Chapter Six
They had three days of training with the schedule as followed.
Morning: Physical training. Obstacle courses, exercise routines, and stretching. They would end the morning physical training with a fight with another contestant.
Early afternoon: Classes that covered a large range of topics from videos on form to obscure survival techniques. The topics were broad enough that Kasumi questioned what they would be expected to do during this tournament.
Late afternoon: Set aside time to train with your partner.
Evening: Tag team fight with your partner against another team.
Kasumi's first day went as expected. Despite the quick healing from DOATEC she was still recovering from her earlier injures. She performed poorly during the physical training, her muscles were sore and weak. Jann Lee, her first opponent, won their fight within the first few minutes.
The training with Hayabusa was frustrating and awkward. It didn't help that every chance he got, he would spend with Hayate and Ayane. Kasumi didn't know what he was playing at. Ayane kept sneaking Kasumi death glares and Hayate continued to ignore her. The evening fight she and Hayabusa were against Bass Armstrong and Leon. They lost due to Kasumi's poor performance. Hayabusa didn't seem upset about it, but he didn't reassure her either.
They were escorted to a new room that night. Everything was exactly the same as the other room but the windows were different. Instead of a large floor to ceiling window, there were three horizontal windows that ran across the top of the entire back wall. It gave the room an open feeling, but no one would be getting in and out of the room through the windows. Kasumi was relieved.
The second day Kasumi felt significantly better. The extensive medical treatment the contestants received after fights really sped up the healing process from the day before. She won her morning fight against Zach after a particularly long match. After the classes she took an extra long time to make it to her training with Hayabusa, thinking that maybe if the training was shorter it would be less terrible. But by the time she got there he must have left, which was fine by her. They competed against Brad Wong and Gen Fu that night and were able to scrape a win this time. Kasumi had her physical strength back.
That night she overheard Leifang complain to Hitomi about how DOATEC matched the two previous champions, Kasumi and Hayabusa together, and how that hardly seemed fair to the rest of them. Kasumi realised how good she had it, but that may also been because she hadn't been attacked in the last two days. She decided she was going to be less closed off to Hayabusa, after all he did save her life. He didn't come back to the room until after she was asleep.
The third day Kasumi woke up early. She began boiling water for tea. This had been the third night sharing a room with Hayabusa, but she realized this was the first time she actually saw him sleeping. He lay over the covers, supine, his hand over his chest holding the hilt of his sword. He almost looked as if he were just resting his eyes, but his chest rose and dropped slowly. She finished her tea and left before he woke.
Everyone was at their top game during physical training today. Kasumi was convinced that DOATEC had been feeding them something to improve their performance.
Hayate was announced to be Kasumi's competitor this morning, she couldn't help but wonder if this was on purpose. She hadn't tried talking to him since the day she arrived. He waited in the arena for her.
"If I win will you answer my questions?" Kasumi asked as they prepared to fight. Hayate frowned. "If I lose, I won't bother you again." She added, biting her lip realizing the stakes she was placing on herself. Hayate nodded in agreement.
One. Two. Three. Fight.
The fight started slow, but quickly became intense. Kasumi fought with passion as did Hayate. Each hit he made was fueled with hate, but before long it was clear that Kasumi was going to win. The attempts on her life gave her rigorous continual training in the past months, something he didn't have. She caught him with a sweep of her foot and took advantage of his fumble. She finished him.
Hayate was out. Kasumi had won. She waited on the sideline while the technicians injected him with a serum. As soon as he regained consciousness she was by his side.
"I expect you will honor the deal." Kasumi said to him. He scowled, but ultimately nodded. Kasumi turned to the nearest DOA rep and asked for a private room. The representative eyed Kasumi and Hayate with suspicion before she showed them down the hall. Ayane appeared at their side before they made it to the door.
"What is going on?" She demanded, her crimson colored eyes narrowed.
"We have matters to discuss privately." Kasumi said to her.
"I don't think so." Ayane said taking a fighting stance. The representative took a step back and pulled out a radio.
"Ayane stop." Ryu Hayabusa walked toward them.
"Master Ryu." Ayane acknowledged and backed down. The DOA rep held the radio ready, but did not send a call out.
"You can't stop this." Kasumi said softly to Ayane. Ayane was about to respond, but Hayate held up a hand to motion for silence.
"I will answer her questions." He said, opening the door to the room and stepping inside. Kasumi followed, so did Ayane, but she stood away from them. They entered small conference room. Hayate sat down facing Kasumi. Ryu also stepped inside and closed the door. At this point Kasumi didn't care.
"Why?" Kasumi asked. "Why are you doing this?"
"I don't know what to say to you." Hayate said. "I'm the leader of the Mugen Tenshin Clan now. My actions are no longer just my own, they are of the clan."
Kasumi shook her head. "Is this to be my fate? Can't I do something, can't we stop this, somehow?" She pled with him.
Hayate turned away, but not before she saw a hint of regret in his eyes. He was still her brother.
"We… I cannot." He said simply.
"Did you mean what you said before?" She asked. "That you would rather see every last member of our clan die in their duty in killing me than to stop this bloodshed?" She noticed Ryu's eyes widen at Hayate. Ayane just smiled.
