A PRESENT FUTURE
CHAPTER 2: OF HOPE AND TEARS
by SHIN-CHAN

Arial rolled over onto her back, a light sheen of sweat breaking out on her skin. "Nooo . . . " she moaned in her sleep. Once again she watched as Jamie, her friend Jamie for goodness sakes! kill Seki, then Shu. "No. Please. STOP!!" She jerked up suddenly, breathing heavily.

A dream. Without opening her eyes she rested her head on her drawn up knees. A nightmare. Nothing happened Arial. He didn't kill anyone. No one died. I just imagined it all; with the stress of everything lately my mind is overacting. When I open my eyes, everything will be as it always is.

When she was a small child it had been a common ritual she preformed after horrible nightmares. Her mother would always know when she was having a nightmare, and would come to her room to hold her, telling her that everything was alright, that she just had to open her eyes and see for herself. Over the years, after the Devastation, she would do this on occasion, just to feel the phantom arms of her mother around her. The nightmares she woke from now were always horribly real.

She slowly opened her eyes, and froze. "No, this can't be." She squeezed her eyes shut. "I am in my chamber. I am in my chamber. Everything is normal," she chanted in a shaking voice. She opened her eyes again. The scene before her hadn't changed.

"I have to be dreaming still," she whispered. That was the only explanation. There was no way for what she was seeing to be real. It was impossible.

She was sitting under a cherry tree, one in bloom. It was spring. The sweet fragrance wrapped itself around her, reminding her of pleasant occasions from her childhood. A delicate pink petal floated down and came to rest on the back of her hand. She reached out and picked it up, rubbing it gently between her fingers. It was smooth and warm. Real.

The air was filled with other scents of spring, she realized. It had been so long since she had smelt the sweet scent of the grass; the combined fragrance of many flowers in bloom; that unique scent of the earth coming to life, of life beginning. Above her the sky was a beautiful shade of blue, a blue she hadn't seen for years. Soft white clouds danced high in the sky, heading for lands unknown, not sparing a passing thought to what lied on the earth below.

"Oh God, where am I? Did it work? Did Aunt Kayura send me here?"

"In a way."

Arial spun around, landing on her hands and knees as she faced a strange young man not too much older than her walking toward her. He was dressed strangely, she had never seen cloths like his, and he had long red hair that fluttered softly in the faint breeze.

He stopped and sat on a large rock ten feet away from her. "Lady Kayura sent you to the past. I redirected you here."

She swallowed nervously. Had she been caught by one of the Shadow Lords? "And who are you?" she asked warily.

His lips twitched into a slight smile. "Cautious? That is good. I am Shuten, once the Oni Ma Sho."

The blood drained out of Arial's face. "S-Shuten? But, but you died. Years and years ago. The Lady Kayura . . . "

Shuten nodded. ". . .now wears the Oni yoroi, yes I know. Please seat yourself. There are things that I must tell you."

Keeping a close eye on him, Arial slowly sat cross-legged on the ground. He nodded to himself.

"I redirected you here to give you some information you will need, and to give you something that you will find useful in your quest." The smile faded, replaced by a serious look. "I am very sorry about what happened to your family. I always have held great respect for the Samurai Troopers, and it pains me that they could not live the lives they wished." Tears welled in Arial's eyes at the sincerity in his voice. "You are not going to take too kindly to what I am about to tell you, so please wait until you hear everything before making any judgements."

He sighed and then started. "Everything that has happened in the world, to your present point in time, was meant to occur." Arial opened her mouth to argue, but Shuten held up his hand to forestall her. "Listen. What happened in your past had to occur, to give the future a chance." Arial blinked at him in confusion. "All those events lead up to one point, and to one person. Arial," she jerked her head up. "That person is you."

"What?" she whispered.

