“Later Ko!” called after me as we went our separate ways on our way to our respective homes.
“See at the party tomorrow!” Kira added.
“Kay! See you there!” I said back, but turning around and breaking into a run.
Oh right! I guess I should introduce myself, huh? I’m Koyomi Kikara, and I’m 8 years old! Well, almost. I’ll be 8 tomorrow, so it still counts!
Those two back there were my best friends, Allen Malson and Kyle Locken, but I’ll tell you more about them later.
Anyways, back to me. As you could probably guess from my name, I’m of Japanese descent even though I don’t look like it. Which kind of worries me to be honest. I mean I’m a boy, but instead of looking like my Japanese Tou-san, I look more like my European Kaa-san.
Well, Nee-san looks Japanese like Tou-san but otherwise resembles Kaa-san, so I have some hope at least. I’d rather not wind up as the third gender.
What? I watch anime. Allen, Kyle, and I watch it together all the time. We prefer the action genre, with plenty of fights and explosions!
In fact, just the morning we...I’m getting of topic again, aren’t I?
Now what was I...Oh yeah! I was introducing myself!
I had green eyes and brown hair that was cut short up front and annoyingly long in the back and tied up in a ponytail. I wanted to have it cut short too, but Kaa-san wouldn’t let me for some reason so now it reaches all the way down to my ankles. And when I said I was going to have it tied back so it wouldn’t get in my way, Kaa-san forced me to use a bow! I know I supposedly have a cute face and all, but that’s no reason to treat me like a girl!
“Meow~”
!?
A stopped suddenly when a meowing interrupted my thoughts. I looked to my right and saw a black kitten in box by the side of the road.
I took a quick look around. Good, no one’s watching. Continuing to check my surroundings, I approached the box and picked up the adorable little kitty. It was so cute I just had to cuddle with it for a bit! I had to be careful though, I already had enough trouble with people mistaking me for a girl as it was.
While I was cuddling the kitty, I suddenly realized that I was going to be late getting home if I didn’t hurry! I was supposed to be back before dinner time!
I quickly got to my feet and started to run as fast as I could! Why did I have to choose to wear sandals today?! At least my shorts and tank top didn’t restrict my movements.
--------------------
“Tou-san! Kaa-san! Nee-san! I’m home!” I called out, walking in the door just in time.
“Welcome back, Koyomi-chan.” Kaa-san responded, walking out of the kitchen to greet me. She had the same skin, eye, and hair color as I did, and her face was pretty similar to mine. She even had her hair down to her ankles like I did.
There were a bunch of difference though. She was taller than me, and her body was curvier. She also had those pillows on her chest that were about as big as her head. They looked like they’d get in her way a lot to me.
I had heard someone describe her as a “knockout” once when I went shopping with her. I wonder why? After all, I’ve never seen her fight. Maybe she’s hiding her power? That would explain why Tou-san is so afraid of making her angry…
“Oh! Who’s your cute little friend?” she said, walking over to me and bending over.
Eh? My friend?
I tilted my head in confusion until a noise from directly below me drew my attention. Looking down, I realized I had made a grave mistake.
I HAD FORGOTTEN TO PUT THE KITTY BACK!!
“Um...this is...uh..Yoru!” I said, trying to play it off.
“Yoru is it? Well I think it suits him.” she said, petting his head a bit and causing him to purr.
“Why don’t you show take little Yoru with you to go tell your father that dinner is ready? After dinner, we can show him around his new home.” she said with a gentle smile.
“Un!” I said. I can keep him?! Awesome! Now I just have to figure out how to cuddle him without anyone noticing.
Oh well, I can worry about that later. For now it’s time to go get Tou-san so we can eat! I wonder what Kaa-san cooked this time.
Excited, I ran rushed to the back door, passing Nee-san on the way. She was watching the news on the holovision in the living room.
“...Thankfully the rogue Devicers were stopped by our town’s very own Koyami Kikara. Still no news on the escaped Summoned who had been leading them, however, though authorities are continuing to investigate…”
Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Nee-san turned off the HV.
