—Hah

—Hiyhah

I gasped for breath on the floor, wheezing for air as I frown.

This bothers me in various ways, but it seems that I am considerably weak.

For the last few weeks now, I've tried quite hard to train up my body, considering the mistreatment by my sister. She's become quite a bother, grabbing my tail and using it as she pleases. So I figured building up some strength might do some good.

I've been allowed my "mother" to play with other village children, and it seems she's talked about me to various parents about me. I don't think she's mentioned I'm a boy though.

So I was introduced to a group of kids between two all the way up to six.

The kids took a bit to warm up to me, but it seems most of them were more curious than anything. I honestly feared that I may end up the target of bullying, but thanks to the fact that the Fox Spirits are seen as Guardians, it seems seems that I became rather popular after the initial day or two of odd looks.

So I joined their games, and what I found was that I was pretty fast, for a child who never went outdoors. But I wasn't the fastest 2 year-old.

My sister was.

Ah, I keep calling her my sister, huh? It's become a habbit, I guess.

Anyways, even though I seemed to have a very good affinity for speed, and day by day I got slightly faster, my sister seemed to keep ahead of me, being much more active than me. Because of that, I tried doing some training at home, to maybe build up physical strength, stamina, speed and so on.

But I can't take it. I just want to roll up and cry.

I feel that there are two things working against me here.

One, this body of mine just seems naturally weak. No matter how hard I try, the only thing I can improve in is my running speed. My reflexes have improved a bit, but all I want is to defend against people after my precious tail.

Two, my mental fortitude are just weak. On top of being a child in this world, in my old world I wasn't really a strong willed person, and really let myself go, even when I told myself to get up and do something of value. I was smart and knowledgeable, but ultimately I was too lazy for my own good, and quit half-way 9 times out of 10.

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There have been some things that I tried pretty hard in, like studying science and computer related stuff, but I feel that I was pretty half-assed even there, and could have done better.

So it's only natural for me to feel a bit of pain while working out, and immediately give up.

But I think I've put in a good amount of effort, you know? So I don't want to all blame it on just my mindset.

But hey, who cares? I don't really need to get stronger. Just need to keep that brat Yenna off of my tail.

If I can out run her, that's good enough. Certainly that'll be a great help.

Right. One, singular goal. There's no excuse to distract me here—no internet, and I can't read.

Before I know it, I'm sitting up, with calm breathes, as I pulled myself up.

Right. Maybe some laps around the yard?

In a year's time, I was outrunning even the fastest kids.

Of course, they think I'm a girl.

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Author Notes

Really really short chapter. Already have the next chapter mostly written though.

I think I have something of an idea of where to take this story, though don't expect too much. The world will be a lot like our own world, but with a lot of elements taken from folklore, and be seen like how primitive people saw the world. Well, maybe. That's what I have in mind for now. Basically that means that the world's format won't really follow what a lot of web novels have, with magic schools, or fantasy creatures around every corner. Heck, even magic will be more... limited in some respects.

Well, we'll see how things go.

As always, Feedback and Suggestions are always appreciated and encouraged.