Note- this chapter has taken me longer to write then any of my previous ones... Its only purpose is to set the scene for chapter 12 and to get Hayabusa back into the flow of things...
Typos! I found typos in chapter 10! Arrgh! I hate it when I do that!
Kurmoi- you're proud of me? I'm so moved... Ooooh, and thanks for the note on Ookami! We don't have a Japanese class at my school, (Cheap bastards...), so I have to teach myself... The book I have spells Okami with one 'o'.
Wolf- Heeeey, I have two copies of your review... Aren't I special?
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Chapter 11:
It was a shabby looking building; he didn't know why he hadn't noticed it before. The paint was flaking from the outside in, shingles were missing from its roof and the main hallway smelled faintly of mildew.
Does she really live here? Surly Hayate gave her enough money to move somewhere... nicer...
"..."
It's not my place to judge where someone else lives... But still...
Hayabusa climbed the stairs leading up to the third floor, the floor Hayate had said she lived on. One by one he checked the doors, the room numbers were so old they were starting to fade into the wood.
C-6... C-6... C-6...
A door was separated from the others doors in the back of the hallway. There were no longer any numbers on this door, but since the last door was C-5 then this had to be C-6.
He reached out and rapped his knuckles against the door then stepped back and waited... and waited... and waited... He knocked again but there was still no reply.
"She's not here..." Hayabusa checked his watch.
If she went to school then she should've been home by now... Guess I'll have to come back later...
He started for the stairs when he heard the sound of glass breaking and numerous curses. It was coming from Ayane's apartment...
A burglar?
Hayabusa pressed his ear to the door and listened to the commotion inside. There was more cursing followed by the sounds of things being thrown around. Whoever was inside was tearing the place up pretty badly. Hayabusa stood away from the door.
"I'm sorry, Ayane." He apologized before he kicked her door in to confront the burglar. The door slammed into the wall behind it and resonated. He had expected to see some idiot robber staring at him in surprised, but the room before him was empty.
Across from him he could see the broken window and its scattered glass on the floor. A chair was knocked over along with the coffee table and one of the curtains had been pulled down, but where was the intruder?
Quietly he stepped over to the hallway, avoiding crunching any glass under his feet. It looked empty, but a door at the end of the hallway stood ajar. He moved silently to the door and looked in, a fist coming straight for his face welcomed him.
Instinctively he stepped back and grabbed the wrist of his attacker, but a flash of purple hair stopped him before he could continue his counter.
"Ayane?"
"Hayabusa!? What the..." She looked just as surprised as he was, but there was something else in her eyes... Not just surprise, but... Anger? "Let go of my arm, it hurts!"
Hayabusa, remembering their position, released her arm. He looked down at his own hand and found it smeared with blood...
"Ayane, you're hurt..." He instantly looked at her left arm but he could see it was bandaged and fine under her sleeve; besides, he had grabbed her right arm. He let his eyes drift to the hand and saw a deep gash running along her palm.
"No shit, and before you start giving me that look of yours you should know that the window did this to me... Not myself."
Ayane walked over to the sink and started to run cold water over the cuts. Apparently they were in the bathroom. Light blue tiles lined the floor and an antique tub stood a few feet away from the sink.
"Were you the one who kicked my door in? And what the hell are you doing here in the first place?"
"I heard a window break and thought someone was robbing you... I'm guessing you did that?"
"Actually, it was already broken from last night... Ow!" Ayane sucked air in through her teeth and continued to wash her hand. The white sink was tinted a light red from the blood.
"How did it brake?"
"I lost my keys, and since I don't like to leave my door unlocked I just use the fire escape to get in and out. The window had the misfortune to be locked..."
Poor window...
"Speaking of keys..." Hayabusa removed his eyes from her bleeding hand and pulled a key ring out of his pocket, "Are these are yours?"
Ayane finished washing her hand and grabbed a towel to dry it. She glanced over at the key ring and mumbled a 'yes' as she opened her medicine cabinet. She snatched out a small white box and walked past him to the living room.
Hayabusa followed and watched as she kicked the coffee table right side up and basically slammed the box down and threw her towel down beside it. Sitting on the sofa she pulled out a pair of tweezers from the box and set to work picking the glass from her hand.
Ok, she's pissed... I wonder what made her so mad... Well, besides the fragments of broken glass in her hand...
"Why are you still here?" She snapped at him, and then winced at a piece of glass that was being stubborn and not pulling free of her skin. "You brought me my keys, now get lost..."
"Are you right-handed Ayane?" Hayabusa said, ignoring her command. He set the keys on the coffee table and sat beside her on the sofa. She gave him a startled glance but kept working at her hand.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"It must be hard doing that with your left hand." He took the tweezers from her and grabbed her other hand.
