《Tokyo Rising》 Chapter 0: Prelude February 5th, 1981 ¡°Dr. Sokolov, I presume?¡± the young man asked in Japanese. He was tall, for a Japanese man, at 180cm and dressed sparsely for the cold, Hokkaido winter with just a light jacket and jeans. And yet, for some reason, he was not so much as shivering and, even stranger still, there were no clouds of condensation coming from his breaths. ¡°Y-yes, indeed,¡± Dr. Ilya Sokolov said, eyeing his confronter. He had a¡­ normal looking face. For some reason, the twenty-five year old biological engineering genius could not make out any distinguishing facial features of the young man. He could tell that he was probably in his early twenties, and asian, but other than that, nothing else. The Japanese dialect sounded familiar too but, once again, he somehow could not pinpoint the origin. Ironically, the oddest thing was that he could not accept that it was odd at all. Ilya took off his round, rimless glasses and cleaned them with a microfiber cleaning cloth before putting them back on and staring at the man again. ¡°I¡¯m using a device that prevents others from remembering what I look or sound like, if that¡¯s what¡¯s confusing you,¡± the man said, taking a drink from his coffee. They were outside a shabby looking cafe, though that did not particularly distinguish it from anywhere else in Hokkaido. Ever since the soviets took control after the second World War, everything in Hokkaido looked drab and gray, barring a few historical landmarks and some tightly controlled tourist destinations. ¡°Then you must be Akakabuto,¡± Ilya said, leaning in and whispering. Akakabuto merely nodded in confirmation as his eyes scanned the area. The street was a far cry from the outdoor shopping centers of the American Commonwealth of Japan but there was still the occasional passerby. Mostly older people, housewives, and the occasional midday drunk. ¡°There¡¯s been a change in plans, we have to leave now,¡± Akakabuto said. He got up and started walking away from the table, bringing his coffee with him. ¡°Wait, my fiance-,¡± Ilya said, protesting as he got up to follow the odd yet not odd man. ¡°Kikabuto has already extracted her. Thoroughly tore through your house, made it look like she was kidnapped,¡± Akakabuto explained. It was better that way, it meant that the Soviets were less likely to hold her family responsible for fleeing. Plus it would look like someone had held her hostage to force Dr. Sokolov to obey them. A silent, twenty minute taxi ride later, Akakabuto handed over a fat wad of Soviet rubles to the taxi driver and helped Ilya out. An even fatter stack of rubles got them past the gate guard and into the docks. They headed past some shipping containers and almost made it to the water¡¯s edge when five armed men popped out of nowhere, pointing AK-74 assault rifles at them. ¡°I was wondering why a strange, unidentifiable man showed up out of nowhere. Looks like he was trying to steal away our dear Dr. Sokolov,¡± One of the men said in Russian-accented Japanese. He was dressed far more casually than a soldier, sporting an American-style bomber jacket instead of an army uniform with a patch that indicated that he was a Soviet sergeant and letter codes that indicated that he was a member of the famous Obmorozheniya (Frostbite) unit. Two of the men lowered their guns and pulled Ilya out of the way. ¡°Shoot the asian.¡± ¡°Henshin,¡± Akakabuto said, crushing the coffee cup in his hand. There was a badge of sorts hidden in it which caused some sort of flash of light, through it lasted only long enough for the soldiers to have realized it happened and was somehow not bright at all. Not that they cared. What they noticed was that, in place of the tall asian man was a man in a crimson bodysuit and what appeared to be a mix between a samurai helmet and a motorcycle full face helmet. Honestly, it was a pretty ugly design. A blink of an eye later, four of the soldiers were down and out and the last one, the leader in the bomber jacket, had thrust his arm forwards. Icicles flew towards Akakabuto, though he swatted them away, and caught one. The russian soldier grinned as ice began creeping up Akakabuto¡¯s white glove. That was put to a stop though as flames ripped down the length of his arms and melted the ice clean off. Akakabuto threw a stream of fire at his opponent¡¯s head but it was lazily dodged. ¡°Fire versus ice huh? I should have figured I¡¯d be stuck fighting Akakabuto,¡± the soviet said, lamenting his disadvantage and poor luck. ¡°I¡¯d really rather not have to kill a fellow super but it¡¯ll be pretty hard for me to hold back.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Didn¡¯t you just gleefully tell your men to shoot me back then?¡± Akakabuto said in reply, throwing a few more fire lances and dodging a few icicles himself. It was an odd spectacle, the acrobatic and flowing movements of Akakabuto and the quick, but minimal movements of the soviet. ¡°Hey, I said shoot, not kill,¡± he answered, narrowly dodging a fire blast that singed the tips of his boots. ¡°Wait, where are you going?¡± Akakabuto had grabbed Ilya and leapt off the dock, ignoring the doctor¡¯s shouts of panic. The soviet soldier threw one last icicle, this time it was thinner and faster, as though it actually had thought in effort put into it, compared to the earlier ones. Akakabuto kicked off fire from his feet, melting the icicle mid-flight and giving himself a minor rocket boost to propel him further. Independent flight was a pipe dream for him, let alone whilst carrying another man, but it was enough. A pod came out from under the sea and opened up, allowing the two of them to land in it. It quickly closed back up and submerged. Suddenly, an icicle, about 2 cm thick, smashed through the hull, punched a hole through Akakabuto¡¯s chest, and through the other side of the miniature submarine. The smell of gas started to permeate the tiny, still pressurized, area. If the icicles holding the pressure in were not enough to dissuade Akakabuto from using his powers, the gas definitely was. ¡°Shit,¡± he swore. The shock meant there was no pain at first, but that probably was not going to last long, He was coughing up blood already. Sure, he could have just heated up his body enough to melt the icicles in his body, but then he would be bleeding far more quickly. If he was not afraid of the gas leak, he would have done that anyways and just cauterized the wound. ¡°It went through your lung,¡± the doctor said, his breathing more ragged than usual. He reached over in that tiny, cramped space to help out but Akakabuto shrugged him off, taking care not to break the icicle. ¡°Let¡¯s not flood ourselves,¡± he said, waving at the breaches in the hull. ¡°It¡¯s a thirty minute trip til we¡¯re out of enemy waters and can surface then rendezvous with the coast guard vessel.¡± ¡°You could be dead by then,¡± the doctor protested. ¡°So be it. My mission was to get you out alive and make sure you can reunite with your fiance, even at the cost of my own life. Consider that my Japanese pride. My bushido if you will,¡± Akakabuto said, the last part with a bit of a laugh that he immediately regretted doing as he coughed up more blood inside his helmet. Probably not the best time to be making dumb jokes. ¡°Can you at least tell me your real name?¡± Ilya said, a long pause later. ¡°Tetsuo, Kurogane Tetsuo,¡± he said. ¡°Then I swear on my own Japanese pride, my own bushido that if I make it and you do not, I will everything I can to repay you,¡± Ilya said, solemnly. ¡°You¡¯re not even Japanese,¡± Akakabuto said, trying not to laugh at Ilya¡¯s mimicry of him. ¡°Sapporo, born and raised,¡± Ilya said, defending himself. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s good enough for me,¡± Tetsuo laughed, coughing up some more blood. ¡°It¡¯s a beautiful city you know?¡± Ilya spoke slowly and deliberately, ¡°Not like the rest of Hokkaido, It¡¯s actually somewhat of a tourist destination. Lots of color, lots of people. They¡¯re just as miserable as everyone else but they¡¯re at least miserable together. There¡¯s this tiny hole in the wall ramen place three blocks north of the Sapporo Station, next to a store that sold yukatas. Used to eat there all the time...¡± He kept talking for the next thirty minutes, obviously trying to minimize Tetsuo¡¯s suffering. Tetsuo appreciated it nonetheless and listened intently, taking in every word as they may be the last ones he ever heard. Eventually, the submersible surfaced and the top opened up, revealing clear blue sky and a Japanese Coast Guard boat lowering a ladder down to them. ¡°I¡¯ll have to remember that. Maybe I¡¯ll visit it one day, maybe in my next life¡­¡± his voice trailed off and his eyes closed again for likely the last time. Chapter 1: Awakening July 29th, 2015 Tetsuo woke up. He could not see anything, he could not move. But, he could hear, he could feel, and he felt like he was floating in syrup. Green-tinted light entered his eyes and he struggled to force them open and a distorted image filled his view, like he was trying to see the world through a glass bottle of green tea and honey. The feeling of something that was forcefully shoved down his throat and his inability to move caused him to panic. Bubbles formed up in from of his eyes as his breathing accelerated and he continued to struggle. ¡°Doctor, the subject is awake!