《Fuuko: The Fox-Masked Hero》Chapter 1
Advertisement
I hear my father, kenjutsu instructor, Kenji Hiko come through the door. At once, my mother and I rush to greet him. We bow our heads low to show proper deference. My father returns a slight nod. His face is stoic and unmoved by emotion. This is the proper way for a man to greet his family, especially for one who’s a proud warrior. However, being the man that he is, my father soon breaks character and his face alights with a smile.
He steps to an inch in front of my mother and takes her by the hands. They search one another’s eyes and say in an instant what words couldn't speak in an eon. Nonetheless, he still delivers his daily haiku as is customary for my family.
Cherry blossom lips
Move me with fierce desire
To kiss my good wife.
My mother, Kasumi, leans forward to receive his kiss and replies:
With joy and honor
Rejoicing in your pure love
I accept your kiss.
My parents then proceed to make out like newly weds while I tap my feet waiting for my turn to greet my father. When he finally finishes smooching, he turns his attention to me.
My sincerest wish
Is happiness for my child.
I give my blessing.
He kisses me on the forehead. I reply:
My father, my king
I promise to make you proud
With my sword and life.
He takes me by the hands, “My precious daughter, I am always proud of you. Come now, let us have our tea.”
Following him, we move into the next room, which harbors our small rectangular table. The rest of the room is only sparsely decorated. There are a few scrolls written in kanji on the walls, scattered plants, including my father’s prized bonsai, and a large painted vase in the back corner. Yet its relative emptiness is rendered a work of art by the meticulous care with which my mother keeps the room and the entire house flawlessly clean.
Advertisement
My father and I sit on the floor with our legs tucked underneath the low table. He sits on its left side facing into the room, whereas I sit on its opposite side. We wait for my mother to bring the teapot from the kitchen, which is adjoined to the room’s left side in a tiny compartmentalized space. Sadly, our tiny kitchen is standing room only, but it works out since only my mother and I use it. She believes that it’s a woman’s job to prepare food and tea. That’s how it is with my parents. They’re both tradition-oriented Chowans.
With the teapot in hand, my mother comes towards the table taking dainty steps with her thin legs poking out of the bottom of her pink kimono. Carefully, she pours a bit of hot tea into my father’s cup, then into mine, and then into her own. Once her family is suitably served, she takes her rest at the table, sitting beside me rather than my father.
He looks at his two girls proudly, “So my beloveds, tell me, how were your days?”
My mother answers, “Very peaceful dear. And yours Fuu?”
“Stressful. There are so many disruptive idiots in my classes that it’s hard to listen to the teachers.”
My father sighs deeply and then takes a sip of tea. “My Fuu, you’re a good student and a hard worker. I know that you’ll be able to excel even in difficult situations.”
“Yes dad, but it’s still annoying.”
He and my mother exchange sympathetic glances. He continues, “You know what? Why don’t we do something special to celebrate Fuu’s hard work?”
“What do you have in mind dear?” asks my mother.
“How about the three of us go out for ice cream?”
Advertisement
I take a sip of tea. “We don’t have money to waste on something as superfluous as ice cream.”
My father’s smile withdraws uncomfortably. “Come on Fuu. Your father can afford to spoil his girls every now and then.”
I look at him seriously. I can see that he’s practically begging me with his eyes. My father is generous and kindhearted to a fault. I have to be strict with him or else he’d ruin himself attempting to please my mother and me. But I suppose that every now and then I should cut him a break.
“Alright. Fine dad, but one scoop not two.”
He grunts in disagreement. “One scoop for your mother and me, and two scoops for you.”
“No father. That’s not fair.”
My mother seizes my right arm. “Please Fuu. We’re your parents. Let us dote on you for a change.”
I shake my head with apprehension. Ice cream is not a good way to spend money. But if it makes my parents happy, then I must consent.
“Fine. I’ll have one scoop strawberry and one scoop vanilla.”
“That’s my girl!” my father chimes pleased.
We rise from the table and head out the door at once. Unfortunately, the first thing we see when we leave our house is the brick wall across the way. It has the words “Wild Men” tagged on it in big green letters. The gang of delinquents known as the Tiger Lily Wild Men fancy themselves as legitimate artists, but in actuality they’re nothing more than a bunch of high school students and dropouts with poor tastes. They do their graffiti work in the cover of night like the cowards that they are. I’d love to give the ones who painted the wall a piece of my mind, but I don’t know who they are or where to find them.
Walking down the crumbly gray sidewalk, I soon pick up on the second most noticeable thing in my environment. The streets of our town, Prosperity, are cluttered with garbage. How this is possible in the face of so many readily available trash cans, I don’t know. Perhaps it has something to do with the subconscious mind demanding one’s external environment to match one’s internal reality. We, the people of Prosperity, are unanimously poor. We have the worst of everything from schools, to unemployment, to crime rates, and suicides. On the other hand, teenage pregnancies are way up this year, so there's that. But to sum the town up in a phrase, Prosperity is our own little ghetto wonderland.
As usual, my family doesn’t travel far before encountering a crime in progress. On this particular occasion, we find a man beating his girlfriend senseless. He has her pressed against a brick wall in a narrow alley. She covers herself as best as she can while he pounds her furiously with his fists. My father, being the man that he is, jumps in immediately to save her.
“Hey! Leave her alone!” he calls to the abuser.