"Hayabusa, what...? Ow!" She winced as Hayabusa pulled the glass free from her hand. He didn't look at her, only went to the next piece and pulled as gently as he could.
"Try not to move so much..."
"Damn it, I'm not in the mood for this, Hayabusa!" She snatched her hand away and glared at it. He didn't say anything, just held the tweezers and watched her stare at her own hand. They sat there in silence before he asked,
"What's wrong?" It took her so long to respond he hadn't expected her to answer him.
"The only thing that's wrong is that your still here!" She got up from the sofa and walked over to the window to straighten the curtain that had been pulled down, "How the hell do you know where I live, anyway? No, wait, Hayate told you didn't he?"
Hayabusa nodded and continued to watch her. Ayane tried to hang the curtain but, being five foot two, she forgot she needed the aid of a chair...
"Damn it..." She looked at the gash on her hand, it was starting to burn and Hayabusa was still watching her. Why wouldn't he leave?
"How did you hurt yourself on the window?"
"I forgot the window was broken." She mumbled.
"You forgot it was broken even though you're the one that broke it in the first place?" She nodded and continued to watch fresh blood ooze from the gash.
"Yeah... It wasn't until the glass was actually an inch deep that I noticed..."
She was mumbling again... to herself or to him he wasn't sure. But he didn't like it. Just a moment ago she looked like she was ready to smack him, now she was just out of it.
Hayabusa reached for the towel she had thrown down earlier and walked over to her, gently grabbing her hand so he could wipe the blood away. She didn't react and pull away again like he was expecting her to, only stood there and stared at nothing.
Once the blood was cleaned he went back to picking out the remaining pieces of glass. "Just one more piece..." After the last piece was out she pulled her hand away from him and went back to the little box for a bandage.
While she did that Hayabusa finished hanging the curtain. "You know, Ayane... If you need someone to talk to..."
"Oh for the love of, nothing's wrong, ok?!" Besides the fact that I failed once again... Damn her! Ayane slammed her hand into the nearby wall, which got her a look from Hayabusa. "Why are you still here!? Leave already, damn it!"
She hadn't meant to yell at him... she was sorry for doing so, but she needed him to go... she felt like crying and she'd be damned if she did it in front of Hayabusa.
Hayabusa silently walked towards the door, which still stood open to the outside hallway, and with his hand on the knob he turned back to look at her.
"Take care, Ayane..." With that he walked outside and closed the door behind him. Ayane stood there looking at the door.
Of all the things to say... "Take Care"? Damn him... I was so close to killing Kasumi... Would he have said, "Take Care" if he had known that? God, I'm tired of this... Forget crying, I'll do that later...
Ayane stomped over to the door and threw it open, but the hallway was empty. "Hayabusa!" No response... Could he have left that quickly? Bastard... he stays when she doesn't want him to and now he leaves when she wants to talk.
She walked back inside and changed out of the "borrowed" school uniform and into a pair of jeans with a large shirt.
No more what ifs... I want answers and I want them now...
Snatching her keys from the table she locked her door and went on her way to Hayabusa's shop.
No more questioning myself... No more wondering if I do what's right just so I don't hurt someone's feelings, I want to see how he'll act once he knows I'm going to kill Kasumi...
It was mid-afternoon and rather hot, so she decided not to run all the way, but she was soon standing in front of the shop. The sign on the door read "Closed" but when she turned the knob on the door it opened easily.
Either he's forgetful or he's expecting someone... A voice in the back of her head told her he left the door opened for her but she decided to go with the forgetful idea instead.
"Hayabusa? You here?" No response. The store looked the same as the last time she saw it, but a few things had been moved around. She headed for the door behind the counter and opened it so she could climb the stairs. When she reached the door at the top she didn't bother knocking and walked right in.
"Hayabusa?" She called again, "I let myself in, now where are you?" Still no answer... Could he have gone out somewhere? That would explain why she didn't see him on the way here.
Crap! I come all the way down here and he's probably off somewhere having a coffee!
She walked into the living room and sat down in a large, surprisingly comfortable recliner. Why the hell did I come here in the first place? It doesn't matter how he feels about it! I'm killing Kasumi for my own reasons! He has nothing to do with it!
But what if she killed Kasumi and he hated her for it?
Wow, so he'll hate me, everyone hates me, nothing new there...
It didn't matter to her if other people hated her, she grew up with that and learned to ignore it. But Hayabusa was someone, oddly enough, that she didn't want to hate her...
