By Kochan
Chapter 6: The Road Home: The waiting game
Author's Note: It's been just over 2 years since I updated. Yes - 2 years, 24 months, 730 days. Don't ask. In case you haven't read the 1st 5 chapters, Hayate is now trapped in Kasumi's body. Wanna to know how/why? Head back to Chapter 1 and read from there :) Otherwise, on with the show. Just thought I should clear that up first though.
"Her brother's in a coma and you're making out with her in our backyard?" Irene's voice was as shrill, as piercing as Hayate had ever heard it. He eavesdropped from behind the Shoji door frame, listening with closed eyes.
"That's not what happened, Irene! You and your snap judgments! Always jumping to conclusions!" Ryu swung back, voice thick with defense. "Training; that's all it was and you've never objected to that in the past!"
"The girl's been comatose for three days! She's meant to be resting! And you've always trained with her brother before! Why such an interest in her all of a sudden, Ryu?" Irene seemed to want for nothing less than to have Ryu backed into a corner.
"What the hell does it matter whether it's Kasumi or Hayate?"
Hayate rolled his eyes behind closed eyelids, 'Just tell her the truth, Ryu. Makes it easier on us all.' Not that it was going to be simple for Irene to accept it.
"What does she mean to you, Ryu? You went out looking for her months back. What did you do when you found her?"
The hiss that followed was the sound of Ryu's short fuse an inch from its end, "I told you she ran from me. There's nothing between Kasumi and I, You have my word on it." his voice was stern, coated with a hard sense of finality.
Both sides had exhausted their respective salvos. It was Irene's voice that sounded first after a brief ceasefire, tone softened. "Ryu, I'd forgive you if you strayed. I'd even understand; She's young, beautiful, a free spirit...just like I used to think of you. Her naivety and child-like innocence I myself find irresistible. But whatever's going on, I'd much rather know now than later, and I think I deserve to hear it straight from you." one last attempt to coax a confession from him.
And Ryu lay his final card down in a calm, clear voice. "There's nothing between us and that's the truth. You'll just need to trust me, Irene."
That silence again. Hayate felt the pang of guilt as a muffled sob from Irene followed.
"Irene, I've told you that I'm content with you. There's no reason for me to pursue any other woman. Look, we were just training..." from his tone, Hayate knew Ryu was feeling the guilt jabbing into him as well.
"It doesn't matter Ryu...just do as you please. I don't care anymore." Irene's voice was choked as she stormed off...
...in rather; towards the very door Hayate had hid behind. Muscles came tense and this sleek new body was moving even before his mind gave it direction. The darkened walls of the corridors flew past as he sprinted for the bathroom on his sister's nimble toes. He clicked the bathroom screen shut just as Irene slid the far entrance open.
The obi at his waist came loose with a tug and was discarded with the Gi it secured. He forced himself to ignore the feminine traits of his sister's body and followed with the dark pants. These were kicked into a heap and he almost tripped over them in his haste to get through the next shoji.
Shadows danced around the wooden walls from the flickering light of the paraffin lamp. The air was sweet, scented of oriental spices from a porcelain oil burner near the entrance; a pleasant touch to the nostalgic scene. Hayate didn't have time to take all of it in before Irene's silhouette darkened at the screen door.
He snatched up the plastic pail at the side as he knelt. A swift scoop through the water filled tub before he emptied it over his head.
A feminine gasp burst from his lips as the freezing water coursed down. Pins and needles bit into his head and shoulders, the water tensing every muscle and numbing every inch of his skin it came in contact with.
The door slid aside and Hayate looked up to meet Irene's widened eyes. From her reaction, he guessed that he looked utterly miserable, not unlike a kitten that had just crawled from a pond after having fallen in. '"Silly Girl..." she said with a sympathetic smile.
He tore his eyes from her body, face burning with the image of her matured nudity as she settled the kettle in one hand down with a clank. "That's cold." came her whisper, a warm hand coming to rest at his shoulder as she stated the obvious.
He was shivering from the cold at first. But the warm tingling that flowed from her hand spread throughout him. He wondered if this was arousal, then forced the thought from his mind.
His eyes traced the steam that rose as Irene knelt to add boiled water to the tub. Instinct betrayed reason and those same eyes crept across to the woman once more, wandering over her body. She lacked the fresh youth and delicate purity that was his sister but there was no doubt about it, Irene Liu was beautiful.
Hers was the beauty of a woman that was still in her prime; full bosom and widened hips crying for motherhood. High cheekbones and the subtle marks of light aging graced her pretty face. A ripened fruit that was still pleasing to the eye...and Ryu had been fortunate to have plucked her.
But couples had their tests. Her reddened eyes and the tell tale sniffle were evidence of the argument with Ryu. The former she'd attempted to mask with a quick palmful of water upon her face. He felt the flush of arousal making its way to the surface and berated his mind for straying again. It wasn't right to look upon his best friend's wife in such a manner.