"The past you lived had to occur. The Shadow Lords' attack during your childhood was unavoidable. I am sure that Lady Kayura told you that finding and destroying the five statues before they fell into the hands of the Shadow Lords shall be the only way to prevent the horrors you grew up with. That is correct. She told you were the only one capable of going back in time." Arial nodded. "That is also correct. What she didn't know, what she could not have known, was that you are the only one capable of destroying the statues. The one who was always meant to destroy them. That is why you were born; why you lived the life you lived. It is, was always, your destiny."

"You mean, all those people who died, died because of me?" she whispered in a low, horrified voice. "My friends? My family?" All those millions of millions of people? She closed her eyes as a sharp pain in her chest threatened to overwhelm her. So much death and pain and suffering. All because of her . . . "Nooo . . . " she moaned, curling onto herself.

"ARIAL!" Shuten said sharply. She had to stay focused! "Listen please, the future you lived in, those who lived and died in it, that is the fate of the earth unless you fulfill your destiny. You were born to give everyone a chance to live, as you are the only one who knows what the future holds. All those lives, the world itself, rest in your hands."

"Why are you telling me this?" She lifted her face to look at him; tears were running down her cheeks. Considering everything that had already happened to her, this was almost more than she could bear. "Why do I need to hear this?"

"You need to know how important you are, how important your task is to understand it. You must not allow anything to come between you and what you must do."

Arial took a deep breath and rubbed her arm across her eyes. "Anything else?" she asked flatly.

He looked at her for a moment; then lowered his head so he could no longer see her pain-clouded eyes. "Yes," he sighed. What he was about to do to the child . . . The pain he was unwittingly going to cause her . . . "You will find it very painful in the past. You will encounter things you never expected, and see that which you thought lost forever. You will have to remember who you are, and where you come from, or you will destroy yourself." She nodded; confused at what he said, and hoping it would make some sort of sense in the future.

"Now I have something for you." He motioned for her to look behind her. She turned, and froze.

A huge white tiger was approaching them, holding something in his mouth. "That is Byakuen, isn't it?" She turned to Shuten, eyes huge and round. "Uncle Ryo told me about him, and how he disappeared during the Devastation."

A low grumble came from behind her and she spun back around. Byakuen was standing three feet from her. He lowered his head and released the object, a sword, onto the petal littered grass before her and backed away.

"That is for you. A young warrior has needs of a worthy weapon."

She reached out and picked it up. She glanced up at Shuten before she pulled the sword out of its sheath. The blade glowed brightly for a moment, a warm silver glow that warmed her throughout, then faded. She held it aloft and studied it. It was incredibly light, almost no weight at all. The metal itself was unfamiliar to her, sort of like the metal the nine yoroi was made of, but not. It was smooth, with a plain golden hilt. Arial turned it back and forth in front of her, and watched as it gleamed in the bright sunlight.

"There are properties to the sword that you will have to learn in the future," Shuten informed her as she studied the sword she held. "It is now time for you to return to the real world."

Arial blinked at him. The real world?

The cherry blossom petals swirled up around her from where they were resting on the grass, blocking her view of Shuten. There was a ringing sound, and then everything disappeared.

* * * * *

Komiya Kazuko silently watched the young man patiently sitting in the middle of the room in front of him. He had insisted that his grandson train under him in the shinobi method of the Shiroi Kaze after he had seen troubling signs in the stars of an impeding doom several years ago. His grandson, his youngest daughter's only son, had been reluctant to learn the ways of the shinobi, being a peaceful child with a gentle heart. Then late last spring, for reasons still unknown to Kazuko, Shin had agreed.

Shin sat quietly, waiting for his grandfather to tell him why he had been summoned. His grandfather was the head of the Komiya shinobi clan, which was loyal to the Mouri clan. Long ago, it had been common for shinobi daughters to marry into the Mouri clan, as protection for their husbands from enemies. What was unusual was training a member of the Mouri in the way of the shinobi.