Whoa, hold it! Why should he matter? Sure, he's helped me out a couple of times, and yeah, he's been the kindest person I've ever met, not to mention he's hot...
Ayane shook her head and mentally called herself an idiot over and over. What had she been planning on doing? Was she seriously going to demand that he tell her his true feelings for Kasumi? For her? What an fool...
It's been a long day... I just need to go home and try to forget about today... Man, this chair is comfortable...
Ayane stood up and headed for the door, but before she could reach it, the phone rang... and rang, and rang... She just stood there looking at it, wondering who would call Hayabusa.
It's probably Hayate. I wonder if he'll leave a massage...
But when the machine clicked over it wasn't Hayate's voice she heard...
"Hayabusa... It's me..."
That voice... Her voice... Just hearing her voice made her veins run cold... What the hell was that little bitch calling Hayabusa for?
"I no longer have anywhere safe to run... each time I think I've found a safe haven, Ayane takes it away from me... She even attacked me at school today!"
Well, that's noting new... She makes me sound like the bad guy...
"Hayabusa, I need help... Please... I'll be waiting for you in the old church outside of town... Until then..."
The answering machine gave a loud beep that ended the message.
Pleading for help... How pathetic... Old church outside of town, huh? All right then, looks like I have no choice but to help you end your suffering...
She couldn't help but thank god a couple of times for her being here at the right moment, now she knew where Kasumi was, and this time there would be no more foul ups...
"Ayane?"
Ayane snapped her head towards the door and saw Hayabusa standing there, looking at her with a questioning face. Apparently she had been considering this new opportunity with a lot of thought if she hadn't heard Hayabusa walk up the stairs and open the door.
"Are you talking to yourself? I thought I heard voices..."
"If you here voice's then your crazy..." Hayabusa shrugged and walked into his kitchen. "The door was open so I let myself in..."
"That's fine, would you like a drink?"
"No, I was just leaving." Ayane turned to the door and was about to leave before Hayabusa said,
"Did you need something? Surly you didn't come here just to say hello..." Why does that sound familiar? Isn't that what Hayate would tell her?
"No, I didn't come to say hello, but I also have no other reason to be here either... So now I'm leaving..."
The door closed and he could hear her footsteps going down the stairs. What she said had made no sense, why would she be here without a reason? He was hoping that she had come to talk, but he was probably asking to much.
On his way to the living room the small flashing light on the answering machine caught his eye.
I wonder who called...
Typos! I found typos in chapter 10! Arrgh! I hate it when I do that!
Kurmoi- you're proud of me? I'm so moved... Ooooh, and thanks for the note on Ookami! We don't have a Japanese class at my school, (Cheap bastards...), so I have to teach myself... The book I have spells Okami with one 'o'.
Wolf- Heeeey, I have two copies of your review... Aren't I special?
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Chapter 11:
It was a shabby looking building; he didn't know why he hadn't noticed it before. The paint was flaking from the outside in, shingles were missing from its roof and the main hallway smelled faintly of mildew.
Does she really live here? Surly Hayate gave her enough money to move somewhere... nicer...
"..."
It's not my place to judge where someone else lives... But still...
Hayabusa climbed the stairs leading up to the third floor, the floor Hayate had said she lived on. One by one he checked the doors, the room numbers were so old they were starting to fade into the wood.
C-6... C-6... C-6...
A door was separated from the others doors in the back of the hallway. There were no longer any numbers on this door, but since the last door was C-5 then this had to be C-6.
He reached out and rapped his knuckles against the door then stepped back and waited... and waited... and waited... He knocked again but there was still no reply.
"She's not here..." Hayabusa checked his watch.
If she went to school then she should've been home by now... Guess I'll have to come back later...
He started for the stairs when he heard the sound of glass breaking and numerous curses. It was coming from Ayane's apartment...
A burglar?
Hayabusa pressed his ear to the door and listened to the commotion inside. There was more cursing followed by the sounds of things being thrown around. Whoever was inside was tearing the place up pretty badly. Hayabusa stood away from the door.
"I'm sorry, Ayane." He apologized before he kicked her door in to confront the burglar. The door slammed into the wall behind it and resonated. He had expected to see some idiot robber staring at him in surprised, but the room before him was empty.
Across from him he could see the broken window and its scattered glass on the floor. A chair was knocked over along with the coffee table and one of the curtains had been pulled down, but where was the intruder?
Quietly he stepped over to the hallway, avoiding crunching any glass under his feet. It looked empty, but a door at the end of the hallway stood ajar. He moved silently to the door and looked in, a fist coming straight for his face welcomed him.
Instinctively he stepped back and grabbed the wrist of his attacker, but a flash of purple hair stopped him before he could continue his counter.
