Yay, new chapter. School starts tomorrow… so depressing… anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter. Until next update!
You know what to do. His own words echoed in his head as he ran. Kill her. Don't hold back. No matter who she is… she needs to die.
"It's all a matter of principle," he told himself, jumping deftly over a fallen tree.
But the fact remained… that, no matter who she was, he wasn't able to kill her himself. Not now. But soon… very, very soon. He would honour his clan's wishes, and to some extent, his own…
"The runaway!" One of them exclaimed. Too late. Kasumi had already sprung.
Her tanto was buried deep within the first ninja's stomach. She pulled it out as hands swatted wildly at her, and the first ninja fell dead to the ground. The second and third both drew back at the sight of their fallen comrade.
"You will not defeat me!" she cried, jumping at the second ninja and lashing out with her feet. The ninja went flying into a nearby tree, back connecting solidly enough with the wooden trunk. The third ninja threw a flurry of shuriken down at her. She back-flipped once, twice, three times, until she felt a tree trunk pressing into her spine.
"Runaway, you must die for the sake of our clan!" the third ninja exclaimed, drawing his sword. There was nowhere for her to go.
Nowhere, except back.
She flipped backwards, onto the trunk of the tree, before using all her body weight and pushing forward into what could be distantly considered a wall Oboro. The ninja immediately collapsed onto his knees, winded, before falling onto the ground. She kicked the sword out of his grasp, before flicking it up into her own hands and readying her feet.
The second ninja, who had now recovered from hitting the tree, had been circling her waiting for an opportunity to get in a blow whilst she had been fighting the third ninja. Luckily for her, she had given him no such chance. Finally, impatient, he lunged. She neatly dodged the sword blade before countering it with a blow of her own, connecting solidly with his head and sending him falling to the ground, blood pouring out of the wound.
Before the remaining ninja could attack her, she stabbed the sword into his body, before flipping over, the sword taking her weight, and stabbing him again. Just to make sure.
She stopped, breathing deeply, staring around at the dead bodies that littered the area.
"I'm sorry," she whispered into the breeze. "I didn't want to have to do it like this, but you left me no choice,"
Even still, she felt a sudden sense of melancholy as she threw the sword down on the ground and re-entered the cave. It wouldn't be pleasant to sleep near corpses for too long. They would probably have to move again when it was light.
Except for them. They don't have any more light to come for them. Their light is out. Forever.
She knelt beside the sleeping form of Hayabusa. "I don't know how you do it. You can still sleep perfectly at night. Don't you ever mourn those you kill?"
A soft sigh escaped her lips. "I suppose it isn't the same to you. You don't care. Or maybe you do, and just don't show it. I really know nothing with you, do I?
She brushed some of that russet hair out of his face. He looked so peaceful. So unlike a murderous killer.
"You don't really feel that guilty, do you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have gone and sought vengeance for your clan the way you did. I admit they weren't completely innocent, but they were still lives…"
She could almost imagine Ayane's sneering expression, had she been talking to her instead of a sleeping, possibly unconscious Hayabusa.
Oh, Kasumi, you're such a coward. Why would the Mugen-Tenshin clan want wimps like you?
"Perhaps… perhaps I'm not right for this sort of thing. Maybe I'm too cowardly. And I was supposed to be the clan leader, even before Hayate. Funny how some things happen, isn't it? If you were here, Ayane, you would laugh… and kill me…"
A sudden breeze swept through the cave. She shivered, grabbing the blanket she had abandoned earlier and wrapping it around herself, before shifting closer to Hayabusa.
"You're warm. You don't mind, do you?"
She lay down beside him, snuggling into his chest. He's unconscious. He won't care. And if nothing else, he makes a nice wind block. Sorry, Ryu. Please don't get mad at me!
She shut her eyes, and fell into an uneasy slumber, filled with spilled blood and glassy eyes.