Nashi's Note Time! - Hello, bit of a mushy chapter here... so bare with me...
Kurmoi- Oh my... Let me guess, you think Ryu is... sexy? Am I right? Am I?
Littlematchgirl- Impatient much? Good things come with time... But I promise I'll work much harder!
Chapter 16:
As Ayane's figure slowly faded into the darkness of the corridor Hayate closed his room door. Moments passed in silence as he contemplated what he had said.
Is this the right choice...? Yes... Yes, it is. It has to be...
Hayate turned away from his door and found Hayabusa, eyes open and standing, watching him.
"God, Ryu... Don't look at me like that..."
"I'm not looking at you in any manner, Hayate..." Somehow his face remained a mask as he spoke these words, "The look you see is only what you mind tells you to see... It's all a state of mind..."
"Well great... That must mean I have a guilty mind!" Hayate spoke with sarcasm, "But..." His voice became quiet, "I have no regrets about this choice... It had to be done. It was the only way..."
"The only way?" Hayabusa repeated him, "The only way to save a life is by threatening another?"
"With Ayane it is!" Hayate said, louder then he meant. He turned away from Hayabusa and stepped out into the garden. All went silent as he made his way to the pond, "Actually, threatening her wasn't the only way..." He said once he reached the ponds edge, "I could've killed her on the spot! That would both keep Kasumi safe and save me the trouble of having to explain myself to you!"
Hayabusa remained silent, restraining himself from running to his friend and beating some sense into him. How could he say something so easily? Something so cruel, so heartless... The whole ordeal with the clan, Kasumi, and Ayane had changed him...
"Hayate... Have you ever thought that your words could hurt Ayane more then a blade through her chest? If you killed her then at least she wouldn't have to suffer anymore..."
Hayate didn't feel like considering Hayabusa's words. Tonight was supposed to be the end of his worries... He was able to end the assassination attempt on Kasumi, he had laid down the law with Ayane, and everything seemed to be falling into place...
But...
"Ryu... I..." Hayate began but stopped as soon as he noticed that Hayabusa was no longer in his room...
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Hayabusa hurried along each corridor as he searched for Ayane. If he knew Ayane, right now wasn't the best time for her to be alone.
Hayate may have had his reasons... but this is unforgivable. He's knows how emotional Ayane can become...
Lucky for him, he didn't have to search long. Ayane was standing just outside the front gates, "Ayane..."
At the sound of her name Ayane turned slowly towards him but said nothing. Her eyes just seemed to look in his general direction, not at him... Saying nothing she turned away from him and started to walk off to the surrounding forest. Hayabusa didn't bother to run up beside her, but decided it better to just follow behind her and let her have her space...
The summer was ending and fall was beginning to change the forest... The summer's heat was dying, leaves were changing colors, and fireflies were becoming scarcer. Clouds had begun to gather in the sky and the wind was picking up... It would probably rain soon...
On and on they walked. How much further was she planning on walking? Did she have a set destination or was she just aimlessly wandering? But... It didn't really matter to Hayabusa... He would follow her for as long as he needed too.
The forest around them gave way to a clearing. In this clearing a river made its way to the edge of a cliff and jumped into a waterfall. These surroundings made him feel a bit nervous about Ayane. She wasn't planning to jump off that cliff, was she?
As Ayane walked closer and closer to the cliffs edge Hayabusa readied him to dash forward if she decided to jump. But she simply stopped before the cliffs edge and stared off towards the horizon.
"Do you remember this place, Hayabusa?" It was a simple question, but it caught him a bit off guard. As he took a better look at their surroundings his memory of their location returned to him.
"I remember... You used to come here often when you still lived at the estate..."
"Yes... I use to come here all the time when I was a child... To escape the clan... Or just to find a little peace... This spot was my safe haven..." This was the first time Hayabusa had ever heard such calm in Ayane's voice. It was a relief but it was also a bit unnerving. Like the calm before the storm...
"I always came here when I needed to cry..." Slowly she sat down on her knees, "I hated to let the clan see me cry... Hated how they would all just ignore my presence... If it wasn't for my mother..." Ayane paused in mid-sentence.
"You loved your mother very much, didn't you?" Hayabusa spoke as he closed the distance between them to stand behind her.
"Yeah... She was the only one who truly cared for me other then Genma and even though I would say that he didn't, deep down, I used to think that Hayate cared about me too, but..." He could see the shaking in her shoulders... She was trying not to cry, "But I know now that he hates me too..."
"Ayane..."
"Don't try to say that he cares about me!" She yelled at him, "You heard him yourself! 'If you kill Kasumi, I will kill you', that's not something you'd usually say to someone you love!" She paused to take a breath, "The only reason he has looked after me for so long was because he felt obligated to his mother... our mother..." A glimmer over her shoulder caught his attention.
What is it?
"I should've died long ago... It would have been better for everyone."
A blade!?
Hayabusa quickly reached forward and grabbed Ayane's arm. Sure enough, she held a small kunai in her fist. Her eyes were downcast, looking away from him.
God... Not again...
"Hayabusa... Please... Just let me die here..." Ayane looked up at him, her eyes brimmed with tears, pleading, "Let me end my suffering..."
No... He couldn't be hearing this... Not from Ayane... Not from the girl that would always find some smart remark to say to anyone, the one who would always vow to finish what she had started... Not from the girl who would cry in her sleep and call out her brother's name... Not from her...