¡± Tetsuo heard a female voice call out, muffled by the liquid he was submersed in. The shuffling of feet and shouts of surprise was muffled further by the sound of his heart pounding out his ears at over 160 beats per minute. ¡°Subject is having a panic attack, administer sedatives,¡± a male voice this time. The edges of Tetsuo¡¯s vision went from red to black as he felt something being pushed into his veins and his heart rate returned to normal levels. And then he went out like a weak flame against the sea. The next time he woke up, it was in a sterile-looking hospital room. He was positioned slightly upright, enough to get a clear view of a flatscreen television mounted to the corner of the room playing an English-language news report about anti-Russian protests in Sapporo. While he was immediately able to identify it as a television, it was like no television he had ever seen before. The first thing he noticed was how crisp and clear the color and sound were. Certainly there were color televisions before, but they were tiny, box-like things. This television looked almost flat. It could not have been more than a few centimeters thick. An LCD screen perhaps? Impossible, LCDs were monochrome and tiny, this television was practically a literal window. He ripped his head away from the television and turned his head to the right. His long hair which reached far past his shoulders brushed against the bed, giving him some degree of annoyance. How had it gotten this long? There was a glass of water on the bedside table and he tried to reach over for it. His arm felt like it was being weighed down by lead and, upon closer inspection, it looked scrawny and weak. Muscle atrophy. How long had he been out? It couldn¡¯t have been more than a few months if he was still able to move to this degree, right? He pulled the cup over onto his chest, now soft and thing instead of the muscled martial artist body he had before. It took both hands just to lip the cups to his lips, which he promptly drained of all liquid before dropping it on his chest. The next thing he noticed was how long the bed was. His legs barely went past 3/4ths of the length of the bed. ¡°That¡¯s odd,¡± his voice came out, weak and effeminate sounding. Was it not odd if the bed was more than 200 cm long? Muscle atrophy couldn¡¯t have lopped off 30cm from his height, right? He looked to his right again and saw a call button which he struggled to reach over and press it. Five minutes later, a young, female, Japanese nurse walked in. Tetsuo only got a brief glimpse of her before she was pulled aside by a tall, Russian-looking woman in military uniform. A worst case scenario immediately rushed into his imagination and he immediately struggled to pull himself up and scanned the room for weapons. ¡°Calm down, I am Major Yuri Takakawa of the JSDF,¡± she said in English, with a slight Japanese accent, before sitting down and taking a seat next to his bed. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you,¡± he said, eyeing the woman. Platinum blonde hair that would have reached past her shoulders if it was not tied up in a Japanese-style bun,, sharp eyes, and body proportions that would have fit better on the cover of a European fashion magazine. And a Major? She couldn¡¯t be much older than twenty. There was no way she could hold that rank, this had to be a soviet trick of some sort. They even had a proper officer¡¯s uniform and ranking insignia. Even more impressive was that they got the English accent commonly heard in the JSDF down perfectly. He must have failed in extracting Dr. Sokolov and was now being interrogated. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s no surprise, I told the higher ups that you wouldn¡¯t trust me, so I brought in some help. I was also afraid you would be missing memories too but that doesn¡¯t seem to be an issue,¡± she motioned to the nurse who opened the door and a very familiar-looking middle-aged Japanese man walked through the door. ¡°Dad? No wait, Hiro?¡± Tetsuo¡¯s eyes opened up wide. He almost jumped out of his bed but his muscles failed him. The man looked just like his father, though with bits of his mother mixed in. In other words, like his kid brother but much older. ¡°Yea, that¡¯s my name. Kurogane Hiro,¡± he said, in a voice that deeply resembled Tetsuo¡¯s father¡¯s. There was not much emotion in his voice. Instead, the man scanned him top to bottom with a suspicious eye. ¡°Are you really Tetsuo?¡± Hiro finally asked. ¡°Do I look that much different?¡± Tetsuo looked at Major Takakawa when he asked. He was starting to believe her a little more now. Hiro started to say something but the Major cut him off with a quick raising of her arm. ¡°I was trying to think of a way to ease you into this but I hear you¡¯re adaptable so I figured I might as well just drop it on you in as few words as I can. You¡¯ve been dead for thirty-one years, Major Kurogane,¡± she paused to let that sink in for a moment. It made sense, the high tech television and his brother looking like he was in his forties were clear indicators. Thirty years was a long time, but it was not like he woke up after being frozen in the arctic at the end of World War II. It would take time to adjust, and it would likely be slow and frustrating, considering he was an old man now too. Years of drugs and artificial physical enhancements probably prevented the worst of the muscle atrophy, but it also seemed to have left him tiny and frail. And then it dawned on him just how long thirty years really was. His family, his friends, what happened to them? He looked at Hiro again, seeing the same age lines on his face that he remembered his father having. How old was their dad now? Eighty? Dead? What about their mother? And his teammates? Aokabuto and Kikabuto? Were they still around? If anything, the fact that he could never hold a steady relationship because of his job meant that he was single when he died. Then at least there was no girlfriend waiting for him back home. He had not considered any of that when he was dying, partly because he was too focused on the mission and partly because Ilya Sokolov was distracting him. ¡°I¡¯m a major?¡± he asked, not certain if he was ready to hear the fates of his old comrades. Not that it mattered because her answer would make him promptly forget all of that. ¡°Posthumous promotion, for bringing over Dr. Ilya Sokolov. Also, you¡¯re a thirteen year old girl now,¡± she added. ¡°Oh, I see... Wait. What!?¡± He shouted, or at least tried to. He tried to pull himself out of bed and almost fell out. Major Takagawa caught him, easily lifting his thin frame up as though he weighed less than a feather. She motioned at the nurse to bring them a mirror and the nurse obliged. The major helped him sit himself up too. In the mirror was a bony little girl with twigs for arms. She looked like a gust of wind would topple her over and shatter her into a million pieces. Her appearance was borderline skeletal, with large, round, red eyes nearly popping out of her head and sunken cheeks. She even had long, wavy, black hair that sagged down to her waist. With some worse lighting, she would not have been out of place as a ghost in a low-budget horror movie. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°What the-?¡± he said, swearing, eyeing the gaunt little girl looking back at him. No, it was ¡®her¡¯ now, was it not? That at least explained the voice. His, no, her voice was not just weak and feminine sounding, it was actually female. ¡°Now you may be wondering why they brought you back as a girl,¡± she said, before Tetsuo interrupted her. ¡°I¡¯m first wondering why they brought me back at all, but yea, why am I a girl?¡± she said, before receiving a blood-freezing glare from the female major. It seemed that she was the type that despised being interrupted. A little hypocritical he, no she, thought, as the woman did not seem to have any qualms about silencing ¡®her¡¯ brother earlier. ¡°There¡¯s a variety of reasons, most of them bothersome, political, and boring, and I don¡¯t know where to start so I¡¯ll try to keep it short, simple, and chronological. After you passed out from blood loss in your getaway submersible, Dr. Sokolov and the rest of the crew tried their best to keep you alive. They stuck your body in a cooler until they could bring you back to Aomori where they extracted and preserved your brain, as per Dr. Sokolov¡¯s request,¡± She crossed her legs and leaned back a bit, crossing her arms beneath her bosom as well. Tetsuo¡¯s eyes were immediately drawn to them for a split second before they snapped right back up to the Major¡¯s face, though not without her notice. ¡°Oh? Is that female breast envy or leftover male sexual instinct?¡± she asked, giving him a smug, teasing look. ¡°Nevermind that, continue with the history lesson, please,¡± Tetsuo snapped back at her. Major Takagawa clicked her tongue in annoyance, muttering something about ¡®being no fun¡¯ and continued her explanation. ¡°In 1981, the Americans, discovered the source of the powers of the Soviet Supersoldiers. Since the Americans seized the only Ubermensch subject from the Nazis, the soviets trailed behind in supersoldier development. But they did eventually manage to get somewhere. Unlike the americans who used drugs, surgery, gene therapy, and alien technology, the Soviets found a source of magic,¡± she paused for a moment to gauge Tetsuo¡¯s reaction. ¡°Wait, magic?