"Ayane?"
"Hayabusa!? What the..." She looked just as surprised as he was, but there was something else in her eyes... Not just surprise, but... Anger? "Let go of my arm, it hurts!"
Hayabusa, remembering their position, released her arm. He looked down at his own hand and found it smeared with blood...
"Ayane, you're hurt..." He instantly looked at her left arm but he could see it was bandaged and fine under her sleeve; besides, he had grabbed her right arm. He let his eyes drift to the hand and saw a deep gash running along her palm.
"No shit, and before you start giving me that look of yours you should know that the window did this to me... Not myself."
Ayane walked over to the sink and started to run cold water over the cuts. Apparently they were in the bathroom. Light blue tiles lined the floor and an antique tub stood a few feet away from the sink.
"Were you the one who kicked my door in? And what the hell are you doing here in the first place?"
"I heard a window break and thought someone was robbing you... I'm guessing you did that?"
"Actually, it was already broken from last night... Ow!" Ayane sucked air in through her teeth and continued to wash her hand. The white sink was tinted a light red from the blood.
"How did it brake?"
"I lost my keys, and since I don't like to leave my door unlocked I just use the fire escape to get in and out. The window had the misfortune to be locked..."
Poor window...
"Speaking of keys..." Hayabusa removed his eyes from her bleeding hand and pulled a key ring out of his pocket, "Are these are yours?"
Ayane finished washing her hand and grabbed a towel to dry it. She glanced over at the key ring and mumbled a 'yes' as she opened her medicine cabinet. She snatched out a small white box and walked past him to the living room.
Hayabusa followed and watched as she kicked the coffee table right side up and basically slammed the box down and threw her towel down beside it. Sitting on the sofa she pulled out a pair of tweezers from the box and set to work picking the glass from her hand.
Ok, she's pissed... I wonder what made her so mad... Well, besides the fragments of broken glass in her hand...
"Why are you still here?" She snapped at him, and then winced at a piece of glass that was being stubborn and not pulling free of her skin. "You brought me my keys, now get lost..."
"Are you right-handed Ayane?" Hayabusa said, ignoring her command. He set the keys on the coffee table and sat beside her on the sofa. She gave him a startled glance but kept working at her hand.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"It must be hard doing that with your left hand." He took the tweezers from her and grabbed her other hand.
"Hayabusa, what...? Ow!" She winced as Hayabusa pulled the glass free from her hand. He didn't look at her, only went to the next piece and pulled as gently as he could.
"Try not to move so much..."
"Damn it, I'm not in the mood for this, Hayabusa!" She snatched her hand away and glared at it. He didn't say anything, just held the tweezers and watched her stare at her own hand. They sat there in silence before he asked,
"What's wrong?" It took her so long to respond he hadn't expected her to answer him.
"The only thing that's wrong is that your still here!" She got up from the sofa and walked over to the window to straighten the curtain that had been pulled down, "How the hell do you know where I live, anyway? No, wait, Hayate told you didn't he?"
Hayabusa nodded and continued to watch her. Ayane tried to hang the curtain but, being five foot two, she forgot she needed the aid of a chair...
"Damn it..." She looked at the gash on her hand, it was starting to burn and Hayabusa was still watching her. Why wouldn't he leave?
"How did you hurt yourself on the window?"
"I forgot the window was broken." She mumbled.
"You forgot it was broken even though you're the one that broke it in the first place?" She nodded and continued to watch fresh blood ooze from the gash.
"Yeah... It wasn't until the glass was actually an inch deep that I noticed..."
She was mumbling again... to herself or to him he wasn't sure. But he didn't like it. Just a moment ago she looked like she was ready to smack him, now she was just out of it.
Hayabusa reached for the towel she had thrown down earlier and walked over to her, gently grabbing her hand so he could wipe the blood away. She didn't react and pull away again like he was expecting her to, only stood there and stared at nothing.
Once the blood was cleaned he went back to picking out the remaining pieces of glass. "Just one more piece..." After the last piece was out she pulled her hand away from him and went back to the little box for a bandage.
While she did that Hayabusa finished hanging the curtain. "You know, Ayane... If you need someone to talk to..."
"Oh for the love of, nothing's wrong, ok?!" Besides the fact that I failed once again... Damn her! Ayane slammed her hand into the nearby wall, which got her a look from Hayabusa. "Why are you still here!? Leave already, damn it!"
She hadn't meant to yell at him... she was sorry for doing so, but she needed him to go... she felt like crying and she'd be damned if she did it in front of Hayabusa.
