A strong, cooling wind blew in from the east, rustling the few stray
leaves already stripped away from their branches by the tides of
autumn. A tall, malformed tree climbed into the sky in its height,
positioned wonderfully in the eye of the sun. The surrounding area of
the tree was adorned by rich greenery, blades of grass rustling softly
in the breeze.
This was true beauty.
This... was the Miyama.
The staging ground for many a battle. One of them happened to be the
vicious combat between legendary Ryu Hayabusa and the evil Tengu
Bankotsu-bo. A fight for the ages. Yet somehow, Hayabusa managed to
overcome the throws of darkness and banished Tengu to the eternal
abyss. Very few people knew about that battle, either through
obliviousness or ignorance, but Kasumi was not one of them.
As she walked through the hauntingly quiet Miyama, she reflected on
what might have happened here between Hayabusa and Tengu. The large
tree in its centre was strewn with deep slashes and welts, grazed into
the chipped bark. Swords had been drawn at least. That was a surprise.
Hayabusa hardly ever used his katana. Though Kasumi couldn’t really
say that she cared much about the outcome, she was a small part
pleased that Tengu had been defeated. At the time of the second Dead
or Alive tournament, she was much more concerned with the fate of
Hayate. So much so that she really didn’t focus on anything else.
Least of all Tengu.
Or Ayane.
Kasumi shook her head as thoughts of the woman Tengu entered her mind.
The things she said about her... were they true? Was Kasumi really a
coward?
It wasn’t like she deliberately wanted to abandon her clan and become
a runaway ninja. She had to pay back Raidou for crippling Hayate the
way he did. Her own personal sense of honour commanded it. Which was a
double standard in itself. A ninja was a child of the night, who
stalked its prey and struck with the killing blow, then vanished into
the nothingness they came from. It was Kasumi’s destiny to live in the
shadows of the world. Such antiquated notions as ‘honour’ were
meaningless to a shinobi.
Needless to say, Kasumi didn’t feel that way.
Her feelings were a guide, something that made her what she was. There
was no way she could denounce those emotions. Which in a ripple
effect, made her unsuited to lead the Mugen Tenshin. Hayate was much
better suited to that task. Kasumi had known that for a while, but
just recently, she realized how true that was.
Kasumi continued to walk along the quiet grounds of the Miyama. There
was no real reason for coming back here, other than the fact that
staying here gave her a feeling of security. In a weird way, she was
drawn to its tranquillity.
But Kasumi didn’t have the chance to settle in.
“So...” A voice called out, a female one. “I knew you’d be here. We
are both drawn to the Miyama, aren’t we? Just another thing I happened
to inherit from you...”
Kasumi’s brown eyes darted up to the naked branches of the Miyama’s
tree. The voice definitely came from over there, but as she looked up,
she saw nothing there. Somebody had been tracking her.
A ninja.
And a pretty powerful one at that. Somehow this rogue shinobi had
managed to mask their Chi, preventing Kasumi from sensing the stalker
out.
Again, the female voice called out. “You know, there are so many
things I want to share with you, Kasumi! You’ve had such an impact on
my life I find it hard to imagine that this won’t take a while!”
Kasumi’s eyes lunged from side to side. She had been trained to hear
which direction voices could come from by assessing their depth, but
those skills were useless here. The Miyama was such a remote and clear
area, that sound waves didn’t bounce off anything for them to be
traced. And considering that the Miyama had a very sparse layout, it
had to take a skilled ninja to be able to conceal themselves like
this.
Still, this guy wasn’t free from psychological tactics. “Come on out
you coward! Face me!”
The voice called out to Kasumi again. “Coward? That’s a bit rich,
coming from you. I didn’t abandon my clan, traitor.”
How did this guy know about? “...Who are you...?”
“You really want to know, Kasumi?” The voice said. “Why should I do
you any favours? Do you realize how much crap your life has put mine
through? Do you realize what I’ve lost, thanks to you? Do you!?”
