Kasumi's Restaurant Side Story: Hayate - Penance
A.N.: Apologies for not getting this out sooner and no the fanfic is not dead. Aside from changing from a computer to a laptop, moving, working, and beating the crap out of Metal Gear Solid 4 (Big Boss rank, suckas!), I had no time for my writings. Since I am at the moment stumped on the main storyline, I'm going to work on the sidestories, which take place following Kasumi's ronin and girisezu declaration and centers around Kasumi, Hayate and Ayane. And Hayate's the first.
One week after the confrontation with Kasumi...
It was a a plan in which neither Ryu Hayabusa, Kasumi and Lisa didn't want to initiate in case of extreme emergency.
During the girls' vacation on Zack Island, Kasumi had struck up a friendship with Lisa. The part-time stockbroker/professional wrestler grew sympathetic to Kasumi's plight once the runaway explained it to her. Shortly before the attack on the Tritower, Kasumi, Ryu Hayabusa and Lisa held a secret meeting over Kasumi's safety.
Ryu knew that as long as Kasumi was under his protection, then Hayate, Ayane, and the Hajinmon would not move against Kasumi. Once Ryu was out of the country, however, the attacks resumed. But should the attacks grew in number that Kasumi couldn't do anything about it, then she would flee Japan.
Both Ryu and Lisa had stashed some cash for Kasumi, and the aforementioned shinobi had some money hidden with the emergency funds. Lisa even had several passports made for Kasumi under an alias should the need arise.
Which it did.
Ryu Hayabusa was away when Kasumi had her final confrontation with Hayate and Ayane. It was only when he returned from his trip to the Sacred Wilderness Training Grounds with his father that he found the cash, hidden inside a small cash box inside his curio shop, gone, the cash box left open.
One phone call to Lisa had verified it; Kasumi had fled Japan, and was under her protection under an alias in Hawaii. However, it was what Lisa had told him about the events before Kasumi's departure that had shocked him.
Kasumi had declared herself ronin and declared both Hayate and Ayane girisezu in front of the Hajinmon ninja.
That was something that Ryu wasn't expecting. One thing that Hayate valued more than the clan's honor was that of his own. Of course it was the same honor that had forced him to hunt Kasumi down, and it was the same honor that the aforementioned nukenin had stripped both Hayate and Ayane of with her fiery gaze and cruel words.
Not that they didn't have it coming, Ryu surmised, but even Kasumi's declaration was extreme, even for him. Which is why a visit to the Mugen Tenshin village was in order. Even without his ninja uniform he was known among the Tenshinmon and Hajinmon sects. With his black ninja uniform being repaired, Ryu was dressed in his classic blue Ryukenden uniform. His Dragon Sword was strapped at his back in its usual position.
The Hajinmon ninja who patrolled the mountains surrounding the village gave Ryu a wide berth, allowing him entry into the village without incident, given the fact that both he and Hayate were close friends and allies. And given the recent events that happened during the last DOA tournament, no one would dare challenge the Hayabusa superninja outright.
Upon arriving at the clan leader's house, Ryu was greeted by Hayate's mother, Ayame. The wife of the previous clan leader was dressed in a dark blue kimono, her long hair tied into a ponytail. Ryu removed his mask and cowl bowed in respect towards the older woman. "Ayame-obaasan."
Ayame smiled. "Ryu. It's been too long." She then gave him a hug. Ryu hugged her back. "You are looking well." She then dropped her smile. "You are here because of what had happened?"
Ryu nodded and allowed Ayame to lead him inside.
"I thought the worst has happened," Ayame continued. "I promised myself that I would never forgive Hayate and Ayane if they harmed Kasumi. Instead, I find out from some of the Hajinmon ninja that Kasumi declared herself ronin and called both Hayate and Ayane girisezu."
"Pretty effective loophole," Ryu mused.
Ayame nodded. "Yes. Hayate has locked himself inside his room and Ayane is searching all over Japan for Kasumi."
'Good luck,' Ryu thought darkly. 'Kasumi isn't even in Japan anymore.' He was surprized when Ayame turned and asked him in a low voice, "Did you have something to do with Kasumi's disappearance? Is she safe?"
