born.
Hayabusa stood beside the bed, watching Ayane sleep, her face was still hidden among the pillows and her breathing even. He had come in to check on her, worried she might have hurt herself again, but luckily, she hadn't.
He walked to the other side of the bed and sat beside her so he could examin her wounded arm. The bandage was still tight and there was no sign of further bleeding.
Good...
He was starting to get up when her arm reached out and grabbed him by the wrist. "Hayate..."
She had turned her face towards him but her eyes were still closed. He tried to loosen her hold on his arm as gently as he could, but she had a firm grip.
"Hayate..."She turned her body until she was hugging his arm. "I'm sorry..."
Her voice was no longer that of the Ayane he knew, but the voice of a small child, pleading, "I'm sorry, please forgive me... I didn't mean to, I really didn't. Please... I'm sorry..." Her voice grew urgent; she held his arm tighter, "Please..."
"Ayane, it's alright, calm down..." His free hand went instinctively to her face, brushing her bangs away from her eyes. "I'm not Hayate."
He watched as her breathing slowed and her grip around him loosened. She was dreaming. Not a good dream apparently, but what was she sorry about? It seemed Hayate had something to do with it.
He made a move to get up, but Ayane grabbed his arm again.
"Don't leave me..."
Her voice was small, almost desperate. He sat back down and let her hold his arm as if he were a large teddy bear. His other hand caressed her face.
"Alright," He said it in the softest whisper, watching as her features relaxed again.
---------------
"Oni-san... Please don't leave me!"
He wouldn't turn around; he just kept walking away, further from her, closer to Kasumi. Had he ever been close to her? Was it even possible for him to get any farther from her?
Far enough to forget her... Was it what he really wanted? Did she disgust him so much?
"Please!"
A dark figure came between her and Hayate. The same dark figure she had come to hate in her childhood years. The one that drove her to be an outcast, the one that threw her out after her mothers death...
"Stay away from Hayate..." The voice was still harshly cold, "Stay away from both him and Kasumi... I will not have your tainted blood ruining them..."
"Why? Why are you saying this?"
"Your lucky I even allowed you to live... If it weren't for Ayame..."
"Don't you say her name! Shut up!"
"But now she's dead... and it's all because of you..."
"No... no..."
Her mother's image came back to her, lying next to the riverbank. Her hair mangled around the once beautiful face that was now bruised and cut.
"Please no..." Ayane pleaded, covering her eyes with her hands, "Please... Don't..."
Her kimono torn and dirty... Her amber eyes empty...
"I'm sorry..."
Her skin pale with death...
"I'm sorry!"
---------------
Ayane woke herself from her dream by violently shaking her head. She opened her eyes and let them adjust to the dim light.
Just a dream...just a...dream...
Her breathing slowed and she slowly became aware of her position. So warm, calming even... She was extremely comfortable, so comfortable she didn't want to get up. She snuggled closer to this wonderful warmth and closed her eyes again, breathing out a deep sigh.
"Are you awake?" Ayane didn't move, only looked up to see Hayabusa sitting on the bed beside her, leaning his shoulders on the headboard. His head was laid back and his eyes were closed. His other arm, the one she wasn't snuggled to, rested at his side.
She gasped and quickly pushed herself up and to the other side of the bed, barley-avoiding falling off of it completely.
"What?! Why are you...?"
"You were having a bad dream." He opened his eyes and let his gaze fall on her. "You asked me not to leave."
"You didn't have to..."
"I know."
"..."
"How are you feeling?"
"Better..." She mumbled. Hayabusa got up and walked towards the door.
"Are you hungry?"
"A little..." He simply nodded and walked out, leaving her to sit and think.
Crap crap crap crap... Was he sitting here the whole time? Doesn't he have anything better to do?! What does he mean I asked him not to leave?! I was sleeping for Christ sake!
Ayane got out of the bed and walked to the door, thakn god she felt better then she had early this day. She peeked out into the hallway and didn't see anything but she could hear that Hayabusa was moving around in the kitchen. She opened the door and walked the couple of feet to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
The bathroom was extremely white. The tiling didn't have that dingy look you would find in anyone else's bathroom and the sink and mirror was spotless. Hayabusa didn't have a tub, only a simple shower stall with a fogged glass door.