¡± the not-quite-coming-to-terms-with-his-genderswap Tetsuo asked. ¡°Sounds crazy right? Turns out they found the hut on chicken legs of Baba Yaga legend back in the 50s and forcefully conscripted them, yes, multiple Baba Yagas, into helping them develop their supersoldier program. They managed to keep that a secret until the Mujahideen captured one of their soldiers alive in ¡®81, just a few months after your death. He spilled the beans after some interrogation. I think he¡¯s an old man living on a farm in Virginia now, teaching magic. The fifth generation of American super soldiers and third generation of Super Sentai ended up heavily incorporating magic into their programs,¡± she said, glaring at Tetsuo as she opened up her mouth to interrupt again. Tetsuo promptly closed her mouth and let Major Takagawa continue without further interruption. ¡°Magic capability is partially genetic, partially luck. In order to use magic you need to have physical compatibility with it, but also with enough mana reserved to actually do anything with it. It turned out females generally had larger mana pools than males, and that training from a young age could drastically increase the size mana pools. So Japan started their Mahou Shoujo, or Magical Girl program. The first generation started recruitment in 1993, mostly 10-13 year old girls. At the same time, Dr. Sokolov took control of the previously dead-end artificial human project. They had been unable to produce a functioning human being as each baby would be brain dead pretty much by the time we could test for brain activity. It turned out the key was in human souls.¡± ¡°So Dr. Sokolov immediately requested funding to restart the project and received enough money to create exactly one artificial human. The bigwigs spent the better part of the second half of the nineties debating on what they wanted out of the project. Ultimately, they decided on the body you¡¯re in right now, a primordial genetic soup mix of the greatests superheroes and supersoldiers America, Europe, and Japan had to offer, including a sizeable portion of your own original DNA, for compatibility reasons,¡± she gently pressed a finger onto Tetsuo¡¯s sternum. Tetsuo was starting to see where this was going now. ¡°So Dr. Sokolov ripped your soul out of your brain and stuck it into this body, They kept you in an induced coma until the body aged to suitable age, figuring you probably didn¡¯t want to deal with years of being a baby and a child. They tried to develop your muscles too, with magic and electroshock therapy, and it seems to have worked, to some degree. Anyways, you didn¡¯t wake up immediately like they hoped would happen as the body still had not fully accepted your soul. It instead ended up taking another three years for your soul to fully bond to this body. And now you¡¯re awake,¡± she leaned back, a satisfied look on her face. ¡°Couldn¡¯t make a male body?¡± Tetsuo asked again. ¡°Bigwigs thought it would be more appealing if their genetic monstrosity of a super-supersoldier was a cute girl I guess,¡± Major Takakawa shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s the dumbest reasoning I¡¯ve ever heard,¡± Tetsuo did not know how to sort through his muddle of emotions so a blank look stuck on his face, ¡°But I suppose it¡¯s better being a little girl than dead.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t doubt it,¡± Hiro finally said something. He was not looking at his brother-turned sister but Tetsuo could not help but feel he was angry about something. ¡°Where is Dr. Sokolov anyways?¡± Tetsuo finally asked. Major Takakawa¡¯s face turned solemn as a sad expression crossed her face. It was not just a look of condolence someone had when they spoke of the dead. It looked more like she had personally known the doctor and was reliving some painful memories. ¡°Dead. Car accident ten years ago. We suspected foul play initially but no evidence pointed towards that,¡± she said, calm and cold, all trace of that previous facial expression gone. Tetsuo sighed, even if it was as a female, she wanted to thank the man who had brought her back to life. ¡°We¡¯ll test the size of your mana pool tomorrow, if it¡¯s minimal, you¡¯ll be free to live out the rest of your life as you choose, even end it if you choose, though I doubt you¡¯re the type to do that. Besides, if the late Dr. Sokolov¡¯s calculations are correct, and I have no doubt they are, you should have a sizeable mana pool,¡± she changed gears, talking about the future now instead of the past. ¡°And what if it¡¯s as large as Dr. Sokolov thought it would be?¡± Tetsuo asked, picking up on a but from Major Takakawa¡¯s earlier comment. Her answer brought back that previous name, the funny-sounding one that he was unfamiliar with. ¡°Unfortunately, you are, well at least your body is, government property so you will have no choice but to make a contract with us and become a magical girl.¡± Chapter 2: Magic (Chapter is a bit rough, since I was more focused on pushing out a chapter than editing anything. Also I suck at writing in general so it would have been rough either way. Last exposition dump, I swear. If you have any questions or anything, just drop them here) July 30th, 2015 ¡°So, Mr. Kurogane, I apologize for dragging you all the way out here for this, but I had to. Is there anything you would like to say to your brother before you leave?¡± Major Takakawa asked Hiro. ¡°I¡¯m still not certain that¡¯s him¡­¡± Hiro said, eyeing Tetsuo¡¯s new body up and down. ¡°Kurogane Hiro, born July 16th, 1964, hates the smell of cheese, first girlfriend was a Nishimura Chisato at age sixteen, you pissed your bed until you were twelve-¡± Tetsuo started listing off things he knew about Hiro until Hiro put up a hand to cut her off. ¡°That¡¯s enough, I believe you, and her name was Nakamaru Chie,¡± Hiro said, a little pink-faced with an expression that suggested annoyance, but mostly showed, once again, anger. The bed-wetting tale was definitely not the source of the anger, even when Hiro was a teenager, he was mature enough not to get embarrassed by childhood stories. He was definitely angry about something though. ¡°Why are you so angry?¡± Tetsuo bit the bullet and asked. ¡°Why am I so angry? Why don¡¯t we start from the beginning then? When dad died you didn¡¯t even blink let alone cry. Dropped right out of high school and ran off to the army,¡± he started saying, on the verge of shouting. ¡°What was I supposed to do? Mom couldn¡¯t support both of us selling fish,¡± Tetsuo shot back, not even coming close to raising his voice while trying to justify his decisions. ¡°That¡¯s just the issue, you¡¯re like a robot, so detached from anything resembling human emotions. You do what you think is right without considering what others might feel. You didn¡¯t even ask anything about mom. She killed herself you know, a while after you died. She couldn¡¯t take losing her husband and her firstborn, she felt guilty using the death gratuity. In your case, we didn¡¯t even have a body. The government wouldn¡¯t tell us shit. She didn¡¯t even know why you died,¡± Hiro said. His face was half fury and half resignation. Years of emotions that he thought had long since simmered down were now boiling up again and he was struggling to put it in words. ¡°Hiro¡­ I¡¯m sorry,¡± Tetsuo said. She felt a lump in her throat as a mix of feeling came out, though she said nothing else. ¡°Sorry? That¡¯s it? I tell you that mom¡¯s dead and all you say is sorry? You can¡¯t even be bothered to look sad. Always with your robot pokerface.¡± ¡°Hiro, I-¡± Tetsuo started before getting cut off by Major Takakawa clapping her hands together. ¡°Alright you two, let¡¯s not start a scene here. You¡¯ll have plenty of time to spit fire later. Is our previously discussed arrangement still fine with you Mr. Kurogane?¡± She said, asking Hiro. ¡°Yea, that¡¯s fine. After all, I am the only family Tetsuo has left,¡± Hiro said bitterly as he left the hospital room. ¡°Previously discussed arrangement?¡± Tetsuo asked. ¡°After you leave- Well, it¡¯s all explained here,¡± Major Takakawa handed Tetsuo what looked to be a clip-less clipboard. Tetsuo took it from her and examined it. There was a brightly lit screen on it and it felt like it weighed a ton in her thin arms. That being said, it probably did not weight much more than the glass of water she struggled to lift earlier. ¡°What is this?¡± Tetsuo asked. ¡°That, my dear little time capsule, is a tablet computer. Several hundred times more powerful than anything you had in the 70s. One Megahertz CPU? Try Gigahertz. Welcome to the modern age little Tatsuko, and it¡¯s simply controlled by- Oh? You¡¯ve already got the hang of it,¡± She grinned, watching as Tetsuo easily and intuitively scrolled up and down the document using the touch controls. It was a profile of a girl. There was a rectangle at the top with the words ¡®Picture TBA¡¯ in it. Next to it was a name, Yomohiro Tatsuko, age fifteen, birthdate of February 15th, 2000, height of 149cm, no weight listed, black hair, black eyes. The place of birth was listed as Tabaruzuka Village. Apparently Yomohiro Tatsuko was currently in the hospital after she contracted a life-threatening illness that had to be treated in the city. She would be discharged to a distant uncle in the area by the name of Kurogane Hiro. ¡°So this is supposed to be me? I thought I was supposed to be thirteen,¡± Tetsuo- no, it was Tatsuko now, asked. ¡°You catch on quick. Well, I guess it would have been fairly obvious considering who Yomohiro Tatsuko would be living with, but yea, that¡¯s you. While your body is thirteen, we figured you did not want to sit through middle school again. On the other hand, you never properly finished high school and you need to catch up on the going-ons of the last thirty years so the higher ups figured that putting you in high school would be ideal,¡± Major Takakawa said, explaining the reasonings behind the mismatched age. ¡°I got my GED though, when I was in ranger school,¡± he said, recalling the accelerated education he received during training. Major Takakawa shook her head and chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s not good, it¡¯s every Japanese teenager¡¯s dream to have a fulfilling high school life. Property of the government or not, even you deserve that much, right?