Kasumi backed up towards the trunk of the Miyama tree to slowly get a
better look at the surroundings. The voice was getting louder. Which
logically meant that the ninja was raising their voice or getting
closer. Slowly, her sleek hand inched towards her back of her ninja
gear, en route for the hilt of her Tanto. All the while, speaking to
cause a distraction from her actions.
“You know me somehow.” Kasumi stated, her fingers reaching closer to
her blade. “I’m not sure who you are... but if you have some issues
with me... then get out here and make them known.”
“Oh my, aren’t we the brave kunoichi?” The voice said sardonically.
“So you’ve gained some backbone after all. But that doesn’t change
your fate at all. And if you think I’m naïve enough not to see that
you’re about to draw your Tanto then you should think again.”
Kasumi’s hand halted a few short centimetres from her long knife. This
shinobi had caught her out somehow. But she had absolutely no time to
think about it. Instantly, a few throwing stars shot out at Kasumi
from the front. This was such a fast assault that she couldn’t react
quickly enough, frozen in place. None of the stars hit flesh, but they
did hit her clothes. Two were on either side of the fabric on her
shoulders; two hit the braces around Kasumi’s wrists, and two hit the
white material of her leg gear. All six of the throwing stars had
pinned her to the Miyama tree. Just now, Kasumi realized that she was
trapped. And susceptible to almost any attack. As Kasumi pondered
that, a figure finally landed on the ground just a short few metres
away from the Miyama tree. Kasumi studied the figure as they stood up.
It was a woman, clothed in a typical full body ninja outfit, the only
difference was, and it was the colour of a pale blood red.
As the woman stood up, Kasumi finally started to get a better look at
the female ninja’s face. Yet she could only gasp as she saw what this
kunoichi looked like...
She looked *exactly* like Kasumi.
“What is this illusion!?” Kasumi said incredulously.
The clone of the runaway ninja, Kasumi X smiled with the cunning of a
deviant. “This is no illusion... I am you... or you are I. Whichever
way you want to classify it, I couldn’t care less. All I want to do is
to rid myself of you, Kasumi.”
The real Kasumi struggled to get her head around this. There was no
way this could make any sense. How could someone look this much like
her? Unless... she did remembering being seized by the Super human
Development Project... cloning was not above their reach. Maybe they
had used a sample of her DNA to create this... apparition. That had to
be it. But that didn’t explain the clone’s anger towards her. What had
Kasumi done to this woman? This was the first time they had met, face
to face.
“What do you want of me?” Kasumi asked, trying hard to raise her
voice. “I’ve never even met you before!”
“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!” Kasumi X suddenly laughed, shocking Kasumi with
her sudden change in action. Why was this amusing?
“Answer me! What are you plan-“
“Silence!”
Kasumi X masked her Chi once more, and then disappeared in a tornado
of spinning leaves. After a few seconds of quiet stillness, the clone
reappeared right before Kasumi, who was still pinned up against the
brittle trunk of the Miyama’s tree.
Kasumi X grabbed her dim reflection by the cheek, in hard grip. “So
you are the original, eh? You’re the one who left the Mugen Tenshin?
What does she see in you...?”
“What are you talking about?” Kasumi asked.
Kasumi X’s eyes darkened. “You... you’re the reason... you’re the
reason she hates me... because of everything you’ve done to her!”
{Her?} The original thought. {Who is she talking about?}
With a sickened scowl, Kasumi X pulled back her hand and slapped
Kasumi viciously across the cheek, flowering it with a bright redness.
Kasumi let her head come to rest to the one side, and slowly tried to
digest all of this, piecing together the clues that would provide her
with an answer. While Kasumi thought about it Kasumi X scowled once
more, and thrust her knee up into the original’s stomach.
Kasumi let out a cross between a gasp and a cough, spitting up a few
droplets of blood, suddenly robbed of her breath. Then before she knew
it, the brunette ninja was punched across the face violently. Kasumi X
continued to land blow after blow until Kasumi’s head lulled in a
slump, unable to retaliate to these attacks. With unhidden fury,
Kasumi X grabbed Kasumi by the collar and gaze at her with brutal eyes
of anger, jealousy and heartbreak.
