Author's note:

Welcome! I've been expecting you! Anyway, here's the latest addition to my story. To those who have time, read my Weiss Kreuz fanfic. "Marionette Experiment 00: Satori Ikagawa" Here is it! Um… This is my first time to create such fight scenario so bear with it okies? That's it! Read on and comment!

Disclaimer:

The usual… Kenshin and characters not mine. All owned by Nobuhiro Watsuki. No suing!

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

Yufa was taken by surprise when one of his men grabbed a female, the same age as her and held a sword over her neck. She stepped forward but saw that the sword was pulled close to the girl's neck. Yufa stopped and turned to look at the bulky man. "Let her go!" She demanded.

"I haven't introduced myself… I'm Garada… Head of this group, whom you see now…" He simply stated "…And I want to see if you're the type who is all talk and no action. Fight them if you can or we'll get this young woman's life…"

Believe in the 'me' of tomorrow

Chapter Six

Yufa looked at them and analyzed the situation. She was weighing the decision in the line of Kyo's reminder of "No Swordsmanship" and the sight of the poor girl in Garada's hands. 'Kami… What should I do?' She asked herself.

"Um… guys… Do you think we have to go and help her?" Yahiko asked his companions but received no answer. They can't risk the lives of the innocent bystanders. Yahiko shook his head. "This is it… the make or break decision…" He mumbled to himself.

Garada gave a triumphant laugh as he looked down at Yufa. "So… the all talk type eh?" He said and frowned. "You wasted my time… But you put on a great act…" He added and nodded towards his man. His henchman pulled his arm away from the girl and pushed it back towards the hostage's direction. The girl closed her eyes and bit back her scream but it was obvious that she was shaking with fear.

Kenshin and his group prepared themselves for the attack and were surprised when they heard a sound from Yufa, the sound of a sword unsheathing from its hilt. Yufa pulled out her sword and pointed it at the hostage-taker's direction. "Let…her…go…" She said in a warning voice. "Or you'll regret it…"

Kaoru gasped at the sight of the sword. "Kenshin… That's…" Kenshin nodded and eyed the sword carefully. "The reverse edge sword…" Kaoru finished, earning a slight gasp from Megumi, Sanosuke and Misao. "How could that be? The only ones I knew who had that kind of sword are Amakuza and Hiko-san…"

Kenshin shook his head. "I don't know too Kaoru… I don't know…" Kenshin said in a low voice. 'There must be more of this girl than what she appears to be…'

Garada laughed again as his henchman threw the female towards the crowd. "So… Decided to fight huh? That's good…" His henchmen assembled themselves around her. "And a sword? It's seldom to find girls carrying swords these days… I should say you know how to hide them well…"

Yufa smirked. "Quit talking…" Then looked at the henchmen. "One last chance guys… Back away or prepare…" She said, earning a laugh from the men. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Okay then… If that's what you want…" She opened her eyes slowly and her eyes held very little tints of amber. "Move away…" She warned the bystanders and by good fortune, they did back away.

Kenshin and his group still had their attention on the scene, their hands on their weapon to assist Yufa if anything goes wrong. "Stupid woman! That man is almost 2 feet taller than her and obviously stronger. What does she think is she doing?!" Sanosuke implied impatiently.

"Why don't you just shut it up?! How would we know?!" Megumi answered, glaring at him.

Garada smirked. "If that's you want… Men… ATTACK!!!" He ordered and his men started attacking. Yufa bent her knees a bit lower and in seconds' time, she disappeared and moved towards the direction of the men.

Kenshin's eyes widened as he saw her move. She was able to bring down five people with only one slash. "Impossible… How could she do that?" Kenshin asked and his companions looked at him. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu… How was she able to get that technique?" Kenshin asked to himself and make a mental note to meet his sensei about this incident.

Yufa became visible one again after going through Garada's henchmen. She straightened and replaced her sword on its hilt. At the same time, Garada's henchmen fell unconscious on the ground. She looked up and looked at him seriously. "One to go…"

Garada, for the first time as he met Yufa, frowned and drew his sword, a huge and real broad sword, more than three feet long. "Weaklings! I shouldn't have brought them with me!" He said. "But you still have to face me and I doubt if you can finish me off…" He said, smirking again.

Yufa sighed and rubbed her forehead in an irritated manner. "You're wasting my time… Why not get this over with so you can pay for the damages?" She asked simply and saw Garada gritted his teeth. "What? Angry already? You seem so confident before…"

Garada uttered a curse and ran towards her. "DIE!!!" And slashed his sword to Yufa's direction. He was laughing as the dust covered his view because of his attack. Even Kenshin and his group have to cover their eyes from his attack. As their views cleared, they didn't see any trace of Yufa. Tsubame trembled as Tae kept cursing herself for placing Yufa in such situation. "Ha! Such a simple insect is easy to eliminate!"

"Why not make sure if that insect's been eliminated?" A voice behind him said. Yufa was standing at the end of his sword and ran towards him. She slashed her sword and he was able to evade it. She landed at the corner and ran with such speed that Soujiro was gaping at her. She ran sideways over the walls and jumped on his swords before leaping up into the air.