"I don't know." Hayate said. "Let us not speak of this any more."
"So I can expect the continue assassination attempts. Even during this tournament?" Kasumi asked.
"It's out of my hands at this point." Hayate said to her. Kasumi stood suddenly.
"You can stop this. You can stop this now." She said. Hayate stood as well, but he moved toward the door.
"I can't." He said before leaving. Ayane followed but not before shooting Kasumi a look of loathing. Kasumi sat back down waiting for Hayabusa to leave as well. But he didn't. He sat down in a chair next to her instead. She wouldn't cry in front of him. She wouldn't.
"Why do you continue your friendship with Hayate?" Kasumi asked Hayabusa, her voice low and harsh to keep the emotion from leaking into her words.
"Because I understand where he is coming from." Hayabusa said softly. Kasumi stood sharply. Her chair tumbling on it's back behind her.
"You are just like the rest of them. A monster! I don't know why I thought you or my brother would be different than the rest. You've both changed."
"You are being selfish." Hayabusa responded calmly.
"Is it selfish to not want to kill my own people?" She asked loudly. "To not want to die." She added softer. Her voice broke on the last word. She ran out of the room biting her knuckles to hold back a sob. She ran back to her room, not knowing where else to go.
Her eyes blurred with eyes, she nearly ran into Christie who was walking up the hallway. Kasumi went to duck around her, but Christie grabbed her shoulders.
"What is this?" Christie asked in her sickly sweet voice, looking over Kasumi. "Oh my my." Kasumi dragged the back of her hand across her eyes, but only accomplished to spread her tears around.
"Kasumi, I'm shocked to see you in such a state. Trouble at home?" Kasumi jerked away from her. "Oh hello Hayabusa." So he had followed her. Kasumi didn't turn, she didn't want him to see her this way. She knew what other ninja thought of breaking down. It was a sign of incompetence. She had already done enough to her reputation in the last two days.
"Christie." Ryu greeted her.
"Breaking hearts, are we?" Christie asked. She ran a hand down the side of Kasumi's face and then stroked her arm. Despite pulling away, Kasumi found the gesture almost comforting. It was as if she were being treated as a human rather than a killer. That is if Christie weren't the one doing it.
Kasumi moved swiftly past her and to her bedroom door. She fumbled around in her pockets for the key card to the room and had to listen to Christie's throaty laugh as Hayabusa walked up and used his card to unlock the room. He opened the door held it for Kasumi who was still attempting to hide her tear streaked face from him.
Kasumi went inside. Hayabusa came in after her.
"Are you following me?" Kasumi asked accusatory. "What do you want from me, a selfish coward?" Kasumi went into the bathroom and turned on the sink and proceeded to splash water on her face.
"You are not a coward." Ryu said to her, standing in the bathroom doorway. Kasumi shut off the water and looked at her reflection. Her face was pale except her red tinged nose, cheeks, and eyes. Her eyes still watered.
"Is this some sort of game to you?" Kasumi asked, this time looking at him full straight on. He face was still half masked from the fight earlier. Clad in black he looked almost like figures she was constantly fighting, but there was something different about him. The way he looked at least.
"Hayate still cares about you." Ryu said. Kasumi shook her head and grit her teeth. She tried to say that Hayate didn't care about her, but instead it came out as a sob. She bowed her head into her fingers, her whole body shaking, tears spilling from her eyes.
Kasumi felt Ryu's arms encircle her. She reached out and pulled herself toward him. She sank to the floor and Ryu sat down with her.
She wasn't sure how long she cried on the bathroom floor with Hayabusa holding her or how the wad of tissue ended up in her fist to blow her nose in.
When the tears finally stopped she stared ahead vacantly, mildly aware of her head leaning on Ryu's chest. She eventually realised her hands were clutching him so tightly that when she let go they were stiff and painful. If it had bothered him he didn't say. She blew her nose one last time and began to get up.
Ryu rose with her. He didn't say anything, but released her as she went to the bathroom sink once again, washing her face. Her right leg and hip were sore from sitting in an awkward position on the hard tile. She flushed the used tissues down the toilet. Ryu waited out near the kitchenette once she came out.
"Drink this." He handed her a glass of water. Kasumi must have looked at weak as she felt because he put a hand on her as if to steady her. Kasumi liked it there.
"What time is it?" She asked.
"We missed the classes and lunch." Ryu said. "We have a couple hours before the fight tonight. We should go eat to keep our strength up." Kasumi looked up at his face which was no longer covered. He looked a lot less imposing now than he did with the mask on. His green eyes were softer than she had seen them in a long time and his long hair loose around his shoulders. She nodded about to turn away, but instead quickly, before she could over think it, wrapped her arms around Ryu one last time in a deep hug.
He stiffened for half a moment before relaxing and putting his own arms gently around her too. Kasumi's head reached the top of his chest, he rested his chin lightly on the top of her head.
** Thanks for reading everyone! How are you liking Ryu X Kasumi? I'm considering changing the rating from T to M for future content or should I keep it teen? Let me know what you think in the reviews.
**Edit 1: Thanks for the input guys! I'm thinking I will probably keep it Teen.