Hayabusa easily pulled the kunai from her hand and threw it off the cliffs edge. Ayane said nothing as she watched the weapon fall into the forest below. The wind rustled their hair and one by one raindrops began to fall from the sky until they were completely drenched in the raging downpour. Kneeling beside her, Hayabusa pulled her closer to him, sheltering her from the rain.
"Why Ayane? Why are you so eager to end your life?" Ayane said nothing as he held her, "I know that you've suffered... I know it's been hard on you, but can't you just put it behind you? Can't you live for the future and not for the past?"
"You don't understand Hayabusa..." She said against his shoulder, "Killing Kasumi has been my goal for so long... I have to finish my task... But Hayate..." Her body began to shake and it wasn't from the cold rain, "But if I do kill her now, Hayate... The brother that I thought loved me... Will kill me..."
Ayane began to give small sobs and Hayabusa held her tighter, "Ayane... What drives you to hate Kasumi so?"
"Why...?" She stopped her sobs, "Because... Because she's a bitch! She was always the perfect daughter! Everybody loved her, still loves her... so much... And they all hate me..."
"I have a feeling that there's more to it then that... You're not telling me something..." Ayane feel quiet... The sound of the rain pelting them filled Hayabusa's ears.
"Because of Kasumi..." Ayane spoke, "Because of Kasumi... My mother is dead..."
"Kasumi killed your mother?" He said somewhat shocked.
"Not in the way you're thinking..." Ayane adjusted herself in his arms, trying to avoid being pelted in the face, "We were little... Some called it an accident... Most blamed me for it..."
Hayabusa listened quietly as the rain pounded against his back. He already knew that Ayane's mother was said to have drowned, but how she ended up drowning was never told to him.
"Mother had brought us, Hayate, Kasumi, and me, out here to the forest to play... But Kasumi didn't listen to mother's warnings not to play near the cliff... And sure enough, the dumb bitch lost her balance and almost fell off..." Ayane paused, "She would've died right then and there had it not been for Hayate and I, and we were able to grab her before she fell completely off... The thing is, she wouldn't keep still and because of it, she managed to throw me off in her place..."
Ayane stopped as Hayabusa covered her from the rain's torrent against their bodies. They were so drenched that he could feel her body heat through his clothes. "The rain is getting harder..."
"I thought I was going to die that day..." She said against his shoulder, apparently not hearing his remark, "But I didn't... My mother had grabbed me, but it was too late to pull me back up, she would've fallen with me... So instead, she grabbed my arm and threw herself forward as she flung me back... Using the momentum to throw me back onto the cliff..."
Hayabusa didn't know what to say. He knew all to well how hard it was to discuss a mother's death...
"It just gets to me... She wouldn't have died if we hadn't come to this cliff, if Kasumi hadn't been so stupid... My mother would still be alive... Everything would've been different..." He could hear the tears in her voice, "But no... When we returned to the estate the story was told and the finger was pointed at me... I should've fallen, I should've been killed, and I was the tainted one..." Her crying had taken over, the soft sobs and the tears mixed with the rain.
"Ayane... I know it must've been hard for you... But you have to think. You're mother died that day because she wanted you to live, knowing that, can you so easily throw away the last gift your mother gave you, the chance to live?"
Ayane quieted as she thought it over, but he doubted that it would be enough to calm her hatred for Kasumi. The girl had initiated her mother's death... But it was an accident, they were merely children... And yet, Ayane was a mere child that had to endure so much hate. Growing up in an environment like that truly scars a child...
"Let us get out of the rain... We'll catch our deaths out here..." Standing, Hayabusa pulled Ayane up with him.
"What...? No!" Ayane jerked out of his arms and away from him. "Stop trying to help me Hayabusa! I don't need your pity!" Anger had taken the place of her sorrow.
"Ayane, I'm not giving you pity..."
"Well, I don't need your help either!" She said. The girl who had no family to turn to, the girl who would be killed if she continued on her most desired quest, the girl that was standing soaked in the rain with eyes red from crying, "...Thank you for talking with me... But, as I've said before... stop helping me..."
The pain was so clear in her voice... Why couldn't she just let him help her? She had turned her back on him and was now walking away. He knew she would refuse to let him at least walk her home so all he could do was say...
"Everything will be ok, Ayane..." Hearing this she turned back to look at him and gave a weak smile.
"Hayabusa... You should know by now... Everything will never be 'ok'..."
0End chapter0
Nashi- Hehe, I made Ryu kinda clingy in this chapter...
Ayane- you're telling me!
Hayabusa (all cute and chibi) - But Ayane...
Ayane- Leggo' already! (Bonks Ryu on the head)
Hayabusa (holds his head) - Owie...
Kurmoi- Fear not, Ryu! You can cling onto me!!!
Hayabusa- Oh god! She's back!
Nashi- Attack of the fangirl... Take two...
Hayabusa- Hey! You're the author! Can't you do something? (Struggles to hold Kurmoi back)
Nashi- Naw bro... I'm done with this chapter... and I have a major case of the munchies... How 'bout you, Ayane?
Ayane- Hmmm, sure... but you're treating...
Nashi- Figures...
(Both Ayane and Nashi leave Hayabusa to his uncertain doom)
Kurmoi- Yay, Ryu! You're all mine!
Hayabusa- Author! Ayane! Somebody!!! Dear god, save me!