“Whoever he was he must have been pretty good to have gotten away from you, Nee-san.” I said, causing her turn her head to look at me. Nee-san’s body was a lot like Kaa-san’s, but her hair and eyes were black, and her face and skin tone was a little different. I guess if Kaa-san would be called an “European beauty”, the Nee-san was a “Japanese beauty”.
“Hardly! The coward escaped as soon as I showed up and left his men to deal with me. No offense against Devicers, but there are just so few of them that can put up an actually fight against a Summoned like me.” she said, miffed that her opponent had run away from her.
“Well, whatever. He was probably just some cocky newbie that had just returned from whatever world he had been summoned to. He felt invincible, and had tried to ‘take over the world; like so many other idiots who come back a little stronger.” she continued with a sigh. She had to deal with those idiots a lot.
“To be fair to the Devicers, you are exactly a weakling among the Summoned, Nee-san…” I said.
Summoned were people like Nee-san who had been summoned to another world for whatever reason and had made their way back. It first started about 50 years ago. Back then, all the returned summoned were separated from the common people into special schools. After a decade or so, the civil rights groups managed to get rid of that so now Summoned are seen as a valuable resource rather than a threat. At least, that’s what they taught us in class. I never really payed much attention.
My thoughts were interrupted when Nee-san suddenly let out a squeal and grabbed Yoru from me.
“He’s so adorable!” she shouted, rubbing her face against him.
“Hey if you keep handling him so roughly…” I started to say.
“Ow!” she yelled as Yoru scratched her. She let go in surprise and he took the chance to jump back into my arms.
“I tried to warn you that you were being too rough with him, Nee-san.” I said, petting Yoru to calm him down. Nee-san pouted seeing how Yoru seemed to like me better.
“Where’s Tou-san?” I asked her, even though I had a pretty good idea where he was.
“He’s out back in the dojo, where else? More importantly, who’s this adorable little guy and where did you find him?!” she asked, a little too excited.
“His name’s Yoru. I found him by the side of the road, and Kaa-san says we can keep him!” I said. Okay, maybe I was a little excited too, but come on! He’s just so cute I can’t help it!
“Really?! Excuse me while I thank her.” she said, running off to the kitchen. Geez, she really is a spaz sometimes, especially around cute things.
Hmmm...I can’t help but feel like I’m forgetting something…Oh! I need to go tell Tou-san that dinner’s ready. I walked over to the sliding glass back door and went outside, walking over to the dojo. Tou-san spends most of his time here either teaching students or, as was the case this time, training on his own.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
I step onto the engawa and slid the shoji aside, to see Tou-san striking a punching bag. He wasn’t huge by any means, standing just barely above average height. He had shoulder length black hair which was tied back in a low ponytail. His muscles were clearly defined, but not bulging.
He stopped punching once he noticed me.
“Welcome back, Koyomi! Did you come for another training session?” he said, in his usual cheerful manner.
“Actually, Kaa-san told me to come tell me that dinner’s ready.” I said, though I wouldn’t have minded some training. It was always fun for me, though Tou-san’s other students complained for some reason.
“In that case, we’d better go before she gets angry…” he said a little nervously, dashing over to the house. Seriously though, Tou-san’s faced more dojo challenges than I can count and yet Kaa-san is the only person who frightens him…
I ran after Tou-san, who was already seated at the table with Kaa-san and Nee-san by the time I got to the kitchen.
“There you are Koyomi-chan. A set down a basket for Yoru in the corner over there, so please put him in it.” Kaa-san told me as I walked in.
Nodding I walked over to the basket and set Yoru down on the blanket Kaa-san had put in it. The black kitten yawned and immediately curled up and went to sleep. That much adorable has to be illegal…
I went over to the sink and washed my hands before joining the others at the table.
““““Itadakimasu!”””” we all said, and we began to dig in. Kaa-san’s cooking is so delicious!
While we were eating, I couldn’t help but look at the other’s Devices. The Devices we now use are items that replaced cellphones a while back. They had been created by combining the knowledge of magic that the Summoned had brought back with them with existing technology.
Besides being able to call people and access the internet, they could also clad the wearer in magic armor and grant them magical abilities. The result, known as a Sync Form, was activated through a process called Sync Up. Though they were intend to give empower normal residents, even Summoned used them to enhance their powers.
There were three aspects to a Sync Form: the Core, Armaments, and Spells.