¡± The major smiled as she clasped her hands together. ¡°What are you even talking about?¡± Tatsuko asked. ¡°I¡¯m just saying, you¡¯ve been given an opportunity to live through a rose-colored high school life with all your adult maturity, wisdom, and experience, That¡¯s not an opportunity most- no, anybody has ever had.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t exactly know a whole lot about modern high school culture,¡± checking the date on the tablet computer so find out that he had been out of commission for thirty four years. Forget about modern high school culture, he barely even knew anything modern at all. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, you¡¯ve got two nieces to look after you. One of them is even the same ¡®age¡¯ as you. It¡¯ll be fun,¡± she said, dropping something Tatsuko was not quite prepared to accept. Her brother had been married and had two daughters. Even though Major Takakawa joked about her having adult wisdom, Tetsuo died when he was twenty-three. That was barely an adult at all. Tatsuko flipped through the information rather quickly, opting to memorize key points rather than every little detail. Most students probably were not going to know that the Berlin Wall fell in 1990 but most would know what it was and that it marked the end of the Soviet Union. Even back in 1981 there were signs of the Soviet Union being unable to hold itself together so it did not come as too huge a surprise to Tatsuko. Attacks on the world trade center leading to an extended war in the Middle East surprised Tatsuko a bit, considering how, when she was still a he, it was the Russians being bogged down by the Afghans. One thing in particular caught her eye though. SALT, the strategic arms limitations talks that had been discussed when Tetsuo was still alive had actually managed to come out with something. Most countries had begun to limit the amount of nukes they had, though that was irrelevant to what else was attached to those decisions. The hero ranking system. Starting from the bottom, a D-class hero was someone who could do the work of a SWAT team alone, a C-class hero could do the work of a special forces unit alone, B-class could do the work of a team of C-class heroes, and an A-class could serve as a nuclear deterrent. Lastly, there were S-class heroes, thirty-eight of them worldwide. Each of them had the power to cause fusion-bomb level disaster and were kept under strict control. The United States had sixteen of them, the Russians had nine, China had five, Japan had four, though those were counted towards the US total as well, India had one, Pakistan had one, and the European Union had six. Each S-rank¡¯s identity and location, under START, was required to be public knowledge. One of the names in particular stood out to Tatsuko. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°You¡¯re an S-rank hero?¡± she asked the woman sitting by her bedside. ¡°Yeap. 1st generation Magical Girl and later, 5th generation Super Sentai, S-rank hero Major Takakawa at your service,¡± she said. ¡°The Frozen Empress of Japan¡¯s Four Heavenly Kings?¡± Tatsuko read aloud. ¡°Oh god, don¡¯t remind me. As much as I love my country¡¯s culture, their obsession with things that come in fours is incredibly embarrassing. Elite four, four gods, four heavenly kings, ugh it¡¯s all super chuuni,¡± she said, sighing. ¡°Chuuni?¡± Tatsuko asked, hearing yet another strange term. ¡°Chuunibyou, eighth grader syndrome. You know how when you¡¯re younger and delude yourself into thinking you¡¯re special regardless of whether or not you actually are and end up doing embarrassing things you regret when you grow older?¡± She asked. ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Tatsuko replied, shaking her head. Though if she remembered correctly, there were some people who acted like they were going to be super sentai when they were growing up. Of course, the second generation of Super Sentai only had five teams. ¡°Must be a generational thing,¡± Major Takakawa said, leaning in and staring at Tatsuko. ¡°What is it?¡± Tatsuko asked. If she was uncomfortable being stared at so intensely, she was not showing any of it. ¡°You¡¯re taking all of this awfully well.¡± ¡°Considering my other option was being dead, I don¡¯t really have anything to complain about,¡± Tatsuko shrugged. She had left the document page on the tablet and was now flipping through screens and apps. ¡°Well, I have to leave soon, there¡¯s an icon on the homepage that¡¯s a circle with a sideways triangle on it. It¡¯s got a bunch of videos in it. Your homework tonight is to watch through all of them,¡± Major Takakawa got up to leave. She chatted with the nurse for a bit, then headed out the door with her, leaving Tatsuko alone with her tablet. An upbeat j-pop beat started playing and a some large-eyed anime girls appeared on the screen. ¡°Gooooood mooooorning!¡± 7am the next morning, Major Takakawa burst into Tatsuko¡¯s room. Tatsuko woke up with a start, dark circles beneath her eyes and a tablet in her hand plugged into a wall charger. She was exhausted, but she groggily performed a salute. ¡°Hm, you look awfully tired, when did you sleep last night?¡± Major Takakawa asked. ¡°Sometime after five am¡­¡± Tatsuko replied, feeling guilty. The tablet actually ran out of power about four episodes in and the nurse had to help her charge it. Tatsuko marathoned through the twelve episode magical girl anime, as per her orders, but immediately afterwards, she began exploring other aspects of what the tablet could do. She actually managed to learn that her former comrades were alive, though retired out in the countryside, so that was a relief at the very least. Deciding that she would ask Major Takakawa for their phone numbers later, she ended up spending nearly 8 hours on wikipedia, catching up on as much as she could before she passed out from exhaustion. ¡°You ought to take better care of government property,¡± Major Takakawa said, jokingly reminding Tatsuko of the somewhat disheartening fact that she did not technically have human rights. ¡°I figured that this body has slept for so long that one more night would not make too much of a difference,¡± she replied, trying to justify her late night. Major Takakawa ignored it and changed topics again. ¡°So what did you think of the anime?¡± She asked, making Tatsuko go over her homework. ¡°It was¡­ amusing, I suppose. Childish and colorful. I don¡¯t know, I didn¡¯t enjoy it very much,¡± Tatsuko said, fairly bluntly. She did not really have much of an opinion on it as it obviously was not something that was geared towards someone who was a twenty-three year old man. ¡°That was my favorite show when I was a kid, it actually inspired the creation of the magical girl program you know,¡± Major Takakawa sighed. It seemed like she was really hoping Tatsuko would enjoy it to. Tatsuko decided to try saying something that might make her feel better. ¡°So do I get a magic talking animal companion or something?¡± Tatsuko asked. ¡°Well, no, you won¡¯t. They opted to just have the senior generation, in other words me, teach you magic rather than learning it through a magic companion like we did. That being said though, I did bring Minerva with me,¡± Major Takakawa opened up a window and a little owl flew in. And then it started talking. ¡°You must be Yomohiro Tatsuko,¡± the owl said, a mature female voice coming from it as it perched on the medical equipment by Tatsuko¡¯s bed. Tatsuko did not show any surprise at the owl, just kept her usual expression on. ¡°And I suppose you¡¯re Minerva. I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re here to test my magic or something?¡± Tatsuko asked, managing to remember what Major Takakawa said earlier. ¡°Straight to the point, I like it. Just let me saunter over there and unlock your mana pool,¡± the owl said before hopping onto Tatsuko¡¯s head. The tiny weight of the owl was still enough to make Tatsuko¡¯s weak neck muscles struggle. ¡°Ah, right, then. Hmm, right. Okay.,¡± The owl said, doing its best sorting hat impression. Not that Tatsuko would understand that reference to begin with. ¡°Oh knock it off will you? Let¡¯s not waste more time that we have to,¡± Major Takakawa snapped at Minerva. The owl made a sound that sounded like the clicking of a tongue. ¡°You were so much more fun and cuter when you were still B-rank,¡± Minerva said, annoyance and nostalgia mixing in the tone of her voice. A faint blue glow surrounded Tatsuko and Minerva and it steadily began to grow stronger. The weight of Minerva on her head started to vanish as Tatsuko¡¯s physical strength also seemed to grow. ¡°Woah,¡± Tatsuko said, showing a genuinely surprised expression on her face. She stared at her hands as she felt power flowing through them. ¡°Blue aura, is she an ice attribute as well?