Fan Fiction ❯ chase after the wind ❯ 6 ( Chapter 6 )

( Hi, thanks for the comments, they are really helpful and mean a lot… a Ch. with Hayate, hmmm… I had not thought about it… I might add a ch or 2 or I am do rewrite from his perspective and post it under like chase 2.0 or something like that… Thanks and keep the comments coming … also, my name spelling may be off a bit, sorry… )

" Why am I trying to see when there ain't nothing in sight

Why am I trying to give if no one gives me a try

Why am I dieing to live if I'm just living to die"

-Tupac

They arrived at the resort where everyone else was existing, becoming more fully themselves. She had not slept well last night and she was now beginning to show signs of her fatigue. Her eyes had deep bags and her eyes seemed weary, though it was more then tired. It seemed as though her very essence was fighting to exist and that it was a weariness caused by this, a weariness of the soul, which caused the physical signs. Her hair was neatly combed down and she had dressed in her usual black ninja suit. She walked with a certain amount of sloth and, when she spoke, she spoke slowly and deliberately, with not the zeal and zest that most words are given by their masters.

The resort, as she had thought, was much nicer then the place that her dear brother had decided they would stay. The cab came up a long and curving driveway, through a beautiful path that was perfectly landscaped. The sun was just over the horizon and it cast rather ominous but strangely beautiful shadows on the lawn of the hotel. The path had statues at semi-regular intervals, mostly for the novelty of it. They, she was told at least by the loud and gregarious cab driver, were Greek gods, relics of a all but discarded religion. They were kept for novelty and ascetic value now, the oaths and power they once held being brought to nothing. ` And so it shall be with my people' she thought quietly, looking forward to the day when her brother would not control the clan with fear and threats of damnation. Yet something bothered her, she kept thinking there was something more then that. It was as if the temples and statues were meant as markers on a road to something far grander and that most people simply took them to be the actual thing.

The cab pulled up and she stepped out of the car. She breathed deeply and tasted the sea air. It had an unrecognizable odor, not pleasant, but familiar. The day had a certain freshness and newness to it, as if the world had begun again. The sun bounced off the reflecting pool that sat near the hotel entrance, and seemed to make it glow. Indeed, it seemed that genesis had occurred again. She was to old to be fooled by such cheap trickery as the promise of a new day or a better tomorrow. She had learned that a tree would always be, in essence, a tree, regardless of it's apparent newness. And she would always be a bastered, regardless of her actions. Sure she could chop the tree down and make something from it, yet even it's ashes were still tree ashes, she could not change it. It, even in the freshness of birth, seemed as though her world had been determined by forces beyond her control and she was fated to merely walk the path chosen.

Then she saw something. It, from where she stood, was within her reaching distance, so she bent down and plucked it from the earth. It was a flower. She was not sure why she picked it, there was no reason behind it, and yet it felt right. It was her validating herself through actions. She looked at it and couldn't help but smile. She saw something within that bud that could only be described as poetry. There was a simplistic beauty to it, a loveliness all it's own. It seemed that although it existed in a sea of flowers, it had chosen to be beautiful. It was not a part of a larger world, but a world all to itself. Not a part, but a whole. She shook her head, gently, realizing she felt better, but not sure why.

They pulled the heavy door open and stepped into the interior of the building. It contrasted with the outside to a nearly sickening degree. It seemed so false, so artificial. It was the drawing of a child hung next to the work of a master. The people within were doing this and that, seemingly oblivious to her and Hayatie's existence. The hall was filled with laughter and happiness that made her want to be sick. Every few seconds she heard the ear piercing shriek of girls her age saying things like " Oh my god, Tina, I saw that movie and it was like, the coolest thing ever… Seriously…".

And there she was. Wearing her usual blue uniform and loitering about with the others. She stood in the mist of a crowd of people, other tournament fighters, speaking and laughing right along with them. ` How dare she,' Ayane thought, ` Every day of my life is a struggle and yet, even in her punishment, she finds joy… I fucking hate you so much. Why, it just isn't fare at all. Just for one day like that, I would do anything. Enjoy it you bitch, I will kill you and take your place.' This last thought struck her as odd. She had never before thought in terms and yet, it seemed so right. Blood for blood, she would ascend to her sisters place, take it by force and be happy. Her sister had stopped laughing when she had caught sight of Ayane and now all that was past between the two of them were looks, though they were very different in nature.

Her glare was broken when her brother taped her and said " Everything in it's place. Let us speak to Ryu. He will have much to say"

She turned her glare on him and, still pulsing with hate and not thinking entirely clearly, she said " Why does he get to stay here?"

" Because this is his place. It is time for you to learn yours. If you question me again, in that tone, you will share the fate of the fallen one." He said, coldly, and returning her glare.