She turned to him with a smile and he couldn't meet her eyes, choosing instead to trace the shadow-darkened red of the cedar floor with his gaze. "Are you alright, Kasumi-Chan?" came Irene's voice.
The sensual feel of Irene's hand coaxed his eyes closed, her gentle fingers stroking his long wave of hair over his shoulder. Hayate replied to her question with a nod as a sigh left his lips. The tension melted away like ice as he welcomed the wash of heated water she poured over him.
The velvet wetness of a bath sponge eased over his back, accompanied by Irene's soft voice whispering for him to relax.
"You've got such beautiful skin. And all that training keeps you in shape..." the older woman mused. "...such...shape."
Hayate heard it in her voice, had seen it in her eyes. Irene was comparing his sister's charms to her own. He had no doubt that the suspicion of an affair would have clouded her mind by now. The possibility tugged at him but he batted it aside. Ryu had made a promise, one that Hayate had trusted him to keep. An affair with Kasumi would have been a betrayal of that trust, a blatant violation of their friendship.
More warm water washed over his back and he took the offered sponge to finish cleaning himself with rushed, almost frantic motions. The less he touched himself the better. They both eased into the bath after and Hayate endured a long moment of silence before Irene spoke.
"Things aren't so good between Ryu and I." Irene had her eyes cast at a darkened corner at the side, her gaze blank, distant. "He spends so much time away from home these days. And each time he straps on that sword, I find myself wondering if he'll come back to me alive or in an urn...if he comes back at all."
Hayate sank lower in the water with the onset of guilt. He had been the one to convince Ryu on taking on the mission in the first place. "Ryu...ah...Hayabusa-san is very good at what he does. Irene-Nee shouldn't be worried ne?" Skills were one thing, luck was another. That last mission had been too close a call; he thought it best unmentioned.
"Don't you wish you could live a peaceful life out of the clan as well, Kasumi-Chan?"
Hayate wished for little more than secluded peace with those he cared most for. But as the Leader of the Mugen Tenshin Clan, he had responsibilities he could not ignore. He chose his words with care, "Some things I think I can do better from inside the clan...like protecting the ones I love."
A genuine smile crept across Irene's lips. There was envy in her voice as she spoke. "You're so lucky. Kasumi-Chan. Your Brother is so caring. He'd never let anything happen to you."
Hayate bit his lower lip. Right now, he was powerless to even return his sister her body.
"Ryu's never home anymore. I don't even think he'd realise if I was gone." Irene's gaze was locked at the shadowed corner again, as though confiding in a hidden being there.
"Chigaimasu, Ryu talks about you all the time...um...to us." Hayate almost rolled his eyes at the tongue slip, then took a deep breath, thinking of how his sister might have answered. "Our men, they need us to be strong for them, need someone for them to come home to ne?" it was something he'd always felt, but something few men would ever admit to.
"Ryu doesn't need me anymore." whispered the other woman. "He wasn't the same again after what happened two years back." Irene's eyes were dense, heavy with emotion. "He's searching for the same thing he was before he met me...freedom."
Hayate knew well of the massacre that had befallen the Hayabusa village two years ago. In his vengeance, Ryu had unleashed the full wrath of the Dragon Sword upon the Vigoor Empire without restraint, culminating in the destruction of the Emperor, the Imperial Palace as well as half the City of Tairon. Revenge had come at a price; Ryu had lost part of himself there, something intangible, irreplaceable. It was as Irene had said; Ryu hadn't been the same since.
"He hasn't had easy time recently." Hayate began in defence, "There's so much at risk, so much he needs to do. Things...that only he can do." the frown on Irene's brow froze his tongue.
"You seem different somehow, Kasumi." Irene was leaning forward, her piercing gaze on him making him feel even more naked than he already was.
His mind scrambled for a reply, but it came instead from his belly, purring like a tiger cub.
The furrows vanished from Irene's face and a surprised look replaced the frown, "Oh, I forgot: you must be famished." she winked, and then punctuated that with a soft laugh. "Let's finish the bath and we'll have you something nice to eat, mm?"
Hayate breathed out a sigh and returned the smile, glad for the reprieve. "Hai!" he chirped with the enthusiasm of a five-year old.
He had little doubt that the hard gaze of those dark brown eyes would ease from him for some time yet. By now, Irene would have known that something was amiss.
Dinner had so far been awkward, silent but for the clinking of chopsticks on china bowls. The small black dining table carried a single lamp, illuminating the food dishes in the center. Neither man nor wife offered the other so much as a glance across the table as they ate.
