Author's note:

Nothing much to say but read on and try to understand. If there's any part you find confusing, just ask tell okies?

Disclaimer:

Rurouni Kenshin characters and some bits and pieces of this story are not mine 'cuz they are all owned by the one and only (one of my faves) Nobuhiro Watsuki Claps but other characters all came from my vividly wild imagination...

Previously on "Believe in the 'me' of tomorrow":

Yufa nodded and left the office, not saying anything and not glancing at anyone. Ginrou stared after her. Worried. "Okay Kyo, I thought Amaru and I knew everything but I have this feeling that there's something missing. How come Yufa seems to know about this and we don't? Why don't you explain everything again? From the start."

Kyo nodded and stared outside the window, seeing Yufa heading for a nearby bench. She sat on it, still looking rejected. "Okay. This is a bit complex to understand so listen real well..." Kyo started in a deep voice he seldom used while talking to them. And so, Kei Yakuma's job is now starting and they all knew...It wasn't something they had handled before.....

Believe in the 'me' of tomorrow

Chapter Two

"You knew what happened to Yufa's past, so there's no need in retracing it." Kyo started again, gravely. "Powell, as we know, is one of the most influential scientists in Japan. He has created a time machine before Yufa pursued on capturing him."

"But there's no problem in that. We destroyed the time machine right?" Amaru asked his brother. His response was a shake from his brother's head. "What?! Impossible! I saw it burst into flames..."

Kyo sighed. "That's what they wanted us to believe. The time machine indeed was destroyed but Powell was able to make a back-up copy and sent it to Takayama. He..."

"Whoa! Takayama?" Ginrou tried to check his memory for anyone by the name of Takayama. "How come we never heard of him?" Ginrou put one and one together. "Takayama...Don't tell me he's another scientist who works for Powell!"

Kyo nodded. "Takayama is indeed a scientist but he doesn't work for Powell. Takayama and Powell and other scientists worked together to put up another time machine, using the same technology and programs. "Powell, as I've been told, just today, works under a group called Jinposai." Kyo ran a hand over his hair. "I don't have any idea who the leader of Jinposai is but I'm sure one or some of them caused the death of Yufa's family."

Reika cringed at this. "And what do Yufa had to do with this? You asked her to get Powell, she did it. So, how come her family is involved here?"

"Mr. Keichiro Minamino is a well-known swordsman in Japan. He was skilled and he trained Yufa with it. Preparing her for whatever things that may come in the future. Mrs. Sakura Minamino is the head scientist of TechLabX, a well-known technology and electronics company in Japan during 1980's. She worked with Takayama and Powell, thus creating a program for the time machine. Both of them lived in Akihabara when Mrs. Minamino gave birth to Yufa." Kyo took a deep breath after telling this then continued.

"Mrs. Minamino believed that the time machine will be used for ancient study but instead, Powell and Takayama sold the first program to the Jinposai. Mrs. Minamino trusted her so-called colleagues and agreed to it. When Minamino-san knew about this, she quickly made another copy of the program, the first part same as the one sold to Jinposai but she made certain changes on the second part." Kyo finished again, looking straight, as if the grounds below the building seemed interesting.

"In what way different?" Faye asked, grasping her Time Controller, wanting to make it different so that no one would be able to copy it.

Kyo walked and took out three disks he placed the first disk on his PC. "This one is the first part copy sold to Jinposai. As you can see, this program will be able to make the users of the time machine go to the past." He removed the first disk and inserted the second disk. "This is the second disk. Takayama and Powell forced Mrs. Minamino to give it to them. Take a good look at it."

Faye squinted at the designs of circuits and programs. "Something's missing...With this kind of program, the users of the machine will not be able to go back to the present time. These calculations are incorrect, making time stable and not moving."

Kyo smiled. "Exactly. Mrs. Minamino planned to fool Powell and Takayama. When she gave the disks to them, she immediately told her husband what happened and they flee Akihabara and lived in Osaka." His face turned serious once again. "Powell and Takayama knew instantly that this is the fake one. They went back to search for the real copy but they were not able to find Mrs. Minamino. Jinposai, with its spies, were able to locate Minamino-san in Osaka." Kyo stopped there, as if unwilling to continue.

"Damn!" Ginrou boomed as he punched Kyo's desk. He knew what happened. Yufa's past was not a secret for them anymore but none of the story was detailed. "They forced them to give the correct copy right?" Kyo nodded. "And they weren't able to find the right copy they killed them both." Kyo nodded again.

"Mr. Minamino already told Yufa of this and at her early age, she wasn't able to understand it." Kyo gave a sigh. "Personally, I think the Minaminos planned this carefully. That's why they left the real copy to Yufa and not to Laika."

They blinked. They didn't know Yufa had a sister. Kyo decided to make everything clear for them all. "Yufa had an older sister during those times. It think she was ten years older that Yufa." Kyo made a simple calculation with his mind. "Yes...18...and it was such a brutal end for Laika." Kyo muttered his voice deep, as if remembering how Yufa told him her story the first time. "Mr. Minamino was tortured to the fullest but they made sure he would stay alive to make him feel the pain of all their tortures. He didn't said anything and remained quiet. Mrs. Minamino was also tortured brutally but still, no answer came out from her. They knew Laika didn't knew something and thought the same goes for Yufa." Kyo decided whether or not he should continue. This was the part Yufa had the hardest time telling.