Not long after they had given up their yoroi, Shin's grandfather had come to him, telling him that it would be wise for him to learn the ways of his mother's people. He had declined. He no longer wanted to fight. For the first time since his coming of age, he was free of the heavy responsibility of guarding the world. His grandfather told him it was important, that a dark cloud of impending doom was sitting over the horizon. That he would need this knowledge in the future. Still Shin refused. Then Suzunagi came.

They, the Samurai Troopers, had thought their fight was over with the destruction of the Shiroi Kikoutei and the Kuroi Kikoutei. That their lives were now theirs again. They had been wrong. She had come for them, seeking revenge for what she thought the yoroi had cost her, and in the end she had left them with a new purpose, new yoroi, and the discovery of abilities they never knew they had. They were once again protectors of the earth.

Afterwards, after some soul searching, Shin had agreed to train under his grandfather. He was so insistent, and Shin was beginning to believe that there was indeed something dark in their future.

"Grandson," Shin looked up. "I can teach you no more. The darkness that I saw, it shall soon envelope the earth. You must be there to halt it." Kazuko lowered his head. "This past year, you learned much. You take to the way of the shinobi as you do to the sea, but your destiny lies elsewhere, as does your heart. Seek that path. For only then will you find your future."

Shin bowed down. "Hai."

Kazuko reached down and picked up a small item wrapped in a glimmery blue silk. He held it out to Shin. "This is for you to use in the time ahead. Use it with honor."

Shin took the offered item and unwrapped it. Under the silk was a sheathed tanto engraved with the crests of the Komiya and the Mouri on its hilt. It had to have been specially made. It signified that he belonged to both clans, and that he was both Mouri and shinobi. He slid it into his kimono and bowed down to his grandfather. "I will not dishonor it Grandfather."

Kazuko inclined his head to Shin, then stood up. "It is still early yet. You have time to visit your mother and sister and her family before you leave for Tokyo." With that, Shin's grandfather left the room.

Shin slowly got to his feet and walked to the sliding doors and opened them. He stepped out onto the covered deck overlooking the Hagi Sea. So much had changed over the years. He reached into his kimono and pulled out the tanto. Slowly he unsheathed it. The blade shone silver in the muted spring light, like moonlight on the waves of the sea at night. With a quick thrust, he sheathed it and walked away.

* * * * *

"Ohhh . . . " Arial placed a hand to her head. There was a dull aching throb behind her eyes that was slowly fading. "That was not a good trip, not at all." Slowly she sat up and rubbed her temples. Then she remembered.

She snapped open her eyes and looked around. "Nani?" She was still sitting under the cherry tree. It was still spring. "What happened?" Slowly she got to her feet and started to look around. "This is the same. Wasn't Shuten going to send me back? Maybe he . . . Oh my . . . " She lifted her head and looked up, and up. Rising high in the sky behind the cherry tree was a huge building, a skyscraper of shining metal and glass.

"No way!" she gasped out. "This can't be right!" Arial spun around. She was in a little park surrounded by tall buildings, undamaged, tall buildings. "Where did he send me?!"

Several people dressed in suits and an assortment of casual cloths gave Arial a leery look and quickly walked past her.

She bit her lip and thought of what to do now. "First thing first," she murmured to herself. "I need to find out where and when I am. Then I'll figure out what to do." Taking a deep breath, Arial reached down and grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder. Then she walked to the path. She did not notice how strange she looked in comparison to the other pedestrians, dressed in a pair of dark green pants with a flowing black Chinese style tunic.

When she reached the edge of the park, she froze at the sight before her. So much noise, so many people, so much activity. Cars and trucks whizzed past on the busy road in front of her, it seemed that there were hundreds of people walking on the sidewalks on either side of the road, hurrying on their way to work or shopping, or to wherever they were headed. It was quite a shock to Arial, who hadn't seen such things since she was a small child with her parents. She stiffly stepped back into the park and collapsed on a nearby bench, overwhelmed.

