Man, I'm just reflecting on what a cool character Ayane is. She really rocks. Power to the Ayane fans, they're smart!
Not saying that other fans aren't, but you know what I mean, right?
Anyway, hope you enjoy the (short) chapter!
"Ayane, you don't do it like that. You're such an idiot."
"God, Ayane, you're weak. Stop snivelling like that. If you're my half-sister, I want you to be somebody I can be proud of, not a snivelling, shivering wreck."
She stared at her half-brother and sister. She wanted to be accepted by them, be one of them. But she knew that she never could be, especially after those fated words she had overheard her mother cry the previous evening.
"Curse you, Raidou! I don't want to be left with your mistake! Wasn't what you did already enough for you, without leaving me with her?"
A mistake. That was all she was. A snivelling, shivering mistake.
Hayate was the perfect child, an honourable and good son. Kasumi, although only eight, had surpassed some of the teenage students. She… was just a mistake. A failure.
No, she wasn't. She wouldn't live down to their expectations. She would live up to her expectations. She would rise above them all!
"Who are you trying to kid?"
Hayate shook his head, sending auburn locks bouncing with the movement. She hadn't realised she had spoken aloud.
"Ayane, your skill as of now won't get you anywhere. Tenjin-Mon isn't that hard to do, you know, yet you make it seem positively impossible."
She didn't want to do Tenjin-Mon like Kasumi. She wanted to do Hajin-Mon, like Genra, the only one who had accepted her into the clan fully. But no, until Genra discussed it, she was stuck with both Tenjin-Mon and Kasumi. And she hated Tenjin-Mon. The flow simply wasn't right. It didn't have enough power. Power she wanted and would revel in given the opportunity. It was too peaceful and girlish and… Kasumi-like.
Even though Hayate did it too… well, Hayate wasn't exactly the perfect example of manliness, was he? If he did Tenjin-Mon, he must have been just as pathetic as that little brat.
And he did… so he was. The logic worked perfectly.
"You need to be more dedicated. Otherwise you'll just fail."
She stared up into those cold brown eyes, and for the first time, hated what she saw.
She saw him. Nothing but him.
He was right.
She couldn't amount to anything. She was a failure.
No, she wasn't.
Yes, she was.
She was.
She wasn't.
Hell, she didn't know, which was sad in itself.
She sat down under the shade of a beautiful young sapling, plucking blades of grass absent-mindedly, asking herself the same question over and over.
"Am I a failure? Am I?"
Slamming her fist into the tree trunk, injuring the trunk and injuring her hand.
"Somebody tell me the truth!"
You will never be strong enough
You will never be good enough
You were never conceived in love
You will not rise above...