Chapter Three: Plans
Chiyoda District, Tokyo several days later.
A cozy-looking maison. Hitomi stood outside the door, which was emblazoned with the number 3. In one hand, was the flyer for Kasumi's restaurant as she weighed the pros and cons of inviting the person who lived behind that door to the restaurant.
Following the Dead or Alive tournament which concluded with the destruction of the DOATEC Tritower, Hitomi had went to Japan to attend university at her Japanese mother's request. Hitomi had her concerns about attending university far from her home, but in the end, it was a wise decision.
Hitomi's father had connections with one of the Karate instructors who ran the karate club at the university and using those connections, gotten Hitomi a full karate scholarship. Graduating at the top of her class with a degree in Physical Education, Hitomi decided not to return to Germany and to open her own dojo in Japan.
At the age of twenty-three, Hitomi has one of the more popular karate dojos in the city. With several karate championships under her belt, Hitomi had transformed from a novice fighter to a seasoned veteran.
After a long moment, the Eurasian katateka made her decision and knocked on the door. After a moment, she knocked again. The door then opened and Ayane stood in the doorway. The Hajinmon ninja was dressed in a tanktop with the word ROCKWELL emblazoned on the front and her favorite pair of track pants. Her bandanna was wrapped around her head.
"Morning, Ayane," Hitomi greeted.
Ayane responded with a nod. "Hitomi." She then stepped to the side, allowing Hitomi to enter.
Hitomi looked around the maison. Ayane's apartment consisted of four rooms: the living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. For Ayane, the place was small and effective. Out of all of the three siblings, Ayane had changed most of all. She was the leader of the Mugen Tenshin clan's Hajinmon sect, but she also taught Eastern History at the local high school. In the living room, which consisted of a TV/DVD combination, a stack of movies, her sofa and table, which had her laptop and a stack of papers on it.
Following the incident with Kasumi, Ayane had searched all over Japan for her. When it was revealed to her that Kasumi had left Japan for whereabouts unknown, Ayane had suffered a mental breakdown. Fortunately, Ryu was there to help her recover.
While she was working at his curio shop, Ayane had opened up to Ryu about her relationship with Kasumi. It was during this time that Ryu suggested to Ayane that she should attend university. When Hayate supported Ryu's suggestion, Ayane conceded and entered Tokyo University. Having developed a knack for History and teaching, Ayane pursued a double degree in Education and History.
Despite being a teacher, Ayane still kept up with her ninja training. When she told Hayate that she wanted to work as a teacher, he reached a compromise. Ayane had appointed her second-in-command to train the Hajinmon while she was away in the city. When summer came, Ayane returned to the village and continued their training.
Like Kasumi, Ayane's appearance had changed. She was no longer a teenager, but a woman of twenty-two. Her face showed a degree of maturity, but the fire was still in her eyes. Her lavender hair was still cut short in her usual style. She had also gotten taller as well, standing at five-feet-five.
"So what brings you here, Hitomi?" Ayane asked as she resumed her stretching.
Hitomi showed her the flyer. "I was wondering if you and Ein would like to come with me to the opening night of this new restaurant," she said, addressing her half-brother by his alias.
Ayane looked at the flier. "Red Geisha Restaurant. Reina Kasumi is the owner?"
"You heard of her?" Hitomi asked. Hitomi, along with a chosen few, knew of Reina Kasumi's real identity.
Ayane nodded. "I've seen her fight. The fighters call her the Japanese Amazon. From what I've heard, she is unbeaten…so far. Didn't know that she was opening a restaurant here."
"I think that Ein and Makie would like to come," Hitomi suggested. "Ein needs to get out of the village and the fresh air would do Makie good."
"For once, I agree with you," Ayane replied. Even she realized that Hayate needed some time off from running the clan.
Makie, Hayate's wife, was also the senior karate instructor at Hitomi's dojo. Originally from Okinawa, she had met Hayate through Hitomi and after a five-month romance, married Hayate and was currently pregnant with Hayate's child. Hitomi had placed her on maternity leave until she had the child and was fit enough to resume her job at the karate dojo.