"There are so many people! So many." She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself from the unexpected claustrophobia she felt by being surrounded by so many people. This was unexpected and unplanned for. When she and Aunt Kayura had talked about searching for the statues in the past, both assumed that she would travel back to the Civil War era, or not long after. The idea that she would be sent to what looked to be the late 20th century had entered neither of their minds.

"Oh, what to do?" she murmured fretfully. This was not something she had been prepared for. Her world of the future was so different, she was better suited for the time that she thought she was going to than this world. She nervously looked around, and her eyes came to rest on a wastepaper basket at the far edge of the bench. Her curiosity instantly stirred, she slid over and picked up the discarded newspaper on the top.

"Maybe I can learn something from this." At least it would provide a way to calm her nerves. She had always found reading relaxing. Despite the bold headlines on the top of the paper, the first thing that drew her attention was the date in the corner.

1992, April 23.

* * * * *

Ryo and Touma watched as Shu slammed down the phone. He turned to them, a scowl darkening his normally pleasant face.

"Nothing," he told them as he approached. "All I got was the stupid answering machine." The scowl was then quickly replaced with a worried look. "I have no idea where he could be."

The three of them started to walk down the street. "And he said nothing to you last night?" Ryo questioned.

Shu rapidly shook his head. "No. Not a word."

"He didn't attend any of his classes today," Touma said softly as he thought it through. "He is not at his apartment, he didn't go to Nasutei's, and he left no word with anyone that something was wrong."

"Nothing strange has happened since last spring." They turned a corner and Ryo looked up at the city hall building. "At least nothing that I know of."

"Maybe Seiji has heard something." Touma looked around. The five of them had planned on meeting here after their college classes were out. Seiji was standing across the street talking to a young American girl near his own age. "Oh no, not again," he murmured tiredly. Ryo and Shu looked across the street.

They watched as the young girl shook her head, her wavy shoulder length blond hair flying charmingly. Seiji scowled at her, she glared back. There was a short exchange of softly spoken words, then the girl sharply spun around and marched to a dark car with diplomatic plates that was waiting for her. Seiji watched the car leave; then rubbed his temples.

"Isn't that the third time this year?" Shu softly questioned as they walked across the street to meet Seiji.

"No, the fifth," Touma speared Shu with a speaking look. "And don't bring it up. I don't want to know what silly thing they are fighting about this time."

"Yeah," Ryo nodded. "They'll ignore each other, and then they'll be back together next week. Asking what is wrong this time will be a waste of breath." Ryo raised his arm and waved. "Hi Seiji!"

Seiji looked up. "Hello." He looked at his watch. "You are late. I was expecting you ten minutes ago."

"We were tryin' to track down Shin." Shu crossed his arms and grumpily leaned against a light pole. "Have you heard anything?"

Seiji shook his head. "No." Before Seiji could ask why they were trying to track Shin down, as Shin knew where to meet them, a cheerful voice called out from behind.

"Hi everyone."

The four teenagers spun around in shocked surprise. Sitting on the brick wall behind them was Shin, a welcoming smile on his face.

"Jesh, where did you come from?!" Shu exclaimed, a hand over his chest. No one had been there a moment ago, he was sure! "We have been tryin' to find you all day."

"Hagi." Shin's friends gave him a collection of startled looks.

"You went all the way to Hagi and back today? Why? Did something happen to your mother?"

Shin pushed himself off the wall. "My grandfather just wanted to speak to me. He called me early this morning."

Ryo arched an eyebrow. "And was it important?"

Shin shrugged, not wanting to tell them what really happened. He hadn't told them what he had been learning from his grandfather. He knew that they wouldn't approve of his decision, especially Ryo and Seiji. "He thought so." He looked up at the city hall, his eyes darkening. "Remember what I told you that he thinks that there is some sort of darkness out there?" They nodded. "He thinks it will be arriving soon."