Ryu simply nodded.
Ayame breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Your secret is safe with me."
The pair then reached Hayate's room. Ryu reached for the shoji door and tugged on it. It wouldn't budge.
"He won't let anybody in," Shiden said, turning the corner. As always, the former clan leader was dressed in his own ninja uniform, worrylines criscrossing his face. "No one has seen him since the incident. Kasumi sure as hell messed up his mind with what she did."
Despite the fact that his daughter was a runaway, Shiden was a father first. When the Hajinmon asked him to lead the charge against Kasumi, he flatly refused. Now, he was acting as clan leader since his son was in no position to carry out the role.
Ryu bowed at Shiden, who responded with a nod. "Master Shiden."
Shiden responded with a nod. "Ryu. How's Joe?"
"Dad is at the clan village, helping the survivors rebuild," Ryu replied. "He feels terrible as clan leader to allow such an incident happen while he was away training. He doesn't say it, but he feel even more betrayed for what Murai had done three years ago." He looked at the shoji door. "It won't be long now before I am appointed as clan leader."
"Maybe you can talk to him," Shiden suggested. "He may open up to you."
Ryu nodded. "I'll try." He then disppeared in a swirl of green maple leaves.
Once Ryu had materialized in Hayate's room, he first looked at the shoji door. Hayate had barricaded himself inside the room. What was also present was the strong smell of sake in the room.
Ryu saw Hayate sitting at the window, looking out into the forest. He had Kasumi's tanto in his lap. Sake bottles littered the floor as Ryu shook his head in disgust. Stubble was on his face as Ryu saw that he hadn't changed clothes since returning to the village. In short, Hayate was a complete mess, not to mention he had went through half the clan's sake supply.
"No honor," Hayate said softly. "She said I have no honor."
Ryu crouched in front of his friend. "What happened?"
"Kasumi...tricked me...baited me to come to the old temple," Hayate said. "She had signed a note in Ayane's name and lured me there..." He looked at Ryu. "I should have allowed her to come back home, regardless of what she had done...she branded Ayane and me as girisezu." His eyes were red from crying. "She was right, you know...I get kidnapped by DOATEC and turned into a living weapon, and I am allowed to return home. She leaves the clan and kills Raidou and she is marked for death. If anything, she is more honorable than Ayane and myself."
"Hayate..." Ryu began. "You got to pull yourself together. Kasumi is gone. She is alive, which makes the death sentence null and void. You can't hunt her down anymore. Your parents are worried about you."
Hayate shook his head. "I...I can't," he replied. "I have no honor left. No goddamn honor. Kasumi stripped it from me. I don't deserve the leadership of the clan. I don't want it. I don't even deserve to be a ninja."
That did it for Ryu. Grabbing a handful of Hayate's shirt, Ryu literally dragged Hayate out of the room, ignoring Hayate's pleas. Imagine Shiden and Ayame's shock at their son being manhandled by the superninja. Ignoring Hayate's pleas, Ryu dragged him our the backdoor and down the path where the lake was located. Upon reaching their destination, Ryu, without a single word, tossed Hayate into the lake, and jumped in after him.
After submerging Hayate for several moments, Ryu pulled him up. "I've had it with your crap, Hayate. You got a responsibility to your clan and to your family! Kasumi is gone, but she is still alive! You have to move forward!"
"I...I CAN'T DO IT!" Hayate screamed.
Ryu shoved Hayate back into the water again. Several Tenshinmon ninja who were attracted by the noise and had came to see what was going on tried to intervene but a look from Shiden stopped them.
"What happens when a wolf cannot defend her cubs?" Ryu demanded after lifting Hayate's head from the water. "What will happen if your enemies find out that you are being so damn weak? Will they show you mercy if they decide to attack the village? You want to see everything die out in a a wall of flames?! You are the leader of the Mugen Tenshin clan, Hayate! Get yourself together and GET OUT OF THE HOLE YOU HAVE DUG!"