The Core defined the base armor and abilities. The Cores were made based on DNA samples from various life forms around the world in addition to samples that the Summoned brought back with them. They all start at Tier 0 forms, but ranked up and evolved into stronger ones through experience and training. To give an example, Kaa-san started with a Tier 0 Flower from the Plant Race and ranked up to an Alraune.
Each Core had a number of slots depending on it’s Race and Tier that were filled up with Armaments and Spells. Armaments were weapons and other gear that materialized during a Sync Up, like Nee-san’s odachi or Kaa-san’s fire resistance ring. Spells were pretty self-explanatory and ranged from classics like fireballs, to support magics like shields and ability buffs.
It’s a lot to take in, right? It’s a good thing I studied up on it. After all, one of the reasons I was so excited for tomorrow was that I would finally be old enough to have my own Device! I couldn’t wait to participate in the Arena events! I hope I get a good Device, as the number of Cores a Device could store varied between models.
Lost in my fantasies of all the fun I would have once I started battling, I didn’t notice time slip by until everyone was finished eating. I took my plates to the sink and was leaving the kitchen to head to bed when Nee-san spoke up.
“Don’t leave just yet, Yomi. I’ve got a little surprise for you.” she said.
Eh? A surprise from Nee-san? Those tended not to end well. I’d better escape while I had the chance.
“Don’t worry, Koyomi-chan. It’s actually from all of us.” Kaa-san said, and I breathed a sigh of relief and turned back around to face the table. On it, I saw a box tied up with a ribbon.
“Go ahead and open it, Koyomi.” Tou-san said, grinning widely.
Nodding, I walked over to the box and undid the ribbon. My hands shaking with excitement, I lifted the lid to find a large golden ring with nine spherical rubies set into it.
“I-Isn’t this…?” my voice leaked out. I picked it up and slid over my right hand to the wrist, where it shrunk to fit.
“This...this is the newest unreleased model from Mana Tech Inc.! H-How...?!” I said in disbelief. This thing was a top of the line item that could store up to 9 forms, whereas the current best available model could only store up to 4!
“The head honcho over at Mana Tech owed me and Tou a few favors so we decided to call one of them in.” Nee-san said proudly.
“It doesn’t have any Cores stored in it yet, but we felt it was alright for you to go ahead and register as the user tonight.” Tou-san said, with a nod.
“Thank you!” I shouted, hugging them all.
Now then, time to register myself as the owner of my new Device! I double tapped it and a holographic window appeared over it.
[table=#660000]Would you like to register yourself as the owner of this Device?YESNO[/table]
I quickly hit yes and then entered the password that was on a slip of paper in the box into the next prompt.
[table=#660000]Please stand by while your Device takes a mana sample.[/table]
I waited a few minutes for the next window to show.
[table=#660000]User confirmed as Koyomi Kikara. As the user is below 8 year of age, most of the Device’s functions will be locked until the user reaches the required age.[/table]
That was as I expected, so I dismissed the window and brought up the Device information.
[table=#660000]Registered UserKoyomi KikaraAge7GenderFemaleRankECore Storage-Empty-
-Empty-
-Empty-
-Empty-
-Empty-
-Empty-
-Empty-
-Empty-
-Empty-Armament Library-Empty-Spell Library-Empty-[/table]
Wait...Female?!
“What’s wrong, Koyomi-chan?” Kaa-san asked worriedly.
“I-It’s malfunctioning…” I said, feeling myself tear up.
“Eh? But it’s brand new! What’s it doing, Yomi?” Nee-san asked.
“It...It says I’m a girl…but I’m guy...” I answered, seeing them all look at me with confusion. Then they all opened there eyes widen, with Nee-san breaking out into laughter and Tou-san facepalming right afterwards.
“Koyomi-chan, you are a girl. You have been since you were born.” Kaa-san said with a sigh.
…...Eh?
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEH?!” I shouted.
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Author Corner
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Hello folks! GrandFinale here with a brand few fic!
I know that TFO is pretty much just getting started, but this idea was just too good for me to wait.
I’ll be alternating between this and TFO, so don’t worry about TFO being drop.
Welp, that’s all for now!
GrandFinale, over and out!