Hayate sat in the middle of that thickened silence, finding his appetite lacking despite days without food. The longer the truth was left, the less plausible it became. Irene deserved the truth and yet Hayate knew Ryu had some reason for holding back. Now just didn't seem the time for honesty.
He found himself still staring at the same slice of fish in his bowl from a minute ago. The thoughts swirling in his mind felt like they'd filled his stomach as well, leaving little space for food.
He eased a little more rice past his lips and paused for a moment as something called from his subconscious. Ryu's chopsticks were tapping the bowl at certain intervals as he ate his meal.
The untrained ear would have thought nothing of the pattern, but Ryu and himself had used and perfected the code since young.
'Four hours'
'Outside'
Hayate glanced to Irene, watching for the slightest flicker of suspicion. The woman was former CIA and there wasn't much that slipped by her.
"Gochisou sama deshita..." Hayate whispered in his sister's softened voice, pressing his hands together once, then twice more in silence to acknowledge Ryu.
"Go and rest Kasumi-Chan. You'll sleep with me tonight while Ryu watches over your Nii-san. Your things are already in my room." that tone in her voice told Hayate that it was best not to protest and he nodded in quiet agreement.
He returned to the room where his original body lay, helplessness and desperation seeping back as he entered. A quick rinse of the cloth and he smoothed away the renewed layer of sweat at the chest and face before dabbing at the cracked lips after.
'Strange,' he thought as he watched his own body in torpor. 'This is what I look like at rest.' Somehow it all seemed so familiar and his mind wound back to the incident with the excommunicated Shinobi Raidou.
His jaw and cheekbones burned with the memory of being humiliated and pounded senseless by those slaps.
His mind ached as the implosion of the 'Ren Jin Kyuu Kusatsu' between Raidou and him flooded back into his thoughts.
And his back still tingled as he thought of the last feeling he'd had before the world faded to black; that of his spine shattering against the hard, unforgiving trunk of the tree as he was flung against it from the force of the blast..
His mother Ayame had told him that Kasumi had remained by his side to care for him, until her decision to leave the clan. He understood now how she'd felt, why she'd made that decision. The agony of waiting, of being unable to do anything, yet knowing that something had to be done. It would have been torture for her, just like it tore at him now.
He leaned in to lay a kiss at the man's forehead for Kasumi. "Oyasumi...Nii-san." The words that flowed from his lips felt so natural he didn't realise them at first. He paused as the thought struck him; were Kasumi's thoughts and actions becoming part of him, just by his being in her body? He shook it from his mind; it was the role-play...from pretending to be her when Irene was about.
He rose to his feet and made for the main bedroom. The questions in his mind were relentless as they pounded for answers...sleep was not going to be easy forthcoming tonight.
Author's Notes:
Nee suffix: Short form of Nee-san. Kasumi looks up to Irene as an older sister.
Chigaimasu: Polite Disagreement - like 'No, that's wrong.'
Replies: Most of you probably won't read this but I shall keep my promise: Every review gets a reply.
Nemu: I miss you. It's been 2 years and well, you've grown up. :) I doubt I can get you hopping the way you did 2 years ago when you read the last chapter. Chances are you mightn't even get to see this. Perhaps you'll return to your writing one day...just like I have here...Goed Geluk.
TigerEyes: Can't believe it's been 2 years huh? You for one I think will be around for some time yet. And yes - keep the reader guessing remember? Thanks for reading once again.
Crystalline Tears: Now about that Story Arc, it's taken a while to get around that bend :p I'm heading to Japan about once every Year or so now. And hey! What happened to reminding Tiger? Hehe..
Xtreame1:Thanks for the compliments - a little slow in coming but well, it's here. And yes Xbox only 1 Great game :)
Einhardenoff: STILL haven't skipped town, though some might say I might as well have. I hadn't thought about Ranma when I wrote this, not something that can be solved by a kettle of hot water though. Ever write that x-over?
Ownerizer: Not sure if you're still about. I f so - thanks once again for the comments Uh yeah - it was Kasumi, not Hitomi ..:) hehehe. And with 9 chaps and 61K words you certainly got further than I ever did. Once again, I didn't think of Ranma whilst writing this. :) Thanks once again, should you ever read this.
Tiger5913: Ahh...the girl of limitless adverbs and mile length description, still here and still strong I see. Now onto Shadow Hearts hmm? Best of luck with your fics, Lass.
Hayabusa: 2 years too long? Um...hope not? Hehe...thanks for reading.
Ayane fan: Duly noted. :)
2nd anniversary of my last update to this fic just passed. Dead in the water? Guess not. Just...well...lots been happening. I won't make any excuses but rather just go on with updating this whenever I have the time. I'm hardly expecting any of the old readers to come back but hope the new ones amongst will find it an entertaining read. Till next chapter!
PS - Japan was great! I've been there twice now - another trip due in Oct!