"So, what happened?" Reika asked curiously. Kyo gave her a look which chilled her. A look which immediately told her "You shouldn't have asked..." But it was too late now.

Kyo clenched his fist tightly, remembering how hard and how many tears Yufa cried as she told him her story. "After the torture, Mr. Minamino was beheaded immediately. Without any warnings or anything. It was such a painful sight of his wife and Laika. Especially for an eight-year-old..."

"Yufa was there?!" Ginrou asked him quickly, cutting him from his story. Kyo nodded gravely and for the first time that day, Ginrou's eyes turned icy, trying to control his temper and to hit out to just anything or anyone.

"Yufa saw everything... From the beheading of her father to the way how the Jinposai group tortured her mother. But it didn't end there." His eyes narrowed and if possible turned more amber. Yufa was like his sister and it hurt him when he recalled these past events. "Since they were not able to get any information from them, they would just kill them... But no... in front of Yufa... they gang-raped her mother, molested Laika and also she ended up with the same fate as her mother." Kyo watched as the rain started to pour down and there was Yufa, sitting like an immobile rock. "Afterwards, they killed both of them. Yufa was just there, at first, she was fighting to help her family, screaming, struggling but after she saw how they killed her family, she just sat there, eyes straight, not moving, tears flowing..."

Amaru just sat there wide-eyed, Ginrou gazed at a nearby glass cabinet which just shook then cracked into million pieces, Reika gasped at what Yufa had gone through and Faye can feel tears of pity fall from her eyes. Someone as tough, sweet, gentle as Yufa all went through those pains.

"They deliberately didn't killed her. They wanted her to remember all those things... They wanted her to die alone, painfully and hopeless." Kyo ended. When my father and I arrived at the place, all we can see are blood, the bodies and a young girl." Kyo gritted his teeth at the memory. Amaru knew the rest. It all happened before Ginrou joined the team. Ginrou looked at him. He thought that he was the third member then Yufa. Kyo shook his head and looked down again at the crying woman under the rain. "Yufa was already here when you arrived."

Amaru nodded. "Yeah... I can still remember the night when you and father brought her in. You guys kept asking her questions and she just sat there, not answering, looking ahead." Amaru shook her head from the memory. "It surprised me how she stayed alive for almost a month, not eating, sleeping, or talking. She just cry sometimes then nothing more."

Kyo nodded and turned her back from the window, not wanting to see Yufa in that state again. He then gave a small smile. "Do you still remember that one day, she just appeared here, all smiling and alive?" Amaru smiled.

"The time she challenged you to have a duel with her?" Ginrou asked, receiving a nod from Kyo. "I thought she was a new recruit who just want to fit in ASAP." Ginrou then looked at Kyo. "When did she told you all these?"

"When she mastered her swordsmanship techniques. She just decided that in order for her to move freely, she has to get off some load inside of her, so she told me everything." Kyo answered simply. They nodded and accepted the answer. They all turned as they heard the office door slammed open to the wall and a very wet, tear-filled eyed female entered the room, heaving and panting, as if she ran a marathon.

"I've thought about it Kyo-san..." She mumbled, panting still. "I'll take the job and find these people and save them from the hands of the Jinposai!" She said finally, wiping her eyes with the palm of her hands, then to their surprise, with the exception of Kyo, she beamed them a bright and determined smile.

"I will not allow them to do what they have done to me and my family before!" She said as she banged her fist on Kyo's desk then she looked up at him. "So, when do I leave?" Kyo was about to answer then Yufa turned to Faye. "And try to make sure that Time Controller thingy works properly ok? I'm sure by this time they'll still be having problems creating the return mode of the time machine but on the other hand..." She sat on Kyo's chair and started typing things in it.

"What are you doing?" Ginrou asked, standing next to her, admiring her more than before. Kyo and Amaru peered into the computer as she started typing away. Faye and Reika both turned to work on the Time Controller.

"There's nothing wrong with me hacking into their computer system and erase some parts of the time machine program... At least it'll take them more time to fix things up." She said as she continued typing then instantly she smiled as she found what she wanted. "BINGO!" She murmured as she pressed the delete button from half of the program's first part to the end of the on-going program. "This will teach them to learn how to back-up files..." She muttered to herself. "Kyo-san, can I have the list of the people I have to protect when I'm in Edo?" Kyo nodded and gave her an OK sign.

'I don't know where I'm heading when I reach Edo or what will happen to me after that but I'm a member of Kei Yakume and I have to do it if I want to find out who killed my family...' Yufa thought as she stared at the half-blank screen in front of her. 'My journey to past shall begin soon... and I will come back... Alive...' She thought again, looking at Ginrou, Amaru, Kyo, Faye and Reika. 'I have too much treasure here... They are the ones why I should return home and the reason why I must succeed...'

AN:

Well? Kinda touchy-feely eh? Reviews please... I'll appreciate it... Domo!!! -