Ryu then tossed Hayate back onto the shore. Ignoring the coughing, broken man, Ryu waded out of the lake and stormed off, the Tenshinmon parting for the furious superninja.
Several days had passed since Ryu's visit to the clan village. Since then, Hayate realized that Ryu was right. Kasumi may have stripped him of his honor, but she was still alive. Ryu, however, was at the Hayabusa village with his father on a weekend training trip. Ryu was upset with him and Hayate couldn't blame him.
Hayate, in the meantime, discovered that Hitomi was attending university in Japan from his former sensei - Hitomi's father. Deciding that he needed to get out of the village for a while, Hayate decided to visit Hitomi at the maison she was sharing with two other university classmates.
What happened next upon arriving at Hitomi's maison was something he wasn't expecting.
When Hitomi opened the door, instead of being greeted with a "Ein!" and a hug, Hayate received a fist to the face, knocking him over. Before Hayate could ask why she had decked him, Hitomi had beaten him to it.
"You bastard," she hissed. "How could you?! How could you do that to Kasumi?!" she shouted in German.
Hayate slowly got to his feet. "What are you talking about?" he asked, also in her native tongue.
"I know everything," Hitomi said in a cold voice. "Kasumi told me everything. About why she left the clan, and why you and Ayane are trying to kill her. You are no friend of mine, Hayate. No one would try and kill their own sister because she left to avenge their brother! Stay away from me, Hayate! I don't want to see you again!"
She then slammed the door in his face and locked it.
Following the explosive encounter with Hitomi, Hayate returned to the village. Shiden and Ayame noticed the depressed leader and when they tried to get some information out of him, he wouldn't answer them.
'Everyone I care about ends up getting hurt because of my actions,' Hayate thought as he sat on the rooftop of the main house. It was nighttime and there was a full moon out, stars shining out in the clear night. The tanto was gripped tightly in his hand as he looked out into the night sky. 'Kasumi...Hitomi...Ryu...' He pulled out the blade. Looking at it, he thought about ending it all.
'One strike...in the heart...that's all I need. I can't continue to hurt the people I care about.'
He placed the tanto at his chest, the blade gently touching his breastplate. One quick thrust and it will be all over. But he couldn't follow through. He relented. He dropped the tanto and looked at it as if had grown a head.
It was before Hayate could kill himself he had a realization. Kasumi had stripped him of his honor, but the clan's honor remained intact. Since Kasumi technically was dead, the clan's reputation was safe, even at the cost of his own honor.
'There are ways one can get their lost honor back,' Hayate thought. 'No one doesn't know about this. The Hajinmon squad that was with me has been sworn to secrecy and will not mention this to no one under penalty of death. I must perform penance, as should Ayane, for what we have done.'
First things first, he has to make some serious amends to his longtime friend.
Hayabusa Village, several days later...
In their resonstruction efforts, the Hayabusa clan had taken over the old Shadow Ninja Fortress once owned by Murai and has transformed it into a training facility.
During the rebuilding of the Hayabusa village, Joe Hayabusa, upon hearing about his clan's near-destruction had ordered a fallback location to be made if the village was attacked again. Of course, Murai's fortress proved to be a excellent spot, and after both he and Ryu had forced the Shadow Clan to surrender, annexed the buildings as part of the clan property. As for the remants of the Shadow Clan, Ryu had offered them a place inside the Hayabusa clan, which they accepted.
Dressed in a black version of his white ninja uniform, Hayate walked up the path that led to the now-christened Hayabusa Fortress. Upon arriving at the village, the kunoichi/shrine maiden, Momiji, directed Hayate to the fortress.
Inside the training hall (where Ryu had fought Murai), the Hayabusa superninja was conducting hand-to-hand combat class. Since it was summertime, Ryu was dressed in his classic blue Ryukenden uniform, save for the mask and cowl. The black leather ninja costume he wore only on 'special assignments,' such as during the Vigoor fiasco and the Tritower assault.
Momiji bowed to the elder ninja. "Master Hayabusa. You have a visitor."
Ryu turned around and saw Hayate with the shrine maiden/kunoichi. He saw that Hayate had cleaned himself up. "Thank you, Momiji. You may go."
