This is my first fanfiction in a long time and i am quite excited about it. Many have told me that i use to many big words so let me know if i need to tone it down a bit. I want to make this story as factual and realistic as possible, using accurate information concerning Japan and the K Project Universe. If i missed something that you know, drop me a line. I will be thrilled to get messages from everyone. They first chapter is a little slow and angty but we will be leaping into the action as soon as possible. Im leaving the heroine a bit of a mystery for a reason so dont get all "arrgh who the heck is she"... patience my young grasshopper. I have not decided if this will be a romance or not, or if i should add Kuroh, Shiro, Neko into the tale. But...the night is young. I have time to plan. Enjoy
Arriving in Shizume City
She had been here less than an hour, and already, our stoic young heroine was feeling conflicted and confused. Being a temperamental and lonely drifter, she had
been many places that she would never call home, and seen many sights that she would never see again, and yet it had never bothered her, for she was quite
content to go on drifting, until this moment. Staring at skyline of this sprawling advanced city, she had an epiphany. For the first time in her life, she wanted to settle
down, work, and stop being an unproductive "hippie". This conflicted with everything she had ever done, and turmoil rose up inside her. Heaving a sigh of disgust
and regret, she looked at the lights of Shizume City, the technology capital of the world. It was quite a secretive place though. Outsiders were frowned upon, and they
had an incredibly hard time getting passes for more than a week, unless they had special leave from the Government. Rumors had reached our cynical heroine that
strange things happened there. Strange occurrences that was more magical than logical. Whispers on the street told of kings and people with psychic abnormalities
that had been affected by the chemical fumes of this new metropolis. Being the pragmatist that she was she didn't pay too much attention to the stories; however,
the whispers and secrets enticed her enough that she had felt forced to see for herself. And her she was, feeling confused, yet having a sense of peace that she had
never felt before, a sense of belonging. It was a novel thought, and her face screwed up into a twisted smile. She was definitely overstaying her three day pass, rules
or not. Plunging her hands into her sweatshirt, our heroine scanned the crowds, the cafes, the skyline, keeping an observant yet relaxed eye on her surroundings, a
knack she had picked up from years of parkour*and city living. Pulling her hood over her forehead, she made her way down to the ocean, and took in the magnificent
site. A crystal bridge (so it seemed to her in the sunlight) similar to the Rainbow Bridge of Nordic Legend glittered in the early afternoon sunshine, with trains running
back and forth on the underside of the structure. She sucked in her breathe, visibly impressed, and let me tell you, it took a lot to impress this young lady. She had
been rock climbing in Tibet, surfing in Hawaii, and many other adventures that had made her immune to beauty in this world, but this, this mixture of nature and
manmade innovation made her feel like a new person. Finally turning away, she slipped back into the crowd. For such a tight knit and close mouthed community, (as
she sarcastically called it) there were many different types of people, of all colors and backgrounds, running every possible type of business. It was a clean,
somewhat sterile sort of city, but it was the perfect one to start over in, especially for forgetting one's bad past. Taking in a breathe of the refreshing (by city's
standards) air, she gave a startled yelp as she ran into a short stubby machine that looked vaguely like an Artoo Unit. The heck? She thought as it rolled over her
foot, squeaking and acting like a vacuum cleaner. It finally dawned on her that this was the new prototype in city cleaning that hadn't even made its way to America
yet. In America it was still a bit of an urban legend….robots that lived in harmony with humans were still a thing of the future to the rest of the world. Imagine that.