"Do you believe him?" Seiji asked.

Shin turned away from the building, where they had confronted Suzunagi the year before, and nodded. "Yes, I do. Can't you feel it, just on the edge of your perceptions?" Seiji and the others nodded. They could feel something, but none of them knew what it was, just that it was not good.

They all looked up at the city hall one last time, then they walked away.

"Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Shin asked lightly.

Shu shook his head. "Just the usual. Boring classes, lectures, homework, that kind of stuff."

"Anything else?"

Ryo, Shu and Touma all shook their heads as they glanced at Seiji. Shin's eyes opened wide with comprehension.

"Okay," Shin hastily replied as he realized what the looks implied. He did not want to get involved with the latest problem in Seiji's love life. "That means that we can grab a movie and head straight to Nasutei's."

"That is right." Shu rubbed his hands together gleefully. "There is this new Jackie Chan I have been dyin' to see . . . "

"No," Seiji turned to Shu. "No Jackie Chan. No Bruce Lee. We are going to get something we all want to watch."

"Which would be . . . "

Everyone was silent.

"We will see once we get to the video store," Touma told them. "Then we will decide what to watch."

"We are going to be there all night," Shu promised.

Shin smiled at him. "Only if you make it difficult."

They turned down a side street. Partway down the street, at the mouth of an alley, was a small crowd.

Ryo frowned. "What is going on there?" They quickly approached.

Before they reached the alley, the small crowd, mostly made up of high school and college age teens, scattered. The body of a young man in a black leather jacket flew out onto the sidewalk and landed with a dull thud on his back. Several more gang members hastily backed out of the alley, away from their attacker.

Shu whistled softly. "Someone is taking on the Thunder Ryu? This I gotta to see." The crowd backed away even more, giving the Troopers room to watch.

A young teenage girl with a long blond braid walked out of the alley dressed in Chinese cloths, an old worn daypack tossed over one shoulder, and a small calico tortoiseshell kitten in her hand. She ignored the crowd, her attention focused on the five young men she had attacked.

The gang members warily watched her as she sat the daypack down. "How could you be so cruel?" The girl asked as she gently stroked the kitten's nose. "It is an innocent baby."

"It is a stupid cat," one of the boys growled. "A stray. It is better off dead."

A cold look entered the girl's purple eyes. "Maybe so are you." The five young men tensed up as she bent down and placed the little kitten in her bag. Then she stood up and walked toward them, her arms held slightly away from her sides. "If you want the kitten, you have to go through me."

"That is a good way to commit suicide," Ryo whispered. "We should stop her." The others nodded their agreement and Ryo took a step forward.

A hand reached out and clasped his shoulder. "I wouldn't get involved if I were you." Ryo spun around. It was a friend of his from school, Furuya. "That girl can take care of herself."

"But . . . " he looked back. The girl stood not much taller than five feet, if that, and she was delicately built. His eyes narrowed as he studied the girl. Her stance. All of her weight was balanced on the balls of her feet. Her eyes were flickering from one boy to the other, watching them, judging them. This girl knew what she was doing.

One of the men looked back at his unconscious friend, then at the girl who was all but daring them to attack. "Okay bitch, you asked for it!"

He lunged at her, striking at her neck with his hand. She easily drew back and grabbed his arm, spinning around so they were back to back. "Reckless move," she told him and then threw him to the ground, hard. Then the other four attacked.

She jumped high into the air, impossibly high, flipped, and landed behind them. Before they could react, she had laid one out with a kick in the kidneys, and another with an abrupt chop to the back of his neck. That left two standing.

One of them smiled evilly, and drew out a knife. The other pulled out a pair of nunchuku from under his jacket and started to spin them. The crowd gasped. The girl just shook her head in regret as the one with the knife attacked.