Momiji took her leave. Turning back to his class, Ryu said, "We have a guest."
The ninjas bowed to Hayate, who responded with a nod. After Ryu dismissed the class, he led Hayate to the outside balcony. Hayate saw that the balcony had a perfect view of the surrounding mountains and forests.
"To what I owe the honor of your visit, Hayate?" Ryu asked, arms folded, his emerald-colored eyes looking out into the forest.
"You were right, Ryu," Hayate replied. "About Kasumi." He sighed. "I messed up big time. Kasumi is gone and now Hitomi hates me." Off Ryu's look, Hayate added, "She knows about Kasumi's death sentence."
Hayate then told Ryu about his explosive cronfrontation with Hitomi.
"Give her some time to cool down," Ryu said after Hayate explained everything. "Where's Ayane?"
"Still no word from her," Hayate replied. "I've dispatched a search party from both sects to search for her. I'm starting to get worried."
Ryu nodded. "I'll send out a search party to look for her. If I find her, I'll send word."
Hayate nodded. "Thank you." He was thankful that his friend had forgiven him - eventhough Ryu didn't say it. But then, there was the issue of Hitomi he had to deal with.
It would be nearly a year before Hayate would speak to Hitomi once again.
Since then, Hayate kept his distance as he built the clan's power and influence, using the money that the clan had pilfered from DOATEC to expand. Hayate had several safehouses scattered throughout Japan in both the cities and the countryside, as well as several legitimate businesses which brought more money to the clan.
However, despite what had happened, he had a promise to keep to Hitomi's parents. Hayate had promised them that he would look after Hitomi while she was in Japan. Fortunately, they didn't know about the incident concerning Kasumi, nor why Hitomi wasn't talking to him, otherwise, Hayate would never hear the end of it from the both of them.
Upon finding out that Hitomi was competing in a martial arts tournament in Tokyo's Chiyoda District, Hayate, who was overseeing the construction of Tengen Imports, decided to pay her a visit. Ever since Kasumi had left, Hayate had been wearing black clothes, which matched his mood concerning his missing sister. Clad in a Western suit, Hayate watched from the audience as Hitomi fought her way through the tournament, and won first place.
Sneaking into Hitomi's dressing room was easy enough. He was one of the best ninjas the Mugen Tenshin Clan had produced in its history. All he had to do was wait until Hitomi entered her room and change clothes.
Which wasn't very long as Hitomi entered the room, trophy in hand. Hayate counted to 100, then entered Hitomi's room. The younger girl was now in her denim outfit and was packing her sportsbag. Hayate took note of the trophy that she had won. 'She's gotten strong since the last tournament. Her parents would have been proud,' Hayate thought.
Before he could make his presence known, Hitomi's martial arts instincts went into overdrive and she spun around, only to find herself, face-to-face with the man she hasn't spoken to in almost a year, dressed in a business suit with no tie, leaning up against the wall.
"You're still doing that roundhouse wrong, you know." Hayate dryly noted. "You got to put your whole leg into the spin."
Hitomi frowned and folded her arms across her chest. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"I came to see you," Hayate replied.
"I got nothing to say to you," Hitomi said as she pointed to the door. "Get out of my dressing room."
"You're right," Hayate said. "You don't have to say anything. I just want you to listen."
That comment caught Hitomi off guard. Seeing that Hayate had her attention, the older fighter began to explain. "I'm sorry for not being a better role model to you. For the past year, everyone who we know has criticized the clan's decision concerning Kasumi, Ryu included. I let my personal honor override my concern and well-being for my sister. As a result, she has declared herself ronin and stripped Ayane and me of our honor." He gave Hitomi a sardonic grin. "Kasumi knew where to hurt me the most."
Hitomi had heard bits and pieces about what had happened between the three on that fateful day from Ryu. Kasumi didn't say a thing when Hitomi had asked, and Hitomi dropped the issue. But now, what she had heard was being verified by Hayate. One thing that Hayate valued more than anything was his personal honor as the leader of the Mugen Tenshin clan as as a martial artist. And Kasumi had destroyed it in one fell swoop.