Seeing that the sun was starting to sink deeper into the skyline, she hastily looked around for an inexpensive eatery. She spotted a Noodle shop and darted across
the street. And then hell broke loose. Men in blue ran by her, pushing her over, and shouting orders. She had just gotten to her feet after vocalizing a few choice
words when a shimmery form dashed between her and the blues and bowled her over again, and took off down the street. The starched suits slid around and then
vanished from the site. The nerve of it all. She thought in disgust, and cautiously entered the building, on the lookout for more sparkly vampires and men in black,
ahem, blue, that might cause danger to her person. So much for all the rumors of a "safe and regulated" city, people sure where rude and obnoxious. The proprietor
took her order of udon soup, and bade her take a seat at one of the bar stools*. Straightening her back she took a moment to work on a light breathing exercise that
would help with her jetlag when she heard a loud "Tch," two seats down. "This is my day off you know," came a bored yet peeved voice. The girl surreptitiously took a
peek as the waitress placed the soup down, and she saw a preppy looking dude with glasses and shaggy hair glaring at his phone. "Lieutenant, I don't care if there
was an incident right outside this building. I'm not on dut...tch. As you wish." He clicked his teeth together and slammed the poor phone shut. He stood up hastily,
and said in a seriously annoyed voice, "Put it on my tab." And then he stalked out the door. Slurping her noodles, she watched the exchange with detached interest,
having a languid curiosity in people and how they acted. The guy was tall and casually dressed but probably police, she mused, remembering his exchange with the
"Lieutenant." The girl shrugged. Men were dangerous and complex creatures and she had no desire to get close to one. Ever. Paying, she asked for directions to her
hotel, but her tourist Japanese wasn't so good, and her host's English was no better, so with a sigh she left to find another victim. Wandering about, she hoisted her
well-worn traveler's knapsack a little higher and spotted her prey. A gentle looking man about her age with an ancient looking video camera was recording a flower
stand. "Yo,eigo wo hanase masu ka?" She hoped she was saying what the guidebook said to say, which was "Do you speak english?" He smiled at her with beautiful,
soft eyes. He said in halting Americano, "A little." "Do you know where the Shinbashi Hotel in the New Tokyo quarter is?" He blinked twice, as if thinking of the right
words to form. Then his eyes lit up. "I live by there, um, close by it, oh, near? Yes, I can show the way." Giving a small smile, she followed him down the bustling
roads of the most incredible city in existence. Thanking her guide, she gave a somewhat awkward bow then entered the hotel. The staff was efficient yet wary. They
pointed out that she would have to leave by midnight of her third day, and then gave our amused heroine the keys to an economy room. Throwing down her
knapsack and yanking off her scruffy hiking boots, she pulled out a well-worn spiral notebook and sat cross legged on the creaky bed. Clicking and flicking her pen a
few times she finally wrote.
December 4th. I have arrived in the city of Shizume, Japan. For the first time in my life I feel a sense of belonging. I'm not sure how I will survive out here, but I
shall make it work. Even though I need to be out of here by the 7th, I'm already planning how I can stay on. Perhaps I can get an extended work pass or something.
What should I do with my life? What would he do if he was in my shoes? Should I have run away or should I have stayed?
She laid back on the bed with a sigh, flipping the journal shut. She was 22 years old, and she was feeling old. Old and hateful in a way. She looked at life with the
eyes of a bitter spinster who saw youth and happiness and hated it with passion. 22 years old and nothing to show for my life, she thought with scorn. What could
she do now at this point? Was "life" to late for her? Had she missed her opportunity of doing anything great? Stretching, she stood up and put in four cups of water
into the little coffee maker to heat up. As it boiled, she took a shower, and then made some green tea. She did a few light exercises, and then put out the light,
staring at the skyline of Shizume for who knows how long. It reminded her of a new New York City; a cleaner version of her childhood home. And it gave her hope
that a better future lay around the corner for her, she just had to go find it. And she whispered to the darkness of the room and to the almost living lights of the city,
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, and i in my time have played many parts."
What do you think? Working on Chapter 2 as we speak. Let me know any type of praise, concerns, criticisms, etc, that you can think of.
*Parkour: is a holistic training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training. Practitioners aim to get from A to B in the most efficient way possible. This is done using only the human body and the surroundings for propulsion, with a focus on maintaining as much momentum as possible while still remaining safe. Parkour can include obstacle courses, running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, rolling, quadrupedal movement, and the like, depending on what movement is deemed most suitable for the given situation. (from wikipedia) google for more info.
*Noodle bars are pretty cool. They are usually tiny shops with only bar stools for seating and long counters where you look right into the kitchen. You can also customize your noodle selection with a wide variety of foodstuffs.