She dodged the first thrust, and quickly danced around him. He turned the other way, hoping to catch her off guard. She grabbed his wrist, and then brought her other hand down on it. The sound of his arm bones breaking was clearly audible to the watching crowd. The young man gasped, all the blood draining out of his face. His eyes rolled up, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. With a yell, the last gang member attacked, swinging his nunchuku in the air above him.

The girl spun around, leaped in the air over her attacker, catching one of the nunchuku with one hand as she did so. When she landed, she grabbed it with her other hand and brought her arms down in front of her, throwing the last one over her and into the wall.

Everyone was silent. In less than five minutes, this girl had taken out five members of one of the more dangerous street gangs of Shinjuku. In the distance one could hear the faint sound of police sirens.

Without looking at anyone, the girl let go of the nunchuku and walked over to her bag. She picked it up and swung it over her shoulders, preparing to leave.

"Stop!" A police officer rushed up, out of breath from his run across the street, a hand on his gun. "Don't move." The girl stared at him curiously, her head slightly tilted to one side. One of the men moaned, drawing attention back to them.

Seiji and Shin pushed their way through the small crowd and Seiji knelt next to the nearest one. He checked the man's pulse, then ran his hand over the man's broken arm. His fingers encountered something warm and sticky. He lifted his hand and looked at it. There was blood on his fingers. "Compound fracture," he stated calmly as he pulled out a handkerchief to wrap around the man's upper arm to cut of the flow of blood. "Has someone called for an ambulance?"

Shin had knelt down to the next young man, the one that had came sailing out of the alley when they walked up. He wasn't moving. Shin checked his pulse. It was weak and erratic. His breathing was shallow and labored. A thin trickle of blood was dripping out of the man's mouth, signifying an internal injury. Shin quickly opened his shirt and gasped. The young man's right rib cage was discolored. He could even see the mark left by the girl's heel where she had struck the rib cage. Shin lightly ran his fingers over it. He could feel the broken ribs underneath the bruised skin. He turned and looked at the young girl in shock, and received another one.

She was staring at him; eyes opened wide in disbelief and, despair? Her face had gone pale, as though she had seen a ghost. She swallowed hard and glanced over at Seiji. Her eyes grew wider, and if possible she had turned even paler.

Ryo, Touma, and Shu had stepped to the front of the crowd and were now staring at the girl.

"What is with her?" Shu questioned lightly. The girl slowly turned at the sound of his voice and stared at him. A hand slowly crept up in to cover her mouth, and she began to shake her head in denial. She started to slowly step back into the alley.

The officer pulled out his gun and pointed it at the girl. "I said, don't move!" She ignored him. All of her attention, and her horror filled eyes, were focused on the five Troopers.

Before anyone could do anything else, she spun around and bolted down the alley. The officer fired one shot at her, missing her by a hair.

"Damn!" Touma raced after the girl, with Ryo and Shu coming up behind him.

Fast! She is so fast! Touma was running full out, and he was unable to gain any distance on her. The good thing was that she was unable to pull further ahead of him. Ryo and Shu were nearly a half a block behind them. She turned a corner and he followed.

Dead end. Touma noted as he looked ahead. I got you now! The girl continued to race down the alley, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there was nowhere to go once she reached the far end.

Touma watched as she looked up at the five-story building in front of her, and without hesitation she leaped up. For a moment, he thought she was trying to grab the fire escape, but he was wrong. He almost fell over his own feet in astonishment as he watched her lightly land on the roof's edge. She glanced down at him, staring up at her, and then jumped out of view.

Touma immediately jumped up after her, the distance no problem to him. Who is she? No normal human could do this! He landed on the edge of the building and looked around for her. She was gone. "Where did she go? I was right behind her. Damn." He stepped off the ledge and walked across the roof. There was no sign of her on any of the neighboring rooftops. He stopped at the roof access door and tried the knob. Locked. Great, just great! Touma spun around and walked back to the edge of the building. After one last look, he jumped off.

Touma landed without a sound next to Ryo and Shu, causing them to jump back in surprise.