Hayabusa silently walked towards the door, which still stood open to the outside hallway, and with his hand on the knob he turned back to look at her.
"Take care, Ayane..." With that he walked outside and closed the door behind him. Ayane stood there looking at the door.
Of all the things to say... "Take Care"? Damn him... I was so close to killing Kasumi... Would he have said, "Take Care" if he had known that? God, I'm tired of this... Forget crying, I'll do that later...
Ayane stomped over to the door and threw it open, but the hallway was empty. "Hayabusa!" No response... Could he have left that quickly? Bastard... he stays when she doesn't want him to and now he leaves when she wants to talk.
She walked back inside and changed out of the "borrowed" school uniform and into a pair of jeans with a large shirt.
No more what ifs... I want answers and I want them now...
Snatching her keys from the table she locked her door and went on her way to Hayabusa's shop.
No more questioning myself... No more wondering if I do what's right just so I don't hurt someone's feelings, I want to see how he'll act once he knows I'm going to kill Kasumi...
It was mid-afternoon and rather hot, so she decided not to run all the way, but she was soon standing in front of the shop. The sign on the door read "Closed" but when she turned the knob on the door it opened easily.
Either he's forgetful or he's expecting someone... A voice in the back of her head told her he left the door opened for her but she decided to go with the forgetful idea instead.
"Hayabusa? You here?" No response. The store looked the same as the last time she saw it, but a few things had been moved around. She headed for the door behind the counter and opened it so she could climb the stairs. When she reached the door at the top she didn't bother knocking and walked right in.
"Hayabusa?" She called again, "I let myself in, now where are you?" Still no answer... Could he have gone out somewhere? That would explain why she didn't see him on the way here.
Crap! I come all the way down here and he's probably off somewhere having a coffee!
She walked into the living room and sat down in a large, surprisingly comfortable recliner. Why the hell did I come here in the first place? It doesn't matter how he feels about it! I'm killing Kasumi for my own reasons! He has nothing to do with it!
But what if she killed Kasumi and he hated her for it?
Wow, so he'll hate me, everyone hates me, nothing new there...
It didn't matter to her if other people hated her, she grew up with that and learned to ignore it. But Hayabusa was someone, oddly enough, that she didn't want to hate her...
Whoa, hold it! Why should he matter? Sure, he's helped me out a couple of times, and yeah, he's been the kindest person I've ever met, not to mention he's hot...
Ayane shook her head and mentally called herself an idiot over and over. What had she been planning on doing? Was she seriously going to demand that he tell her his true feelings for Kasumi? For her? What an fool...
It's been a long day... I just need to go home and try to forget about today... Man, this chair is comfortable...
Ayane stood up and headed for the door, but before she could reach it, the phone rang... and rang, and rang... She just stood there looking at it, wondering who would call Hayabusa.
It's probably Hayate. I wonder if he'll leave a massage...
But when the machine clicked over it wasn't Hayate's voice she heard...
"Hayabusa... It's me..."
That voice... Her voice... Just hearing her voice made her veins run cold... What the hell was that little bitch calling Hayabusa for?
"I no longer have anywhere safe to run... each time I think I've found a safe haven, Ayane takes it away from me... She even attacked me at school today!"
Well, that's noting new... She makes me sound like the bad guy...
"Hayabusa, I need help... Please... I'll be waiting for you in the old church outside of town... Until then..."
The answering machine gave a loud beep that ended the message.
Pleading for help... How pathetic... Old church outside of town, huh? All right then, looks like I have no choice but to help you end your suffering...
She couldn't help but thank god a couple of times for her being here at the right moment, now she knew where Kasumi was, and this time there would be no more foul ups...
"Ayane?"
Ayane snapped her head towards the door and saw Hayabusa standing there, looking at her with a questioning face. Apparently she had been considering this new opportunity with a lot of thought if she hadn't heard Hayabusa walk up the stairs and open the door.
"Are you talking to yourself? I thought I heard voices..."
"If you here voice's then your crazy..." Hayabusa shrugged and walked into his kitchen. "The door was open so I let myself in..."
"That's fine, would you like a drink?"
"No, I was just leaving." Ayane turned to the door and was about to leave before Hayabusa said,
"Did you need something? Surly you didn't come here just to say hello..." Why does that sound familiar? Isn't that what Hayate would tell her?
"No, I didn't come to say hello, but I also have no other reason to be here either... So now I'm leaving..."
The door closed and he could hear her footsteps going down the stairs. What she said had made no sense, why would she be here without a reason? He was hoping that she had come to talk, but he was probably asking to much.
On his way to the living room the small flashing light on the answering machine caught his eye.
I wonder who called...