They made there way over to Ryu. He leaned against a wall, eyes closed and seemingly deep in thought. This exact scene had been repeated at the last tournament and she already knew, nearly verbatim, what they would say to one another. Her brother was always a creature of habit, but after coming back from the accident, he had been worse. It was as if he was trying to prove he was the real Hayate by becoming so entrenched in tradition that nothing could shake him. He was hard and cold, like a mounting. They walked over

Ryu was different then they were, somehow. He seemed much more like water then rock, able to shift and flow. She held a certain respect for Ryu for that, his ability to change so drastically. He laughed when it was time to laugh and cried when it was time to cry, and he did both actions without shame. It was as if he acted from a center that neither she nor Hayate had found. He called it balance but regardless of what it was, it was the reason he had always won ageist her and her brother and her sister. Yet his relaxed demeanor did not reflect his strength, it only came out in combat. He now seemed, quite simply, content to exist. His eyes opened as they approached, reviling crystal clear green eyes that seemed to pierce right down to the soul. He spoke softly and methodically, though with a certain amount of detachment, as if the words were not from him at all.

" Hail brother…" He said

" Hail" Came Hayate's reply " What is the status of the target…"

" Your sister….." he began

" No longer…" Hayate stated in return, " I have none…"

" If blood lines be so subjective, then allow Ayane" he motioned to her " to become a your heiress. And if they do matter, then do not deny the truth…"

Ayane could never quite figure out his motivation. She was never sure if her brought her up merely to win, as a tool to defeat her brother or if he was doing something more. She, for whatever reason, always believed that he was acting, as much as he could, for her and her sister's good. He seemed to be doing it not out of malice, but some other force. She allowed him to continue, trusting him, above all others, with her name, the only thing she had that belonged to her.

" Regardless of that, what is her status?"

" She seems to have come again, like a moth to a fire…"

" This time it will consume her…" Hayate said

" Those who play with fire must be cautious not to burn themselves…" Ryu said, simply.

" Mind your tongue or I will…"

" An honest and just leader fears not the truth. I merely speak what is, come brother, what could possibly scare you about that." Said Ryu.

" Yes… I must take care of things… Watch her and make sure she does nothing foolish…" He said, motioning to Ayane as he left.

She hated him for that. He had done it every since they were small, ` mind Ayane' ` Watch Ayane' as if she was stupid enough to do something utterly foolish. Now it was worse though, he no longer spoke with loving affection, but with almost hate. It was as if she was his burden to carry and that she was nothing more then a bad dog who would chew up the masters furniture and pee on the rug at it's first chance.

She turned to walk away, not wanting to hear this stupidity anymore. Her brother had left a few seconds ago and she began to leave when…

" Ayane…" She turned and looked at Ryu. " For what it's worth, I am sorry… Your father was a good man and… Sometimes the only choice we're given is weather to live or die… I am really sorry for your loss…" He said, his eyes looking at her.

She stopped and thought for a few seconds, mostly due to shock. Her and Ryu hadn't spoken since the last tournament, what with her in semi exile and he in a different albeit extinct clan. He was the first person who had called the man she regarded as her father, her father and he was the first one to offer condolences to her. " Thank you…" She managed to force out, though it seemed so inferior to what he had given her. He had just validated her existence. He had shown her that there was someone who actually cared for who she was not what she was. She wanted to laugh and cry and hit him and hug him all at the same time. Instead, she began to walk away again and he said.

" Don't go to far, little Ayane, we don't want you to go cause mischief by getting lost" he said this in a mock of her brother voice and tone and she couldn't help but chuckle to herself. She walked oven and hit him on the shoulder and said

" Do it again and your dead…" She then walked away, feeling better somehow.

She decided she would go for a walk since they hadn't began to check people into the tournament. As she walked, she couldn't help but overhear something from a side room that made her stop and walk in. She heard, " In other news tonight Augustine Grame, Gus to his friends, was found shot last night in his hotel room. The suspected cause is suicide, probably due to the loss of his daughter, Hanna. He was regarded as one of the most prolific and profound authors of the 20th century, with such notable quotes as " If there is a god, show me why there is a god.' He was a professor in philosophy and taught at Yale. A strange thing was discovered, however, at the scene. For more w go to the police briefing…." Pause, then " Good day. This is merely going to be a statement, not a question and answer period. Found next to Dr. Grame was a book that seemed to be the last he would ever read. It was the epic poem, paradise lost. Inside it had a suicide note but also had, the statement " To Ayane, may this title give you guidance it your family affairs." We are not sure who Ayane is but if she is listening, we would like to interview you. You are not suspected of anything, we would simply like some closure. Again, if there is an Ayane out there, you are wanted for questioning…."

" So you have killed another great member of society?" she recognized the voice immediately as belonging to Helena. " My mother not enough, eh? A philosopher and an opera singer. Who is next? A poet maybe…" She said these words dripping with spite and hate.

" Believe whatever you want, but I did not do either of the crimes you accuse me of. Why would I leave my name at the scene of the murder?" She asked, stoically

" Oh, no. You are far to cleaver for that. You probably broke his heart. He was already close to the edge and you gave him that little extra push, you killed his soul, the body followed."

" Fuck you" She said, in an equally hateful voice. Then she turned her back and walked out of the room.

Still something nagged at her. It was as if even though Helena was wrong about intention, Ayane wondered if she was right about cause. Everyone Ayane seemed to interact with became hurt or worse, died. Somewhere deep inside she had already blamed herself for Gus's death and that of her father. She just felt so weighed down by life that she feared she could never free herself.

She left the hotel, more in defiance of her brother then anything else, and decided to go to the library. Gus had died and his last request was that she look at that book. She decided to go and find it and see why it mattered…