¡± Major Takakawa asked Minerva. ¡°No, she seems to have a fire-attribute, but that¡¯s not from her magic. She has latent pyrokinetic abilities, likely from her previous life. Her magic doesn¡¯t seem to have an elemental attribute at all, though it is sizeable indeed. She would be B-rank at minimum, I wouldn¡¯t even be surprised if they listed her as A-rank right off the bat,¡± the owl said. Tatsuko¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. Without any mana pool training she was already A-rank? As Akakabuto, Tetsuo had only been C-rank, at least that¡¯s what wikipedia listed him as since the ranking was done after his death. ¡°Can you tell what her magic attribute is at all?¡± Major Takakawa asked again. ¡°No, it¡¯s out of my specialty. I¡¯ll have to take a mana sample back to the lab for analysis, we¡¯ll know by tomorrow. If I had to wager a guess though, probably some sort of light-attribute, though it¡¯s still strictly non-elemental. If we had an American or European companion spirit, they would probably be able to tell right away,¡± Minerva explained. ¡°So you¡¯re saying you¡¯re useless?¡± Major Takakawa said, teasing Minerva. ¡°Don¡¯t get smart with me girl, I¡¯m a specialist and a world authority on elemental magic. Be amazed that I could even awaken her magic power at all,¡± Minerva shot back, furiously waving its wings and spreading some feathers around. ¡°Yes yes, oh wise Minerva, thank you for your wonderful service,¡± Major Takakawa sarcastically thanked her. Minerva flew back out the window with a ¡®harumph¡¯ and Major Takakawa turned back to Tatsuko. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± she asked. ¡°Stronger,¡± Tatsuko replied, curtly. ¡°Your passive physical boost seems to be in effect. Try walking,¡± Major Takakawa said. Tatsuko complied, pulling herself out of the hospital bed. The ground felt unsteady under her feet. She wobbled a bit and Major Takakawa had to catch her, but she was definitely walking under her own power. ¡°Excellent, this will bring you up to spec much more quickly. Your training will begin tomorrow.¡± Chapter 3: Family (Spoiler alert, nothing happens) August 6th, 2015 A fist wooshed right past Tatsuko¡¯s head, the force blowing her ponytail back as she narrowly sidestepped the blow. She reached for the arm but it slipped out of her grasp like an eel. The sharp point of a knee was thrown at her sternum but she managed to catch it with both her hands but it was not enough to stop the force of the blow which took her feet off the ground. Tatsuko pushed, flipping her 150cm tall body behind her 180cm tall opponent so she could spin around with a roundhouse kick but was immediately struck in the thigh by a fist, causing her to stagger and fall. Tatsuko immediately rolled aside to dodge a stomp coming her way before standing up to perform what resembled a shoryuken from Street Fighter. If she wanted to, she could have even used her pyrokinesis to light her arm on fire. It was a clean hit on her opponent¡¯s jaw, causing them to stagger as they shook off the blow and regained footing. Tatsuko took that opportunity to rush in and grab her opponent by the waist and perform a suplex. Unfortunately for her, her opponent¡¯s longer arms reached the floor before her head did and used the momentum to complete the arc and toss Tatsuko off her. A buzzer sounded as Tatsuko hit the floor and rolled into a crouching position. ¡°Damn,¡± she said, taking off her protective helmet and wiping the sweat from her brow. Her opponent was standing in a white ring, about 5 meters in diameter and looked similarly visibly sweaty and tired. ¡°And that¡¯s ten victories,¡± her opponent said, taking off her own helmet and stretching out her right hand to form a V with her fingers. Major Takakawa walked over to Tatsuko and helped her up. ¡°I really thought I would get more than three today,¡± Tatsuko said as her breathing returned to normal. The two of them sat down on a nearby bench. ¡°Hah, I got a Bronze medal in the 2012 Olympics for women¡¯s sentai sumo, even if you invented it, you never practiced against anyone other than your teammates while I¡¯ve got twenty years of experience. Still, I¡¯m amazed, you¡¯ve only been back for a week and you can already take three games off me,¡± Major Takakawa congratulated Tatsuko, patting her on the head. There was not much of a strength or endurance difference between them either, as Tatsuko was using passive physical enhancement to match Major Takakawa¡¯s strength, speed, and endurance. Sentai sumo was sport that Tatsuko had made up back when she was still Tetsuo. It was based off of traditional sumo, though the ring was slightly larger and the rules somewhat difference. You won either by ringout or knockout, but kicking, punching, grappling, groundfighting were all legal. It was honestly more like mixed martial arts than traditional sumo. Apparently it got popular internationally within the last ten years and made its first Olympic appearance in 2012. Most pros were former supersoldiers, though the use of supernatural abilities was banned in official competitions. ¡°Just how old are you anyways?¡± Tatsuko asked as she took a sip of water which was promptly, and forcefully spurted out of her mouth when Major Takakawa slapped her on the back. ¡°Isn¡¯t it rude to ask a woman her age? But if you must know, I turned thirty-three the day before you woke up,¡± she said, laughing. Age was irrelevant to her since magic would mean she would stay in her physical prime well into her fifties. ¡°Oh. Well, happy birthday then Major,¡± Tatsuko said. She was promptly grabbed by the sweaty Major and held close to her rather generous assets. ¡°Oh man, you¡¯re so cute. You really filled up well, can¡¯t even recognize you from the skinny little skeleton from before. I don¡¯t even care if you were a twenty-three year old man, stay a little girl forever won¡¯t you?¡± she said as Tatsuko attempted to squirm her way out of her arms. It was true though, her body had more fat on it now, she looked like a normal, healthy girl. The magic of a diet with real food and physical therapy combined with magic meant it only took her a week to get to full physical strength. ¡°So when am I actually going to start learning magic?¡± Tatsuko said, changing the topic at hand. She gave up on getting out of the major¡¯s iron cuddle and settled into her position as a body pillow. ¡°When Starfighter finishes up his guide. Star affinity isn¡¯t exactly a common affinity and as one of the American A-ranks, Starfighter is pretty busy with his own business. The only other star affinity magic users on the planet are John Barrows and Solar Flare,¡± she explained. John Barrows was an American S-rank codenamed Supernova and Solar Flare was a European A-rank. Both of them had been trained by Starfighter personally. Starfighter himself was self-taught and the world¡¯s leading (and only) authority on star-affinity magic. ¡°Honestly, we¡¯ll probably start you off with general magic training with your teammates, I¡¯m not in charge of your magic training, I¡¯m just helping you out for now since I don¡¯t really have anything better to do until the team is formed,¡± She said, leaning back to stretch out her muscles a bit, though she still gripped Tatsuko, pulling her back with her. ¡°Well, alright, I¡¯m just feeling antsy,¡± Tatsuko said, flexing the fingers of her right hand. She was impatient. Being stuck in a modern military facility was neat and all, filled with new things that did not exist thirty years ago, but there was so much more outside. But more than that, she wanted to be out in the field again. ¡°Are you ready for Sunday then?¡± Major Takakawa asked, pushing Tatsuko forward as she rocked forwards. ¡°...No,¡± Tatsuko said after a short pause. Moving in with her younger brother and his family was one thing, Hiro had already agreed to that, but repairing their relationship was something else. The more she ran simulations through her head, the more she thought it was pointless to do so, but the less time she spent thinking about it, the more uncomfortable she felt. ¡°How about another round to take your mind off of it?¡± Major Takakawa suggested, finally releasing Tatsuko from her bear hug. ¡°I feel like that¡¯s just running away from my problems,¡± Tatsuko sighed, leaning forwards and putting her hands together. She stared at the ground and shook her head, trying to toss off her thoughts. ¡°A good leader knows when to retreat,¡± said the major. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s quite relevant...¡± said Tatsuko. She got up and started limbering up her limbs. ¡°But yea, let¡¯s go for a few more rounds.¡± Three days later, it was Sunday. Tatsuko stood in front of a, suburban, two-story home. Across the road behind her was a beige compact car. Two soldiers in plainsclothes were chatting with each other about baseball as they occasionally glanced in Tatsuko¡¯s direction. Tatsuko herself was wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans. A satchel slung over her shoulder contained a basic change of clothes and a tablet computer, as per her own personal request. She turned around and looked at the soldiers in the car, as though she were seeking emotional support from them. One of them just shrugged at her, they could not really understand what she was feeling and simply did not know how to help. Tatsuya returned the unhelpful gesture and turned back around. There was no point in putting this off any longer than she had to, she took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. "Hello?" a young, female voice sounded from the speaker in Japanese. "Umm, is this the residence of Hi- Uncle Hiro?" sheI stammered out, tip toeing nervously to attempt to look over the tall gate. An entirely pointless venture since it was a wrought iron gate and she could have easily just looked through the gaps. ¡°Oh!