"Girisezu. You do know what that means, don't you?" Hayate asked.
"It means...'without duty,'" Hitomi replied.
Hayate nodded. "Kasumi had led both Ayane and myself into a trap. I should have allowed her back ito the clan following the last tournament. But we pushed her over the edge. She renounced her name and family and has stripped us of our honor. There are ways one can redeem themselves, but the one main way for me for Kasumi to forgive me. It may not be much now, but I managed to reverse Genra's decree on Kasumi. The death sentence has been nullified. The Hajinmon will no longer hunt Kasumi down, but then again, she has vanished."
"..." Hitomi was silent.
"I'm sorry for not being a better role model to you," Hayate continued, "Kasumi is still alive, but she is gone. I may not see her again, but I would like to make amends with you. I know you can't take Kasumi's place, but you are like a sister to me. I'm sorry, Hitomi. I...I tried."
With that said, Hayate turned towards the door and made his exit, leaving Hitomi alone with her thoughts.
It would be nearly two weeks before Hayate would see Hitomi again. Only this time, Hitomi would come to him at the clan village.
The commotion drew the attention of both Hayate and Ayane, who were inside the main house along with Shiden and Ayame. Upon exiting the main house, what they saw surprized them.
Hitomi standing in the midst of downed Tenshinmon and Hajinmon ninja. From the look of things, she has been fighting her way through the village and was surrounded by more Hajinmon ninja, weapons drawn. Hitomi didn't get through the onslaught unscathed. She was battered and bruised. Only because Hitomi had first-hand knowledge of both the Tenshinmon and Hajinmon fighting styles from watching and fighting Kasumi, Hayate and Ayane, Hitomi would have been worse off.
As the armed ninja closed in, Hayate's voice rang out. "Stand down!"
The ninja looked at their clan leader, then at Hitomi before sheathing their weapons.
Shiden and Ayame looked at their son. "You know this girl?" the former asked.
Hayate nodded. "Her father took me in and trained me in Karate. I owe her family a debt for looking after me when I lost my memory." To the Hajinmon and Tenshinmon ninja, he gave them this order: "This girl is under my protection. If anyone harms her, I will be very displeased."
With that said, he took Hitomi inside the main house.
"She knows the location of the clan village?" Ayane asked as one of the Hajinmon medics tended to Hitomi's bruises.
"I told her," Hayate replied simply. "I told her that if she couldn't contact either Ryu or myself, that she could come and visit me. Apparently, given the fact that what's left of the Black Spiders were seen in the area, the ninja patrolling the area have forgotten the safe passage decree I had on Hitomi."
Ayane frowned. "It seems that the Hajinmon needs more training if they got their collective asses kicked by a halsvie karateka."
"Ayane, language," her mother scolded as she brought in some tea for her son's guest, followed by Shiden.
Ayane bowed slightly. "Forgive me, mother," she replied. With that, Ayane departed to check on her men.
Hitomi accepted the tea with a "thank you,' and took a sip, wincing slightly, since one of the Hajinmon ninja had nailed her with a blow to the jaw.
"Oyaji, Okaasan, this is Hitomi," Hayate said as Hitomi stood up and bowed. "Hitomi, my father Shiden and my mother Ayame."
Shiden reponded with a nod to the head while Ayame bowed in return. "My family is indebted to you for looking after our son," Shiden said. "I give you my thanks."
"As do I," Ayame added.
"Mother, Father, Hitomi and I need to talk alone," Hayate said. Once the parents were gone, Hayate turned to Hitomi. "You took a serious risk in coming here. But I'm also inpressed that you held your own against the Tenshinmon and Hajinmon ninja." After a moment, Hayate asked. "So...are you still angry at me for what I did?"
"Yes," Hitomi replied. "But after what you told me what you did after Kasumi vanished, you still have a chance to win me back."
Hayate nodded in understanding. "We got a lot to talk about, don't we?"
"We do...Ein."
Hayate smiled weakly. Hitomi had forgiven him. It was a start, but he still had a long way to go.