"What are you doing?!" Ryo demanded.

"Where did she go?" Shu asked simultaneously, looking around.

Touma blinked owlishly at them, then looked back the way he had came. "Up. She jumped to the roof and got away."

"She did what!?" Ryo and Shu exclaimed.

Touma turned and looked at his friends, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement at their reaction. "Interesting, isn't it?"

* * * * *

Silence once again prevailed. After several quiet minutes a high-pitched squeak came from the air ventilation unit of the building. One of the metal screens lifted up, and Arial crawled out. She pulled out her bag, and let the screen fall shut behind her.

Weakly she leaned back against the screen, eyes closed, taking quick shallow breaths. "No!" she gasped in a broken voice, tears starting to trickle out of between her eyelids and down her still pallid cheeks. "Why?" she wailed in a low, heartbroken voice. "Why?"

Arial collapsed, burrowing her face into her knees, and started to cry.

* * * * *

Shin watched as the paramedics started to load the Thunder Ryu into the waiting ambulances. All of them were going to the emergency room, two of them in critical condition. The one he had checked had his lung punctured from a broken rib, and the last one the girl had fought had a cracked skull from when he crashed into the wall.

Three patrol cars had appeared after the others had chased after the girl. The girl. Shin closed his eyes. The way she had looked at him, at them. So much pain, as though, from the way he saw it, someone had ripped out her heart. He wasn't sure whether he wanted the others to catch up to her or not.

Seiji was giving a statement to one of the officers when Touma, Ryo and Shu returned, minus the girl. He gave them a questioning look, and they shook their heads. Two of the police officers walked over to them to take their statements.

A fourth car pulled up, a detective's car. Shin watched as the driver's side door opened, and Detective Date stepped out. A feeling of foreboding swept through him.

Oh, this is going to be interesting.

Seiji had just finished giving his statement when a firm hand fell onto his shoulder. "Seiji-kun, what are you doing here?" Seiji turned at the familiar voice, and looked into his father's dark eyes.

"Father," Seiji inclined his head. "I was a witness to this incident. I was giving my statement."

Date-san curtly nodded and turned to the officer. "What occurred here?"

The officer flipped through his notebook. "From what we can tell Sir, six members of the Thunder Ryu got on the wrong side of a Japanese-American girl who knew how to fight back. Witnesses claim she took out five of them in less than five minutes." Date-san turned to his son.

"Seiji-kun, is this correct?"

Seiji nodded. "Hai, Father. We arrived as she kicked the first man out of the alley. She challenged them, and they attacked."

"And nearly killed them," the young officer commented under his breath. Both of the Dates heard him.

"No," Seiji looked up at his father. "She knew exactly what she was doing Father. She was in complete control of the fight. I am sure that if she had wanted to kill them, they would be dead now. I believe she wanted to take them out of action for a while."

"She sure did that." Date-san's partner walked up to them. "None of those losers are going to be doing anything for a long while."

Date-san clenched his jaw and looked at the gathered crowd. There were over twenty witnesses to this affair. Then his eyes picked out four familiar faces. He turned to Seiji. "I assume your friends saw as much as you did?"

"Hai."

"Three of them went chasing after her," the detective informed his partner. "Officer Kaigara fired one shot at her as she fled the scene. Those three," he pointed out Ryo, Touma, and Shu. "Chased after her."

"Sanada, Hashiba, Mouri, Rei Fuan, get over here!" The four of them walked over to Seiji and his father. "All of you witnessed this?" They nodded. "And you three chased after her, why?"

"Someone needed to do something." Ryo told him.

"I didn't really think about it." Touma said softly. "She looked ill, and then she ran off. I went after her."

"Looked ill, but well enough to get away from three healthy young men." Detective Midori gave them stern looks. "Weren't you afraid of what she might do to you if she had tried to fight you?"