“What makes you better than me!?” She screamed. “I am my own person! I
am nothing like you! I deserve her! Me! You are nothing!”
Kasumi coughed, letting her eyes look up to the clone. “You’re just
an... extension of me... a swindler...”
With another growl, Kasumi X slapped her twin once more. “How dare
you!? I am Kasumi! You’re... you’re just... an obstruction! You’re
stealing Ayane away from me!”
Kasumi was suddenly alert, and her head jerked up in attentiveness.
“Ayane? What did you do with Ayane!?”
Once again, the clone grabbed the original by the chin. “She... is
mine!”
Now things were starting to get a little bit clearer. Using all of her
ninja skill and strength, Kasumi tugged at her left leg with the
utmost speed, ripping apart the fabric of her white leggings. Kasumi X
squinted as she was kicked centrally in the stomach by her dim
reflection, and backed up slightly to regroup. Now that she had a
clear means of escape, Kasumi pulled one of her arms free, and then
drew her Tanto. After slicing right leg and left arm off the tree, she
bounded into the air with a beautiful sunset flip, landing just a
short distance from her clone and the Miyama tree. Kasumi quickly drew
up her long knife into a striking position and yelled defiantly.
“What did you do with Ayane?” She demanded. “You better tell me or I
swear you won’t live to see another sunrise.”
Kasumi X regained her composure. “She... she loves me. I know she
does... she told me so... but you... you hurt her. You keep causing
her pain. I have to stop you... so that she and I... can be happy
together... If it means saving my love, I will destroy you!”
Kasumi’s eyes widened. Ayane had been in contact with this thing. But
did she know that it was just a copy? Or did she think it was the real
Kasumi? Well, at least Kasumi now knew that Ayane was in one piece.
But this fake still had to be dealt with.
“Keep away from her.” Kasumi ordered her clone.
Kasumi X smiled. “Its too late for that. She cares for me in ways you
couldn’t begin to imagine... she made love to me...”
The real Kasumi struggled to keep her jealousy in check... “Y-You...
you’re lying. That’s not true.”
“Is it? What reason would I have to lie? Besides its not like *you*
could give a damn about Ayane’s welfare. I think you enjoy seeing her
suffer! Because you can’t have her!”
“No, that’s a lie!” Kasumi almost screamed. “I never meant to hurt
Ayane! I just... I... I just...”
The clone rolled her honey brown eyes. “Spare me. You’re just a
coward. You ran away from the clan, and you ran away from Ayane. Now
I’m tarnished with your face forever! This façade cost me my love!”
Kasumi didn’t even bother to think about what that last statement. All
she could think about was what the clone had said. That she enjoyed
seeing Ayane suffer. That wasn’t true. She never wanted to hurt
anybody... least of all...
Kasumi’s eyes dropped, carrying an overwhelming sadness. “I... never
wanted to hurt anyone. I just did what I thought was best. Protecting
Hayate’s interests. I... had to defeat Raidou for what he did. I admit
I was afraid of... taking over the clan. I wasn’t ready for such a
responsibility and many people knew it. But that wasn’t why I left. I
had no choice. The blood of my family demanded that I stop Raidou...
and then when Hayate disappeared... I needed to seek him out, make
sure that... he was safe. I didn’t know my actions would cause so much
suffering... I had no idea. And everyday I carry the weight of that
decision on my shoulders. I constantly walk through meifumadou...
living my life in the shadows... being stalked and hunted like a dog
by the people who once claimed that they loved me. If you really
believe that I would put myself through that just to hurt Ayane...
then you’re only deceiving yourself.”
Kasumi X snorted. “You won’t be getting any sympathy from me.”
“I didn’t ask for any.” Kasumi retorted bluntly. “But don’t assume
that you’re the only one who can experience pain. We all suffer.”
“But my suffering is down to you!” The clone yelled. “If you hadn’t of
hurt Ayane the way you did, then-“
Kasumi cut off her parallel. “Wake up! You don’t love Ayane! You’re
not even human! You’re just a copy of me, created in test tube in some
remote section of the world that only demons of humankind lurk in! Did
you even tell her what you are? What you *really* are? How can you
claim to love someone when you can’t even be honest with them?”
