March 26th, 2036 A.D.
Glancing at my bedside table clock, it showed that I slept for about twelve hours, thankfully it was Saturday and I could afford the gained sleep. Jumping out of my soft bed, I grabbed and put on my gold watch, walked out the moderately sized bedroom. Next I changed out of my black pajamas into a dark grey military camouflage t-shirt and a pair of black jeans, and walked to the washroom where I brushed my teeth and wiped my face. I swept my black bangs to the sides of my head and my top hair towards the back of my head, but no matter how hard I tried there would always be some strands that would go against my brushing. I walked past the white walls of my house, down the luscious wooden staircase, and into the living room. Seeing that my little sister Hikari was already up drinking her red tea and watching her usual anime. She was dressed in her white pajamas with brown cat's designs all over it. "I see you are still into anime." I commented. Full name: Hikari Fujimoto, short bangs in front, and metallic gold hair that slowly transitioned to a yellow-ish autumn as it reached down to her shoulder blades. Had we been standing back to back, the top of her head would be at my eye level. Yet she was probably as physically fit as me when I her age, despite being a girl.
"Of course I am, you want to watch it with me?" She asked me with her upturned azure blue eyes, resembling a puppy.
"Nah, I really like watching anime, but that one is just not I would watch you know?" I said with a wry smile on my face.
"But come on nii-saaaan, we barely do anything together anymore…"
"I have kendo practice today, sorry."
She frowned and responded with, "But you better come to my dance recital tomorrow."
"Don't worry, I'll be there for your recital, besides everyone will be there so I can't afford to miss it for the world." I said with a determined face.
With that sentence my sister's lips went straight into an adorable smile, and went happily back to her anime. I went to the doorway, put on my street shoes, grabbed my kendo equipment, opened the door, and left the house. The outside of our house was both traditional as well as modern in the manner that it had a thatched roof, and the doors had a modern aluminum doors in front of a fabric door that had wooden shingles in a square pattern grid. We lived in the outskirts 25km from the city of Tokushima, Japan, which is basically a suburban area.
My name is Kawamura Shun, entering my first year of high school. I frequently take Kendo classes and weapons training from a local temple. You might wonder why my last name was different to my sister, it was due to the fact that my parents were always on business trips and as a result I had to live with my cousin Hikari's family. Mom and Dad were out of the house and my life about eighty percent of the time since they often had to deal with clients and business meetings. Even so I appreciate the gifts and occasional cash rewards for preforming well in school and my kendo competitions. Today the morning sun gave off a bright radiance while the friendly townsfolk greeted me with hellos. Arriving at the dojo I quickly changed into my training gear. The dojo still had a traditional design despite that the year is 2036 C.E, something I still enjoy looking at since these buildings are so rare in Japan nowadays. Also it was similar in size to two school classrooms but decorated with interweaving wood shingles and fabric walls, and smooth wooden floors. It was perched on a mountain's back and was built beside a small stream where I always enjoyed a nice soak after a tough practice. For most practices I would take up a few rounds, rest up, and go on for a few more. In the dojo I was a mere student, nothing more, nothing less. I took up the sport solely because it gave me the feeling of what a swordsman or warrior, probably from all the role-playing games that I play in my spare time. In the three years that I have entered this dojo, I met Ichijou and Illiesse. Both were great kendo-ka and helped me to become one of the top students. Ichijou was a tall and well-built man who could be described as a gentle giant, especially with his "Chiselled features". He was kind, dedicated, strong, and always looking out for others, especially the newbies. Sometimes however I felt that he is often too "friendly" with everyone, which often resulted in some awkward situations. Whereas Illiese was a brown cherry haired girl who always seemed to stand out no matter what she was doing because of her strong determination to reach higher heights. While being so masterful at kendo, she has a powerful commanding presence, almost as if to balance out Ichijou's passive personality. Also she is quite social when she is not in front of everyone in the dojo due to the fact she is so mainstream with almost everything. Last year she made it to the nationals for Kendo. Appearance-wise she has a slightly tanned and slender body which was also quite physically fit due to all the effort she puts into the sport. All three of us met each other in middle school and became close schoolmates, but over the years those two have become almost as close as BFF's while I was third wheeling in most situations. Speaking of which I would not be surprised if Illiesse only saw me as a tool now, since she pushes her expectations of Ichijou onto me as well since we had known each other the longest within the dojo. If the three of us were taking part in a test of swordsmanship, those two would have left me in the dust.
As I was striding through the dojo doors I see many faces stop and stare, after a quick glance they returned to their activities. Ichijou walked up to me and punches me in the shoulder, something I just smile at.
"Where's Illiesse?" I asked as I stared into the distance
Ichijou responded "She is still recovering from a cold, but she called me last night and told me that she is going to try her best to it make to Hikari's recital."
"Hope she gets better soon." I said with a blank face
"Yeah, me too." With a hopeful expression
Even though I said it, I meant none of it.
Ichijou leaves to instruct the newbies while I went and practiced with the juniors. After practice I left the dojo, walked to the stream, and washed the sweat off my face. I began to think of what to make for dinner as Ichijou walked to my side. He reaches to down to splash some water on his face as he squats next to me.
"So how's being a senior member?" I ask.
"Well it's probably not what you think it would be. There is so much more work than you would have as a junior." Sighing heavily, Ichijou stood up and jogged back to the dojo.
"Well then I wish you the best of luck." I gave him words of encouragement as I stood back up.
After another hour of kendo, I packed up my equipment and left the dojo. So far in my life I always had an above average aptitude for many different skills nonetheless I was never the best in what I do. But even so I take pleasure in doing so, especially when playing video games. As I walked down the hill, the setting sun had changed the sky changed into a beautiful red and orange dusk. I slowly transitioned to a jog then to a run since I was so anxious to get back home so I can get the most time out of the weekend for gaming. These days, augmented or virtual reality games are one of the most popular genres despite they only made their first appearance just a few years ago. For me I really enjoyed playing RPGs or role playing games, it didn't matter whether if it is MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online) or just single player RPGs. As I walked on the street I passed by Illiesse's house, and approached her front door. I hesitated and couldn't convince myself to ring her doorbell and talk to her, thus I continued on my path home.
Recently there was news confirming that New World was going to be released as a VR game today with the utilization of the Mind Reader, a technological marvel which was rumored the latest generation gaming machine. *Sigh* Looking towards the sky 'If only gaming was one of those things that helped you to be better in life.'
When I had returned back home, Hikari had already left for her dress rehearsal. I then wondered why her mom wasn't home 'Oh yeah, she said she had to do overtime today.' As I stepped into the house, I quickly ran upstairs, turned on my computer and began to download the New World update for my Mind Reader that I bought recently. While it was updating, I went downstairs into the kitchen when suddenly I heard a strange noise in the garden similar to a loud crash. I opened the sliding window door and walked out to the backyard to see a fallen tree. 'That's strange I don't think there were any loggers working nearby….' I then quickly scanned my surroundings and I managed to spot a pair of red glowing dots in the darkness. I then yelled out a "Hello?" but there was no answer, instead the pair of red dots slowly approached me menacingly. As it moved into the light, it appeared to be a mantis-like creature with scythes for arms. It was about four meters tall and had a grey sheen on its body, but somehow it looked awfully familiar. I just stood there with awe-stricken eyes when a chill had ran down my back and thought 'What is that?' The thing was about five meters away from me when it raised its scythe arm, I then panicked and ran into the surrounding forest.