"They were in no danger." They turned to Date-san, who was giving them a stern do-as-I-say-or-else look. "You five, head on wherever you were going. Do not, I repeat, do not get any further involved with this. Do not go off looking for this girl. This is a police matter, understand?" They nodded.

"Officer Kaigara, I want all the witness reports on my desk by morning, along with any information you can find on this girl. There has to be some record of her somewhere." The five Troopers walked away as Date-san continued to give orders.

"How did she get away?" Seiji asked as soon as they stepped around the corner. "I find it hard to believe she could outrun the three of you."

"Or," Shin glanced slyly at Shu, his lips twitching as he tried not to smile, "at least two of you." Shu growled threateningly at Shin.

Ryo sighed. "You won't believe it."

* * * * *

"I don't believe it." Nasutei gave them a searching look. "You have to be kidding."

They had gone straight to Nasutei's after leaving the scene. Touma had told Seiji and Shin what had happened in the alley, and they did have a hard time believing it until they thought back to how the girl had fought. No matter how skilled she was; that would not explain the leaps she had preformed, or that she seemed much stronger than normal.

Once they reached Nasutei's, they had told her everything that had occurred.

"This girl took on six members of the Thunder Ryu, took them all out in minutes, and then escaped from you by jumping onto a five-story building? No one can do that!"

"I could."

Nasutei turned to Shu. "Yes, you could." She waved her hand around the room, indicating all of them. "Any one of you could, but that is different. You said she wasn't dressed in yoroi, so where did she gain such abilities. People are not normally born with these types of talents."

"That is true." They turned to Ryo. "The only other person we have ever encountered who could do what this girl seems capable of is Kayura, and she is in the Youjakai."

"What if there were some other survivors of Kaosu's clan?" Shin propped his chin on his hand. "They would have similar abilities as Kayura, one would assume, and they would be here on Earth."

"That is a good possibility." Nasutei looked thoughtful. "I will have to check my files and see if I can find any reference to any survivors."

"She did remind me a bit of Kayura," Touma mused.

Seiji nodded. "Yes, now that you mention it, something about her did strike me as familiar."

"The way she moved," Touma continued, "and how she landed from her jumps. Like she learned under the same teacher."

"Now that is a comforting thought," Shu grumbled. "I don't suppose there is any way of contacting Kayura to see if she knows anything about this girl?"

Ryo shook his head. "Not that I know of. Without the original yoroi, I doubt that we can even teleport to the Youjakai."

"And she knows of us." Everyone swung to Shin. "Her reaction," he elaborated. "She became highly upset after she saw us. I think that is why she ran off."

"Couldn't it have been because she just realized how badly she had hurt them?"

Shin shook his head, disagreeing with Touma's question. "She went pale as soon as she saw Seiji and I. Like she was seeing a ghost." Shin turned to Shu. "Then you spoke, and she turned and saw you three. You saw how she reacted. Her reaction was because of us."

"If she is from the Youjakai or a lost descendent of Kaosu she may react in such a manner." Nasutei frowned. "Either way, the police are not going to be able to do anything about her."

"And we have no idea where to look for her or why she is here in the first place." Ryo lowered his hand and stroked Byakuen's head. "For all we know, she has gone back to wherever she came from."

"It is possible." Nasutei stood up and began walking to the den, then stopped. "Oh, I just remembered. Why did she attack the Thunder Ryu in the first place? Was she trying to cause trouble?"

Shu was the one who answered. "From what I heard, they were having some sport with a stray kitten. She came along and decided she didn't like it."

Nasutei stared at a moment, her lips twitching, as if to either smile or frown. "She sent six men to the hospital over a kitten?" The Troopers nodded. "Well, she can't be all that bad then." Nasutei left the room, leaving the Troopers sitting in silence.

Ryo turned and looked at Shin. "Do you think she may be involved in the darkness your grandfather saw?"

Shin shook his head. "I don't know. I just don't know."

(to be continued . . . )