Ayane picked up her cellphone. Hitomi noticed that the color of her phone matched her hair color, as did her laptop. "Let me ask Hayate and see if he would like to come," she suggested.
The Mugen Tenshin clan had several legitimate businesses all over Japan. One of which, was an import/export company called Tengen Imports, whose specialty was importing fruit from North and South America. At that moment, Hayate, who was on an inspection tour of the company. Half of the employees were from the Mugen Tenshin clan's two sects, while the others were normal people.
As always, since Kasumi had left, Hayate's attire was black. In this case, he was dressed in a three-piece black suit. He wore no necktie and the top button was undone. His pregnant wife was at the moment seated in a chair. Hayate knew that sometime in the next two months, he would be a father. Fortunately, his parents were helpful in preparing him for his impending fatherhood.
But every once in a while, he would think of Kasumi. The tanto that she had left that day was on its rack. Both Makie and Ayane would catch him looking at it with a sad look in his eyes. Makie had gotten the story from Ayane, about Kasumi and the events which led her to why Hayate was wearing black most of the time.
Even though he had confidence in leading the clan, Hayate felt the personal conflict in his heart. Both he and Ayane were blinded by the clan's doctrines to consider Kasumi's feelings, until it was too late. His personal honor in ruins, he searched for Kasumi, but to no avail.
The cellphone ringing in his pocket broke his chain of thought. Picking it up from his pocket, he saw that it was Ayane calling.
Hayate flipped it open and answered. "What is it Ayane?"
"Your little karateka friend has invited all of us to dinner tonight," Ayane replied from the other end.
Hayate's relationship with Hitomi had been strained in the first year following the Tritower fiasco. Once Hitomi found out about why Kasumi was running and her family trying to hunt her down, she was all but furious at Hayate. When Hayate found out that Hitomi was attending university in Japan, he visited her, only to be greeted with a hard punch across the face, followed by several choice curse words in English, German and Japanese.
Wisely, Hayate decided to give Hitomi time to cool down. The next time he spoke to her, he made amends with Hitomi and used his authority as clan leader to reverse Kasumi's death sentence and grant her a full pardon.
"Where at?" Hayate asked.
"The Red Geisha," Ayane replied. "Apparently, Reina Kasumi is opening a restaurant here in Tokyo."
Hayate blinked. "Reina Kasumi is opening a restaurant here?"
"That caught me off guard too," Ayane replied. "The restaurant, from what the flyer says, specializes in not only Japanese food, but also Korean and Chinese food as well."
Hayate knew that his wife had a passion for Korean food and knew that Makie would not let him hear the end of it should he refuse Hitomi's invitation. Especially when it came down to Korean food.
Taking one look at his wife, Hayate made his decision. "Tell Hitomi that we'll both be there. I think 8:00 tonight will be good enough," he said before hanging up.
Back at Ayane's maison, Ayane placed the phone on the table. "Hayate and Makie will be there," she said. "Is 8:00 okay with you?"
Hitomi nodded. "Perfect."
The interior of the Red Geisha was bustling with activity. With only three hours until the grand opening, the waitresses and chefs were hard at work. The restaurant was a converted two-story warehouse, with the second floor consisting of one massive balcony which overlooked the bottom floor. A set of stairs led to a small platform, which then split off into two sets of stairs to either side of the balcony (like how the stairs in the Spencer Mansion were done).
While the balconies on either side of the stairs were open, supported by massive stone pillars the balcony on the far end was separated into several private dining areas. Kasumi's office/living quarters overlooked the area above the stairs, concealed in a row of tinted windows.
Kasumi's apartment and her office was separated by a row of shoji doors. Kasumi's living space was large, consisting of five rooms: the living room, kitchenette, bedroom, bathroom and workout room. At the moment, Kasumi had exited the bathroom, wearing a bathrobe, her hair done up in a towel. One advantage about her apartment is that she had a nice view of the restaurant, so she could not miss anything. Kasumi sat down in a chair and looked over her clothes for the evening. Kasumi disliked evening dresses, and decided to wear something more practical.
Lisa would have disapproved, but Kasumi didn't pay her no mind. This was her night.