She stood before the mirror and stared at her reflection. Under her messy hair her eyes shone red and her face was lacking it's normal glow.
Great... I look like hell...
She turned on the water and waited for it to get warm before she splashed it on her face. Towels hung neatly on a nearby rack, when she reached for one she felt the acquired weight of the bandage around her arm. She looked at it for a while before slowly unwrapping it.
Once again the vertical scars greeted her, they looked smaller but they still hurt.
Twice I've let my feelings for Hayate bring me down... I even took it out on my self... Hayabusa must think I'm really pathetic...
"..."
I don't care what Hayabusa thinks! Not now, not ever! Sure he's been nice to me, but that doesn't mean his opinion matters!
Harshly she grabbed a towel from its spot on the rack and dried her face.
Stupid Hayabusa... Why does he have to be so nice? People are easier to deal with when they're mean to you. All you have to do is beat them up when they step out of line. But when people are kind... It gets harder to hit them...
Ayane threw the towel down and returned to the mirror to remove her bandana, which left a faint outline across her forehead.
Guess that would happen, seeing how I've been wearing it all this time... Thank god my bangs cover my forehead.
Her gaze left her hair and fell to her eyes. God how she hated her eyes... They were the same amber color as Kasumi's... and her mothers...
The image of her dead mother returned to her. Her delicate face... the empty look in her eyes...
"No." Ayane shook her head, "That was a long time ago. It's all over now." She took deep, steady breaths and focused on her reflection
These eyes belong to me. They're not soft and round like Kasumi's or mothers. They're hard and cold... They're my eyes...
A soft knock came from behind the door.
"Are you ok?" Ayane froze. That voice didn't belong to Hayabusa... It was Hayate's...
Quickly she reached for the knob and locked it. She hadn't even noticed someone was standing outside the door. But of all people, why Hayate?!
Why the hell is he here? Hayabusa called him didn't he? Argh! I should've known this would happen! They're both such good friends after all!
"Ayane?"
There weren't any windows in the bathroom, so there was no escape there...
Great! I can't stay in here for the rest of the night! God I don't want to talk to him...
"You know, I'm getting really tired of speaking to you from behind closed doors."
The only way out was the door. Ayane reached over and jerked the door open.
"Well I'm getting really tired of hearing your voice!"
They both stood there looking at each other. Hayate's hair fell wildly around his face and his eyes looked at her with concern. He was wearing one of his older jackets, she remembered it from a couple of years ago. Back then it was blue, now it was grey...
"Does it still hurt?"
Ayane shook her head, bringing her mind back to her current situation.
"A lot of things hurt right now, so your going to have to be more specific..."
Could he have asked a dumber question?
"I was only told of your arm being injured..." His eyes now had a look of... depression? What the hell was he depressed for?! God! It was the same look he wore when he thought of Kasumi!
"Well, it doesn't hurt... Not as much as it did when I first drove my knife into it..." Hayate winced as she said that.
So, he doesn't like that, does he?
"I can do it again if you'd like to watch..."
"Ayane!" Good, she could see the anger come back to his eyes. That depressed look pissed her off.
"What? I thought you would enjoy..."
"Why the hell would I enjoy watching you hurt yourself! What could have possibly drove you to do it in the first place?"
Ayane looked him straight in the eye. A steely look she had mastered in her childhood.
"You could... and you did..." She pushed past him and made her way to the door leading downstairs.
"Ayane..."
She turned to look at him and instantly wished that she hadn't. His face was stern but his eyes clearly showed he was hurt.
That damn depressed look again...
"I'm sorry... please... don't do it again..."
It was clear that it was hard for him to say. She wanted to hug him and say that she would never do it again and that everything was ok.
But it wasn't ok... and it never would be....
Not as long as Kasumi still lives...
She opened the door and started down the stairs, leaving Hayate to watch her retreating back.
---------------
He could hear the door downstairs open and close as Ayane left.
Hayabusa turned the stove off and walked into the hallway to watch his friend stare after his sister. He had heard everything from in the kitchen and now wondered what Hayate would do next.
But all Hayate did was stand there, looking down the empty staircase with a non-existent look on his face.
"Don't worry, Hayate... I don't think Ayane will do it again."
Hayate shook his head and looked at Hayabusa.
"Don't be so sure..."