The man doesn’t take kindly to my father’s words. Rather, he turns on him with evil eyes and pulls a metal chain from his pocket.
“Wrong day pops.”
Advertisement
Nigmus Online [2nd Draft Complete]
Virtual Dive technology is coming out of the workplace and into homes. Nigmus Online is the first MMO to use this new device. The only caveat to the game; there is no manual. The only instruction the player gets is how to interact with the user interface. That's it. Nobody is going to hold their hand or give out rare items. Players begin life as a level zero commoner. Its entirely up to them what class they become. Explore a world that spans five continents. ~Story Summary~ Liam is tricked into trying an expensive and innovative online MMO. On his first trip into the game he stumbles upon a hidden class. The Undead Necromancer. Intrigued by this turn in events he continues to explore this mysterious world. In another part of the country Kathrine(Kat) suffers from a debilitating and paralyzing disease. Taking part in an experimental research could offer her a new lease on life (of a sort). Even further afield Russia and China are undergoing a massive spike in suicide rate. What could be causing so many young adults to dire ends? Amazon Link, because ya know. https://royalroadl.com/amazon/B071H7CTY9
8 76Night Terror
Story is currently 'on hold' for an indefinite period of time - I will eventually post the whole thing when it's complete, see the news post for more details. After dying young, a man reincarnates into a new world as Abe Haruki. 'This whole world is suspicious...' Despite the fact that Haruki had never once met a god, even during his reincarnation, he couldn't help feeling that this world was just too... Intelligently designed? I mean, seriously... Levels? Classes? Stats? Items? You can even level up your abilities! 'Definitely suspicious...' Unfortunately, the Church have been keeping close tabs on him from the shadows. They've heard rumours of a boy, born with a golden ring. With magical affinities that defy logic. Darkness and light energies destroy each other, violently, so how does he have the affinity for both? Can Haruki live his peaceful life along side childhood friend Suzu? Or will they fall to the coming darkness? ::Author's note:: While there are stats and exp etc, it's not LitRPG. They are there, but not the focus in any way. The world is more hardcore - A human is soft, so a pierced lung should eventually kill them. Even though they have a small pool of HP, a single deadly blow can end it all. If you ever want to say G'day, I'm in the discord chat every now and then, so feel free to join the madness ;) Thanks for reading
8 100Tamashī Tensei
Warning: Very detailed novel - read prologue for a taster. A single hypothesis was all it took to initiate a triad of young geniuses to try their hand on a theory of magic. But be it as they try to peer into the preternatural abyss of this unknown world, a satellite plummets from the exosphere – their lives come to a sudden end. In death, they reincarnate into a macrocosm abundant with magic, living their lives oblivious of their past. That is, until the age of 8 when they regain their memories as a wakeup call to reality. Upon cognizance, they reach out in search of their dear ones from Earth while unravelling the mysteries of the universe. All genres: Action, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Psychological, Tragedy, Romance, Adventure, Mystery, Comedy(because RR is RR, lol)
8 196The Radiant War
The human world is aflame with war. Nations clash with their neighbours, while the Kelvon Empire, bulwark of the human world, stands on the brink of civil war. The plans of the enemies of mankind to destroy human civilisation, to restore their own mastery of the world, are well on the way to success. The people of Helberion have vowed to defeat those plans, though. Peace must be restored between the various peoples of mankind so that they can combine their efforts against their true enemy. Even while her country strives to avoid conquest and defeat at the hands of their traditional enemies the Carrowmen, therefore, Princess Ardria journeys to Carrow to meet with the enemy King in an almost hopeless attempt to persuade him of the truth. All her hopes rest on the assumption that he in an unwitting dupe of the true enemy, but lurking at the back of her mind is the fear that he may be all too aware of the truth, that he may have sold out humanity for the promise of personal power. If this is true, then all that awaits her at the end of her journey through fear and danger is imprisonment and the life of a hostage to be used against her father, King Leothan. The Brigadier would help her if he could, but he and Malone, his former batman, are far away, each having their own missions to try and ensure the survival of human civilisation. Having completed his latest task, the Brigadier must race to join her, to assist and protect her, but will he reach her before she arrives at the palace of the enemy King? And will the Princess still have a country to be Princess of by the time she arrives there? Because even if Helberion manages to defeat the all conquering armies of Carrow there is another, even deadlier threat waiting in the wings against which there may be no defence... This is volume three of the Ontogeny series. If you haven't read volume one, Ontogeny, and volume Two, The Electric Messiah, you should read them first.
8 136Attack On Titan: The Peace I Desire
Vincent, an Assassin from Earth reincarnated to a world filled with mystery. From Walls that covered the entire kingdom to Vincent surprised, since the people of this world are not that advanced for this kind of thing. To Giant-Devil eating monsters. A Titan as the people in this world called them. Vincent, a person tired from killing and just want PEACE, didn't bother about them since they were protected by the Walls, but a tragedy happened as the Wall had been breached and his loved ones died. Anger, Sadness, and 'Emptiness?'. Vincent will continue his dream and achieve, The Peace He Desires. ***** "Let's get ready to rumble?" --------------------------------------------------- Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/CanYouMakeItClear -------------------------
8 233fto S5 my Own Style
This takes place about 3-5 months after fto s4 so before actual s5 is going to be released Ps: this was fto after the series just decided to change the name
8 90