¡± An excited shout came through the speaker and Tatsuko could hear thing being knocked over and scrambled around from the speaker. ¡°You must be Tatsuko! Look up, look up~¡± the voice came back. Tatsuko looked up towards the 2nd story window and saw a girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen years old, waving through the window and holding a wireless landline-style phone to her head. She was dabbed in random colors, especially on her arms and face. Her straight hair that reached just above her shoulders was dyed bright orange, though smudges of color were similarly dotted through. Tatsuko nervously smiled and waved back. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Mom¡¯ll let you in, just come in through the gate first,¡± the girl said. A beeping noise sounded as the gate unlocked itself and swung inwards. Tatsuko turned around and waved goodbye to the two soldiers. They waved back and started to drive away as Tatsuko stepped through the gate. She got a better look at the house from the courtyard. It had a bit of a minimalist, clean design, lots of flat, monochrome panels against the walls. Small plants grew a short walkway to the front door and a sakura tree was planted off to the side in the grass, its branches hanging over the wall separating the property from the street. It was a far cry from the fishing shack Tetsuo and Hiro grew up in. The door swung open and a somewhat-familiar woman dressed casually in pants and a button up greeted her. Her brown hair was tied in a loose ponytail to the side which went across her shoulder. Nakamura Chie, though she was much older now, Tatsuko still recognized her as Hiro¡¯s first girlfriend. They broke up when Hiro was in high school much managed to hook up again in university. She was currently a stay at home mom and freelance web designer. ¡°Yomohiro Tatsuko I presume? Come in,¡± she asked, motioning for Tatsuko to come in. There was a smile on her face, which was more than Tatsuko had expected. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s me,¡± Tatsuko answered, giving a short bow before coming in and taking off her shoes in the entryway. ¡°I¡¯m Kurogane Chie, though you can just call me Auntie, if that¡¯s alright for you. Hiro told me all about you, including your¡­ situation. My daughters don¡¯t know though,¡± Chie said. Tatsuko sighed, her situation was supposed to be classified information, but it seemed that Hiro¡¯s wife was necessarily privy to it. ¡°Thank you very much for letting me stay in your home,¡± Tatsuko said, setting her bag down. ¡°Hiro might have given you a rough impression when he went to meet you, but I can assure you that he appreciates everything you did for him. You really are brothers though, in the way that you struggle to express how you really feel,¡± she commented. That helped alleviate some of Tatsuko¡¯s worries, though she was still nervous about meeting her former brother again. ¡°Where is... Uncle Hiro?¡± she asked, feeling a lump of nervousness in her throat. Though, as usual, her face did not betray any of her inner thoughts. She followed Chie into the living room and they sat face to face across the coffee table. ¡°On a business trip until Friday, I think he wanted to put some between you and him until he could more¡­ emotionally prepare himself,¡± Chie answered. The lump vanished as Tatsuko breathed an internal sigh of relief. It seemed that both Tatsuko and Hiro were trying to put off their problems for the time being. ¡°Well, let me show you around the house first,¡± Chie said, standing up and reaching a hand out to Tatsuko with a smile. Tatsuko accepted and followed her around. The first thing Tatsuko noticed was how large the house was. It was easily double the size of the neighboring homes, taking up two lots worth of space. Tatsuko had not noticed initially because the width was the same as any of the others, it was just much longer. First floor had a full size kitchen with an enormous range with a pair of burners on each side of a flat iron grill. There was even a dishwasher and a sink on an island. The kitchen opened up into the dining room with a huge, mahogany, eight person table. The living room they started out in was larger than most apartments in Japan, with huge couches and a massive flatscreen TV. The most surprising part of the first floor, however, was the massive bathroom. It was a full onsen-style bathhouse complete with an outdoor hotspring. Whatever Hiro was making as a supernatural technology consultant, it was far more than Tatsuko had imagined. There was actually surprise and amazement showing on Tatsuko¡¯s face. The second floor was actually bigger than the first, as the bathing area on the first floor was built into the house. The first room was Chie and Hiro¡¯s master bedroom. It was actually fairly modest in size considering the size of the house, containing only a king sized bed and an L-desk with a three-monitor computer setup which Tatsuko presumed was where Chie worked. The next room was a much smaller bathroom with a shower, nothing particularly special. Across the bathroom was another door, which Chie knocked on. ¡°Ichigo, do you mind if we come in?¡± she asked. There was the sound of things being knocked over again and more shouting. The door opened up and the girl Tatsuko saw out the window appeared again, with even more colors smeared over a generous amount of visible skin. She was wearing just hot pants and a tank top, and those too were covered in color smears. Tatsuko took a closer look inside and noticed a multitude of paintings and drawings scattered all around, most of them piled up on no less than four tables. The flooring was actually a shiny-looking tile, unlike the hardwood floors of the other rooms, likely for easier cleaning. ¡°Nice to finally meet you Tatsuko, can I call you that? I¡¯m Kurogane Ichigo, though you can just call me Ichigo or nee-chan or whatever you feel most comfortable with, I¡¯m a sixth year at East Tokyo Private Traditional High School,¡± Ichigo asked and introduced herself, shaking Tatsuko¡¯s hand and smearing it with what she now realized was oil paint. Kurogane Ichigo, Seventeen years old, East Tokyo¡¯s art club president, the numerous awards hanging off the only clean part of the room¡¯s walls was likely a good indicator of her skill, if the highly detailed art pieces littered around like trash were not enough. ¡°Yea, Tatsuko is fine with me,¡± she answered. Having her hand covered in paint was not a big deal, but Tatsuko was now sort of awkwardly holding her hand so she would not get it on anything else. ¡°Oh, sorry, lemme get that for you,¡± Ichigo apologized and tumbled her way back through her chaotic art gallery before returning with a rag to wipe Tatsuko¡¯s hands with. It helped, a bit. ¡°You have any bags? I¡¯ll go wash up and help you out with those,¡± Ichigo asked. ¡°Just one, downstairs by the entryway,¡± Chie answered for Tatsuko. ¡°Must be a pretty big bag then,¡± Ichigo commented, wiping her feet and stepping out and towards the second floor bathroom. ¡°Not really¡­¡± Tatsuko said, though Ichigo had already closed the bathroom door behind her. ¡°Alright then, the next two rooms are Ichigo¡¯s and Fuuka¡¯s. Fuuka is probably still asleep, and Ichigo hates it when people enter her room without her permission, so I¡¯ll show you your room,¡± Chie opened up a door at the end of the hallway. It was a small, spartan room. There was a chair and a small desk in one corner and a twin bed on the other. The closet was open, and empty except for some school uniforms and gym clothes. ¡°If you need anything else, like posters or a bookshelf or anything, just ask,¡± Chie said, assuring that Tatsuko would be taken care of. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I get a stipend I can use,¡± Tatsuko replied. She looked visibly more relaxed. It was an odd feeling, looking at her own room. More importantly, she finally had her own room, and it only took over fifty years and dying to get it. ¡°Hey, is this seriously all you have? It¡¯s just a single change of clothes and a cheapo tablet,¡± Ichigo said, coming in. The paint was off of her hands and face, though still everywhere else. The mood was immediately killed as she dragged Tatsuko out to go buy the things she needed. Interlude (this should probably be in the last chapter but I didn''t feel like shoehorning it in there so instead I shoehorned it in here) August 9th, 2015 Tatsuko sighed as she lowered her body into the Kurogane house¡¯s private hotspring. She had spent the last five hours as Ichigo¡¯s dress up doll. It was fun. Well, no it was not, it was tiring. Trying to keep up with Ichigo¡¯s energy was a struggle but it was certainly not something she could call boring either. Plus, clothes were something she was going to need, it was not like she could stay in her school uniform every day of the week... or could she¡­ The thought was ripped from her head, however, as she heard someone enter. A girl with the same long, brown hair as Chie walked entered with only a towel for modesty. She was roughly the same height as Tatsuko, and roughly the same physical age too. They made eye contact for and held it for a moment before Tatsuko gave a nervous hello. The other girl merely nodded and washed up. ¡°Umm¡­ You must be Yomohiro Tatsuko, I¡¯m Kurogane Fuuka,¡± she said, introducing herself as she stepped into the hotspring. It was kind of odd for Tatsuko, talking to her own niece while the both of them were naked. It was not particularly embarrassing, just really awkward. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s me,¡± Tatsuko did a sort-of bow as best she could while sitting in the hotspring. Fuuka did the same but planted her face into the water and spluttered out. They sort of just sat there for a few minute in silence as Fuuka tried to recover from her embarrassment. Tatsuko did not know what to ask, anything she wanted to know, she already read up during her last week. Kurogane Fuuka, age thirteen, East Tokyo Private Traditional High School year two, member of the track and field team. Apparently she also had quite the collection of light novels. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°What year are you entering school as?¡± Fuuka asked, looking up and making eye contact for a split second before nervously looking away. ¡°Fourth year, class 4-C it seems,¡± Tatsuko answered. ¡°Oh, sorry then senpai, I thought you were my age,¡± she looked a little flustered and embarrassed. She was not wrong though, physically the body Tatsuko was in was only thirteen. ¡°Senpai?¡± Tatsuko asked, catching the upperclassman honorific. ¡°Oh, East Tokyo is a traditional Japanese style school. Classes are in English like everywhere else but we¡¯re encouraged to speak Japanese and use Japanese-style honorifics while between classes and during club,¡± Fuuka explained. She started nervously fiddling with her fingers for a bit. ¡°Ah, I see,¡± Tatsuko answered. That was not why she asked though, she already knew about the school¡¯s customs. She wanted to know why Fuuka was using ¡®senpai¡¯ while she was at home. But, rather than bring it up, Tatsuko chose to ignore it. The two of them continued to awkwardly stay in the hotspring for a few more minutes before saying good night to each other as Tatsuko got up to leave. Teaser 1 (I have a chapter half-done but I''m in a rut so I probably won''t put one out this week, or if I do it won''t be til the middle of next week, idk. So instead, here''s a teaser for what''s coming in the far far future. If you don''t want any spoilers at all, then don''t read.) August 1st, 2019 The sound of a buzzer rang as the wrought iron fence opened up. A woman stepped out, approximately nineteen years of age, 160cm tall with wavy hair as red as fire tied up in a ponytail, and eyes as blue as sapphires. She was wearing a t-shirt and jeans and carrying a satchel whose contents consisted only of a single change of clothes and a cheap tablet. The woman took a deep breath of the fresh outside air for the first time in five years as another woman called out to her. ¡°Over here,¡± a beautiful blonde woman with long, curly hair that reached past her shoulders, dressed in a business suit and sunglasses, waved to her while leaning on a European sports car. Her voice had quite a strong French accent. The redheaded woman walked over to meet her. ¡°Glad to be out of prison?¡± the blonde woman asked. She handed the redhead a bag from a grocery store.. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°The hell is this?¡± the redhead asked, laughing as she saw what was inside. A block of cheap tofu, still in its packaging, sat at the bottom. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a custom among your people?¡± the blonde asked. ¡°I think it¡¯s a Korean thing,¡± the redhead answered. Both of them laughed. ¡°Well, moving on, I take it you¡¯ve accepted our agreement, Miss Stardust?¡± the blonde asked again, reaching out her hand. ¡°Of course, it¡¯ll be a pleasure working with another Star-affinity magic user, I have much to learn from you. But please, you can call me by my real name, I¡¯m certain the whole world knows it now anyways,¡± the redhead reached out and accepted the handshake. ¡°Very well then. I, Solar Flare, am pleased to welcome you to the European Special Task Force, Miss Yom-,¡± she started to say before being cut off by a wave of the hand from the other girl. ¡°Don¡¯t call me that, that¡¯s not my name,¡± the redhead said, shaking her head. ¡°Than what is your real name?¡± ¡°Kurogane. Kurogane Tetsuo.¡± Chapter 4: Flight ((Hey guys, I''m not dead, just incredibly lazy, next chapter will finally actually have magical girl stuff I swear)) August 10th, 2015 ¡°So how was your first day of school?¡± Major Takakawa asked Tatsuko as she was changing. They were alone in a female locker room, the same one attached to the military hospital where Tatsuko had woken up and gone through physical therapy. Before, Major Takakawa would have teased Tatsuko but, by this point, Tatsuko was already used to being naked with her. ¡°Nothing special, people kept asking me questions though,¡± Tatsuko replied, tying up her hair in a ponytail again. ¡°They¡¯re interested in you, Ms. Mysterious Transfer Student,¡± Major Takakawa said, explaining. ¡°Yea, well, I¡¯m more interested right now in my future teammates. Do I meet them today?¡± Tatsuko asked curtly. She left the locker room and out to the outdoor training grounds with the major following close by. ¡°Yea, about that, we¡¯ve run into some trouble with our recruitment process so you¡¯ll be operating solo for a while,¡± Major Takakawa looked apologetic, though Tatsuko was kind of expecting this to begin with. It had only been two weeks since she had woken up, and a mere two weeks to find suitable teammates was too ambitious to begin with. The kabuto corp selection process Kurogane Tetsuo went through before took a few months just to pick candidates. That being said, a part of her was still a little unhappy. As cold and impersonal as Hiro thought his brother was, Tasuko knew that it was always better having someone or two at your back than to be alone in the field. ¡°I¡¯m still learning magic today though, right?¡± Tatsuko asked, changing topics. Major Takakawa grinned and tossed a thin, red block to Tatsuko who easily caught it. It was a smartphone, a black screen on front and a red metallic body with blue four-pointed stars streaking across the back. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve seen more than a few of those these last few days. Cellphones, like that tablet you enjoyed so much, only smaller and able to make calls. This one has a special feature though, crack open the back,¡± Major Takakawa said. Tatsuko obliged and popped off the phone case and peeled off the back as the Major instructed her to. ¡°This is a henshin device,¡± Tatsuko said flatly. It had the same basic design as the one she had used thirty years ago as Akakabuto. A central core connected to three modules, the recognition scrambler to prevent anyone from recognizing them while transformed, the weapons module that pulled their weapons from hammerspace, and the armor module that contained their supersuit. At the very least, it was nice to see that some things stayed the same. However this one had an additional fourth module. ¡°It would be a henshin device if you were still a super sentai, we call them Transformation Sequencers for magical girls. Just as a general rule-of-thumb naming convention, Sentai and Sentai-related equipment and names are in Japanese, as I¡¯m sure you¡¯re used to, but Magic Girl-related things are in English,¡± Major Takakawa explained. Tatsuko nodded and kept staring at the fourth module. ¡°And that is a magic control module, it lets you channel your magic when you don¡¯t have the innate ability to do so,¡± Major Takakawa continued to explain. ¡°What do you mean by that? Doesn¡¯t everybody with magic have that ability?¡± Tatsuko asked, remembering that she was able to use passive physical enhancement without such a device. ¡°No, those who possess both an innate pool of magic and the ability to utilize it without additional equipment are considered Indigo children. Few people have a useable amount of magic power, probably about one in a hundred thousand have enough magic to be of any use. Of those that remain, only about one in a thousand have the innate ability to control it, most people, myself included, require a magic module.¡± ¡°Indigo children?¡± Tatsuko asked. Yet again, there was a new term she had not heard before. ¡°Kids who are naturally born with the ability to use supernatural powers. They¡¯re incredibly rare, though they occurred at a higher rate near Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and from other people who were descendants of those exposed to large amounts of radiation. Most of them have psychic abilities, like your pyrokinesis, though they were born with it and didn¡¯t have to have surgery or take experimental drug cocktails like you did. The definition was expanded to include natural-born magic users. Now that I think about it, you might actually be the only person in the world who would be considered an indigo child in regards to both magic and psychic abilities.¡± ¡°Well considering my body was designed and not naturally occurring, I don¡¯t think it counts,¡± Tatsuko said, almost feeling bad for being given a top-spec body. ¡°Speaking of, how are you feeling? Any body dysmorphia? It must be really strange being a male in a female body, especially one so drastically different from your old one,¡± Major Takakawa asked. Tatsuko frowned internally, feeling that if they cared enough about how he felt, they would not have stuck him in a female body to begin with. ¡°Honestly, it was incredibly uncomfortable at first, like I was being crammed in an amusement park mascot suit that was far too small for me, but I feel pretty natural now. First major gripe is that I¡¯d like to be taller, it¡¯s hard to reach high places,¡± Tatsuko said, doing stretches with the Major so limber up. ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll start to get taller too, as soon as you get your first period,¡± she said, making Tatsuko choke on her own spit. ¡°What?¡± She said between sputters and coughs. Tatsuko had not even considered other aspects of being a woman until this point. Mostly, she had been preoccupied with not peeing on herself on squat toilets, wearing skirts, wearing tights because bare legs were cold, and waking up with an untamed bush of hair on her head. ¡°What, did you think you wouldn¡¯t have to deal with the same problems every other woman does?¡± The look Major Takakawa gave Tatsuko might have actually been considered harsh. ¡°If you could engineer a superhuman body, why couldn¡¯t you have engineered one that didn¡¯t have the problems that come with it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know the details but genetics isn¡¯t like legos, you can¡¯t just pick and choose what aspects you want and slap them together hoping it¡¯ll work out. If we took out your monthly cycle, you probably wouldn¡¯t be able to get pregnant and, probably more important to you, you might not ever go through puberty, meaning you¡¯ll be a midget for the rest of your life. And finally, most important to us as a military, you would not be able to reach your full magic potential.¡± ¡°Well fine, if it¡¯s just once a month, I¡¯ll just endure it. What¡¯s so funny?¡± Tatsuko declared before Major Takakawa started giggling. ¡°Nothing, it¡¯s just unusual seeing someone who fought giant monsters in a giant metal deathtrap worried about things every woman deals with each month,¡± she said, between giggles. Tatsuko was feeling a little embarrassed about her over-reaction though. ¡°Alright, alright, let¡¯s move on. First magic lesson, performing your transformation sequence,¡± Major Takakawa said, straightening herself up and pulling out what looked like a silvery makeup compact with a snowflash design. With a flick of her wrist and a twirl of her body, she transformed. An elegant, silvery-blue, open-back dress with a ribbon twisted behind her neck and around her arms replaced the MMA-style outfit she was wearing. Long gloves appeared on her arms, going just past the elbow. Her platinum blonde-hair turned pure white, as did her eyebrows and eyelashes, and snowflakes started falling around her. A longe, silver lance with a ribbon tied near the head finished it off, giving her a look befitting of her title as the Frozen Empress. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Wow, uh, let¡¯s give this a shot then,¡± Tatsuko was at a loss for words for a moment, watching the major, but she snapped herself back to reality and fiddled with her smartphone. She hit the transformation module and sparkles filled her vision for a split second. ¡°How do I look?¡± Tatsuko asked. It was kind of poofy, frills everywhere, but it was hard to get a good look at herself without a mirror. She looked at the major and saw her trying to stifle a laugh. Not a good sign. ¡°Here, have a mirror,¡± the major lifted her spear up slightly and hit the ground with the butt. A thick slab of ice formed next to Tatsuko and she turned to look. Her wavy black hair had turned bright red and her previously red eyes had turned bright blue. She was dressed in what resembled princess-lolita style fashion with a primarily white and blue color scheme. White gloves on her hand with blue ribbons, white high-lace boots with blue cross lacing, white poofy dress with blue frills, and a long blue ribbon tied neatly into a bow behind her back. ¡°What is... this?¡± Tatsuko said, leaning in towards the mirror and giving herself a funny look. ¡°Oh, aren¡¯t you adorable, it¡¯s your new combat gear, I had some design input myself you know?¡± Major Takakawa grabbed Tatsuko from behind by the waist and lifted her up in a hug. Tatsuko did not even try to struggle this time and let the major have her enjoyment. ¡°Why did we even change first if we were going to henshin anyways?¡± she asked. Major Takakawa Tatsuko down before opening her mouth to say something, but a look of realization swept across her face as she thought about it. There really was no need to change into their training gear. ¡°Well, moving on, your suit provides basic defensive protections, much like your older Akakabuto suit, but it also gives you passive strength and speed boosts powered by your magic. You also have access to your modules on that brooch,¡± Major Takakawa brushed aside the previous topic as she pointed out the functionality of Tatsuko¡¯s new equipment. Tatsuko looked at her chest and saw a four pointed blue star brooch. ¡°Top is the transformation sequencer, left is armament, right is recognition scrambler, and the bottom is the magic control module, which you don¡¯t need to fiddle with. Try seeing what weapons the higher ups decided to outfit you with,¡± Tatsuko nodded to the major¡¯s instructions, touching the left point of the brooch. As she pulled her hand away, sparkles came out and formed into a white parasol with blue lacing around the edges. ¡°You¡¯re kidding me, right?¡± Tatsuko said, twirling the parasol around like a western longsword and opening and closing it. Akakabuto was at least equipped with a blaster, what was a glorified umbrella supposed to do? There was not even a trigger to shoot anything or even a hidden sword in the handle. ¡°It channels your magic and has the same endurance as your outfit. Bulletproof, fireproof, electrically insulating, etc,¡± Major Takakawa explained, reading off a list. ¡°That¡¯s great and all but this design seems terribly unnecessary,¡± Tatsuko said, complaining. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that from a man who used to wear a bodysuit. At least now you¡¯ll look cute in combat instead of like a pervert,¡± Major Takakawa shot back. ¡°Fine then, what¡¯s today¡¯s lesson?¡± Tatsuko asked, frowning at what the major said about her previous outfit. Major Takakawa gave her a mischievous grin and Tatsuko could already tell she was not going to life what happened next. The major grabbed Tatsuko by the ribbon around her waist using the tip of her spear and then proceeded to launch her into the air. Tatsuko stopped ascending at about fifty feet and then plummeted to the ground. She spread herself eagle until the last moment and handed on her feet. A crack could be heard as her shins fractured. Tatsuko let out a grunt as she rolled over, her legs throbbing in pain. ¡°First lesson, master rapid-recovery magic and higher level physical enhancement. Second, learn to fly,¡± Major Takakawa said, a gleeful smile on her face. Tatsuko wanted to say something but, between the pain and her focusing on learning the self-healing spell, she could not spit out the words. For the next three hours, she was tossed into the air by the major and told to slow her descent using her magic as much as possible. By the end of that time, Tatsuko had managed to at least grasp basic control of flight magic and self-healing, mostly from receiving minor injuries upon landing. She might not be able to overtake a fighter jet, but at the very least, she could reasonably jump to the fifth story of the hospital under her own power and jump back down without getting injured. Full self-powered flight was nothing but a pipe dream for Akakabuto but for Yomohiro Tatsuko? It looked like it was not going to be much longer before she could do it. ¡°I think I got this,¡± Tatsuko said. She had been trying to propel herself with magic rather than merely slowing her descent, with mixed results, but now she felt like she could pull it off from the ground. Standing still, Tatsuko surrounded herself in magic and ¡®pulled¡¯ upwards, starting to float slightly above the ground. Her arms and legs were spread out a bit as she instinctively tried to maintain her balance, though in all honestly it was pointless. Tatsuko hung there for a few minutes before she suddenly fell backwards and felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. ¡°Gah,¡± Tatsuko snapped upright, nearly hitting the major in the face with her forehead. She blinked and looked around, realizing that she was in the women¡¯s changing room again and had previously been laying down on one of the benches. ¡°What happened?¡± She asked, looking at Major Takakawa. ¡°Your magic power ran out, then you landed badly and hit your head on a rock,¡± Major Takakawa answered. ¡°I see,. How long was I out?¡± Tatsuko reached behind her skull and winced as she tenderly touched a bump. A quick self-healing spell fixed it right up. It appeared that enough time had passed that at least some magic power had returned. ¡°About ten minutes, I was afraid you might have brain damage, though rapid-healing should prevent that,¡± Major Takakawa answered. Tatsuko looked at the wall clock, it was seven in the evening. She had contacted her ¡®guardian¡¯, Chie, earlier about her ¡®extended hospital checkup¡¯ so at least there was no worrying about that. A low rumbling sound could be heard as Tatsuko¡¯s stomach decided it was hungry. When was the last time she ate? Noon? ¡°Let¡¯s end this for today, clean yourself up and I¡¯ll get you some dinner before I send you home. Unfortunately, that probably just means Yoshinoya,¡± the major said. Tatsuko nodded nodded somewhat lazily before getting up to get changed.