Kenshin's group was amazed at her agility and strength. Such swordsmanship is known to samurais and assassins and they don't know where Yufa stands. "Impossible…" Sanosuke muttered under his breath as he saw Yufa jump up.

Garada looked up and winced as the sun's rays got into his eyes. As he tried to stare, he wasn't able to make out Yufa's descending form until it was too late. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu!!!" Yufa said as she positioned herself for her attack, her left arm stretched out in front of her as her right hand, with the sword, was under her left arm. Garada gaped at this and was caught unprepared as she landed. "Ryu Mei San!!!!" With that, she landed the sword landing on Garada's right shoulder and slamming him down with full force.

Yufa gave a small sigh of relief as she landed, looking at Garada's face-down form and winced as she saw the huge crater it made. "This would surely add to your payment..." She murmured then looked up, seeing Tae and Tsubame looking at her, gaping. 'Great… How will I explain this…?' She thought to herself and frowned as she saw police officials came to their direction. 'I'm dead…'

Kenshin's group ran towards her and kept throwing questions at the same time. Yufa sweat dropped and gave them a small smile. She saw Soujiro's form and was real surprised. "You…" She said and he smiled at her again. She immediately removed her gaze from him as she saw the head of the police officials came.

"I heard what happened, I saw what happened." A real tall police official said and moved that he was towering over her. "Who are you? You're sword technique is not common and I know you were informed about that!" Yufa looked back and tried to answer but another voice came in.

"Hajime, I'll be taking over…" A moustache man said and walked so that he can look at Yufa more.

Yufa's eyes widened at the name Hajime. 'Could he be…Saitoh Hajime?' She inquired then looked at his frowning form then sweat dropped. 'He looked like an overgrown cockroach in human form…' She thought and hid her laugh; her situation wasn't something to laugh about.

"I don't believe it either… How can someone like you master a technique like that?" She looked down and hid her sword inside her clothes. "I have to take you to the headquarters for further questioning and I also have to confiscate your weapon." Yufa looked at him then at her sword, she was about to give it when another voice interrupted.

"Yamamura-san, you don't have to do that… She did it to protect the people and Ms. Tae and Tsubame. I'm sure they, including the people who have witnessed the scene will agree with my plea." The red haired mentioned as he looked at her, smiling a bit. "Though I really am confused as to how she knew that skill…"

Yamamura sighed and nodded. "If you say so Himura…Seeing that Sagara, Shinomori, Hajime and Seta is with you, I know nothing more problem would arise. Dr. Gensai and Megumi will be able to check her for injuries as well as these thugs' injuries. And if possible, take her to the Kamiya Dojo because I have a feeling that they'll be back for revenge. Having Makimachi and the Oniwabanshu-group guard the place will be safer." He decided and looked at him. "I'll leave her to you and…"

Her ears perked as she heard the suranames, and if it possible for her jaw to literally drop, it would. Yufa cut his conversation when she finally had a chance to speak. "Wait… Himura… Kenshin Himura?" The red-haired man nodded. "Sanosuke Sagara? Aoshi Shinomori? Saitoh Hajime and Soujiro Seta?" The men nodded as their names were uttered. "Megumi?" She guessed and looked at the girl with long raven hair and she nodded. "Dr. Gensai?" She looked at the old man and nodded. "Kaoru Kamiya? Misao Makimachi and you guys are the Oniwabanshu-gumi?!" They nodded and Yufa blinked, not believing her luck.

"I'm Ayame! And this is Suzy!" The two young girls nodded and smiled from ear to ear as Yufa blinked again. She gaped at the group and gave a small prayer in her mind. "Are you okay?" Ayame asked and she nodded at her, patting her head. "How'd you know our names?"

Yufa stilled at her action then looked at them, thinking of an excuse. "Um… On my way here, I heard a lot of stories about you from several people… It was… unexpected…" She said and sighed when they bought her story. 'Kami… thank you so very much!!!' She thought and was almost in the brink of crying. Half of the people in her list were found.

After arranging Tae's restaurant was arranged, she thanked Kenshin for his help and Kaoru for allowing her to stay at her place. She introduced herself and made several stories as to where she is from but all those are not lies, but not the real truth either. All went well until Yahiko asked her the question she's been dreading to answer.

"How'd you know the technique Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu? Where'd you learned it?" Yufa stared at him and was unable to answer. All of them looked at her and she looked at them back, trying to figure out how to get out of the mess. "Well?" Yahiko asked back, real fishing out for an answer.

Yufa bit her lower lip and gave a small laugh. 'I'm out of one problem.. Good… But how the hell will I answer this?!' She asked herself as she continued to laugh, the others looking at her like she had lost her senses.

"It's not that hard to answer right?" Aoshi asked simply, sipping at his tea.

'If you only knew….' Yufa answered silently.

"Unless you're hiding something…" Saitoh added, looking at her through narrow amber eyes.

Yufa flinched at that glare and she can feel cold sweat forming at her forehead. 'HELP ME!!!'

AN:

Dun dun dun dun!!! He-he… How was it? Reviews and flames allowed!