Kasumi X fell silent. She didn’t even think about from that
perspective. Was it wrong not to tell Ayane about her? Was it wrong to
masquerade as the real Kasumi? ...Was she just manipulating Ayane’s
feelings?
{It wasn’t like that at the time...} Kasumi X thought privately. {I
wanted to tell her... but I was just afraid of how she would react...
was I wrong to do that? I never... wanted to lie to her...}
Kasumi regretted acting so harshly. But she had to put her point
across to the clone. But this, unfortunately, went unheeded. Kasumi X
scowled again, adopting a fighting position, staring at her mirror
image with strong, vigorous eyes. “I... won’t let you trick me! I’m
the only one that can make Ayane happy... she needs me!”
Shortly after making that declaration, Kasumi X charged at the
original. Kasumi looked on with confusion, her Tanto still ready to
strike. Was the clone so far in love with Ayane that she couldn’t see
all of this was wrong? Even the charge that the cloned girl was making
was sloppy. Was she that blinded to the truth? Kasumi really did not
want to have to kill anyone, but this clone was seriously ready to
finish her... to end it all. She had to put a stop to this once and
for all.
Kasumi tightened her grip on her long knife, and waited for Kasumi X
to reach her, soon the two were in striking range of each other.
Kasumi X thrust out her fist to punch at her rival. Kasumi swung to
one side of that strike, span her Tanto around in one hand and then
brought it up in one sharp upward movement. Kasumi X’s eyes bugged out
as cold steel had to ruthlessly rend through flesh, muscle and bone,
reappearing at the small of her back, now coated with a fresh fleece
of crimson blood.
Kasumi shut her eyes, forcing back tears, while the clone coughed up
shots of blood. The Tanto had sliced through her torso as easily as
any ninja weapon could. That dark phantom of the underworld was
calling out now... but before she went... Kasumi X just had to know...
“D-Do... you... love her?” She asked, her voice already wafting.
Kasumi kept her eyes shut. She honestly couldn’t answer that question.
At least until she was more sure of herself. “I’m... sorry.”
Kasumi X smiled sadly, a trail of blood slipping from her lips.
“T-That’s good... at least... my love... wasn’t... artificial...”
With a final groan, Kasumi X’s body fell limp. She was dead. A tear
slipped from Kasumi’s eye. She actually had to kill someone... all
because a few aspirant scientists decided to play God. A short life
that experienced nothing but sadness. What a horrible way to live.
Kasumi pulled her Tanto free from her clone’s corpse, and sheathed it
quickly, ignoring the red blood that stained it. After taking one last
look of awe at her dim reflection, Kasumi walked away, another cold
wind blowing in. The wind of death.
And there, within the mighty presence that was the Miyama, lay the
defeated body of the cloned girl, Kasumi X, the puddle of blood around
her growing larger by each second. But if you looked close enough, you
could see that tiny smile strewn across her scarlet-stained lips.
Though Kasumi X had face nothing but pain in her short lifetime, there
was one thing she could be thankful for.
Her love was pure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You say it's all about intention
a chimera in disguise
its about your life, the greed
the loneliness it needs now
just to say you’ve claimed the prize
of letting go...
You say you're all about your virtue
but it's a harlequin of shame
you look around confused by the sound
of intention gone aground now
because it's all about the fame
and now you're letting go
but it's a little late
there's little time to show
So tell me now...
would you do it all again...
could you do it all again...
You say it's all about
forgiveness now...
well you can grovel if you'd like
but turn around,
do you hear that sound
that's integrity gone aground now
in the name of sacrifice
**********
THE END
**********
Kaiser’s Afterthoughts
----------------------
* I probably should have said from the start that this fic wasn’t
going to end happily... I always believed that if you’re going to take
a swing at a Kasumi/Ayane kinda story, the ending should never be a
happy one. Oh well, I hope everyone liked it.
* My next DOA fic is gonna be a Lei Fang/Helena one shot! Hopefully,
it should all go down well.
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