Authors Notes:
"" = Speech
<> = Other actions
B = Important thing
<B> = Techniques
I was floating aimlessly through an infinite void of absolute darkness. How had I arrived here, and for how long have I been here? Frustration and confusion flooded me as I searched my mind for any recollection of what led me to this place, but everything remained a blank space.
I was startled awake by the sudden <POP> of a voice. A person wearing a blueish-white robe exclaimed, "He's alright Miss!" There was the sound of tired and labored breathing before they said, "He shall be named Hikaru Tsukino." I was confused and tried to understand what was going on, but my eyelids drooped closed and I drifted off to sleep.
Life as an infant was, although uncomplicated, quite dull. I hadn't achieved much except for filling up my diapers and trying to vocalize, which only left me frustrated. But I did remember being born in The Land of Forge, the place in which the first katana was created and where most of the whole country got their weapons.
From what I had overheard at the orphange was that before my birth, my father while learning an ancient technique had gone on a accidental rampage and killed many people before passing away after fainting. This would certainly draw hostility towards me later on. On the other hand, my mother was a skillful samurai who unfortunately died during childbirth due to the pain of birthing me as well as the stress and pain of losing her husband.
Once I had mastered crawling, I was eager to move into walking and strengthen myself. Then one day, the matron's voice called out sharply: "Michikatsu! Put that stick down!". Aw man, they had caught me again. After mastering the art of walking, I became fascinated by sword skills and decided to try out some basic sword swings for myself. So I picked up some sticks from outside and gave it a go - suddenly I felt like I had found a piece of my soul.
Currently It had been 4 years since my birth, looking into the mirror I had prepared myself by tying my long black hair with purple highlights into a pony tail while wearing an average black kimono. Today was the day that I'd be going to the Academy, the place where one began their samurai journey. Making my way through the gently falling snow I reached a white and black building. After confirming my submission with the samurai guarding the academy I made my way inside the building.
As I strolled to class 1A, I noticed it was the only group of students this semester. Consequently, they were forced to bring in an array of different children. Making my way up the staircase, I located the desk furthest away from the entrance at the left-hand side corner in the hope of not being seen in order to sleep and read during boring classes.
As the names were read aloud, two people from the class stood out to me. The boy had white hair and eyes so light blue they almost looked white, paired with pale skin and a navy kimono. The girl to his side had jet-black hair and dark blue eyes, accompanied by a light tan complexion and wearing a dark blue kimono.
Judging by what I could tell, these two people were the strongest ones here; they surpassed even me with my rigorous training routine of 100 sword slashes for every angle from 0+45 degrees up until reaching 360 degrees, in addition to a 500km run morning and evening. My strength had increased with this program, so if these two were stronger, I couldn't wait to witness their strength in battle.
Once roll call had been completed, everyone gathered at the back of the academy on a layer of flat snow. Instructor Kim's booming voice began to echo in the cold air, "Today we will be learning and practicing the 5 fundamental stances of samurai swordsmanship!, jōdan, chūdan, gedan, hassō and waki. "
Although the basic stances were good fundamentals they only helped beginners, therefore I had moved onto a stance that I found to be useful <The Standard Eight Wheel Pattern>. Although still incredibly basic this technique was currently a great technique that I was learning to execute perfectly. <The Standard Eight Wheel Pattern> would let me gather momentum into my swings, and with the practice that garnered from training these movements at the orphanage for a month using a stick I had become adept till the stick would become a blur if the pattern was done precisely.
"Alright everybody, take a sword from the rack" ordered Kim. Everyone then went to the sword rack and picked a sword their height. The sword was slightly heavier than the stick but it should still produce the same results. Instructor Kim then taught the fundamentals and walked around them while inspecting their forms. After doing so he told us to use the remaining time to practice, and that he'd still be able to teach anyone who didn't understand his teachings correctly, at that moment a few people went to him asking for guidance.
Looking over at the boy named and girl who's names I now knew to be Yukito and Keiko. They had asked the teacher if they could spar, of course they were allowed due to their mastery of sword techniques in comparison to the class.
Yukito was had added a layer of frost to his blade,which had increase the damage of his tanto. Keioko dodged and parried a few of his swings with some with her strength. I watched part of their sparring session before turning back to my training to speed up my movements. I was experimenting with a new sequence based on the fundamentals of <The Standard Eight Wheel Pattern>; I called it <Sword Dance 1st Form, Crescent Dash>.
The form would consist of me dashing at top speed and performing a wide crescent cut starting from my top right with mu blade placed horizontally, and making a wide arc towards my bottom right whilst dashing through the enemy. After the lesson and practice time that Instructor Kim gave to us we had lunch indoors, where I was silent, not talking to anyone and writing down possible future forms and maneuvers into my notebook.
After eating lunch, I attended History class while generating possible ideas for my other Lunar forms. After the mundane lecture was finished, we were released from the academy and Yukito and Keiko approached me as I left.
"Hey, we noticed you were the only one in our class with real fighting skills. Wanna come to one of the training grounds tomorrow after school?" Yukito asked me cheerfully. "Sure thing! An extra bit of practice and some sparring sounds great," I answered. Keiko quietly nodded her head in agreement. "See you there, then!" I shouted as I took off for the Orphanage.
As I opened the door to the orphanage, my belongings were waiting there at the wall. The matron then entered. "I'm sorry, Hikaru. We can't provide you a space here in the orphanage. We have filed an application for you to receive your own apartment in the center of the shopping district. You will need to pay for it once you start gaining money as a samurai.", I nodded and replied, "I understand. I'll go to the apartment then." With that said, I gathered my things and left.
I wasn't surprised nor angry when I had to leave the orphanage. Overcapacity had caused a shortage of resources, forcing me out. As I walked to my new home, I took note of all the shops that could help me become stronger: the sword and armor shop, funjutsu shop, and most importantly, the meat shop.
The apartment was sufficiently livable with a lock on the door and three rooms. The bedroom and washroom were in separate sections, but the kitchen and living room were one unit. Although it wasn't perfect, I could manage; furthermore, the location was nice, as it faced the Academy and other parts of town since our complex was a little higher up.
A note on the kitchen table informed me I would receive $100 each month to cover my expenses and purchase new clothes. With that allowance, I went shopping for food and returned home with my bounty. Later that day, I cooked up some eggs with bacon bits sprinkled on top.
Then, having completed my exercise regimen, I continued on to the restroom. After taking care of what I needed to do, I put on my white and black pajamas and got into bed with the pillow providing a comforting welcome as soon as my head touched it.
