《Mirai-chan no Senpusho! - Action & Slice-of-Life by 2na_F1sh》 Chapter 0 - Mirai Keikan, Future Policeman It happened when she was five. Mirai remembered it very clearly: the day her mother left. The rain poured and thunder rumbled across the sky. Mirai clung to her dad''s side, huddled underneath the umbrella. "Dad, where is mom going?" Mirai asked him, but he did not reply. He watched on, wearing a solemn expression. Wrapped in a blanket was her mother. Two of the mansion''s maids carried her suitcases and led her to a black van. Before she climbed in, her mother stopped to look over her shoulder at the mansion and family she was leaving behind. A bitter expression Mirai saw, and it was the last she''d ever see of her. It was strange, Mirai never recalled her mom and dad not getting along. Then again, she was five then, and she was seven now (even if it felt like her mom left just a week ago). Everyday Mirai looked out of her window on the second floor of the Keikan Mansion, imagining that she''d pass through those silver gates again. It never happened. The two maids escorting her mother left with her, leaving only one maid to attend to the mansion. But, two weeks later, she too left. The once-lively Japanese mansion now collected dust, and without a caretaker. Mirai''s dad was the police chief of a small fishing town called New Tako, so he may be called on duty at any moment. While he may be gone often, he tries to spend every night reading to Mirai from the stack of books by her lamp. Her dad opened the picture book, reading aloud the title "Super Joe and Friends, Save the City!". Super Joe was Mirai''s favorite superhero. Whenever her dad isn''t around, she tries to stay up late to watch American cartoons in the living room. But today... she wasn''t feeling it. Mirai pulled back her bright blue covers and gently pushed the book down. "Huh? I thought you liked Super Joe." Her dad was surprised. "I do!-- buuuut Mirai has a better idea!" She said with her golden eyes glowing: "Mirai wants to hear a story from Dad! You''re a hero too, right? Right?" Mirai rarely heard stories about his job. He was a police officer, a crime fighter, therehadto besomethingexciting for him to tell! After some pleading, her dad caved, showing a soft smile. On the outside he was trying to look cool and mature, but there was definitely some pride he felt on the inside. "I don''t have any stories to share that happened recently, so how about one from when I was a new officer fresh from the academy?" "Yeah!" She nodded. Mirai, dressed in her blue footie pajamas, then cozied into her covers, snuggling with her giant fish plushie with buttons for eyes. The story began in the heart of Osaka. Keikan Ren graduated from the academy a few weeks ago and was currently stationed by a convenience store. He parked his cruiser in the parking lot, drinking some coffee he bought because he skipped breakfast. After a while of inaction, in the midst of the swarm of midday traffic, an engine roared as a red blur blasted by. He was driving so fast that the cruiser swayed from the wind gust. Ren sighed and picked up his radio. "We have a racer driving recklessly in the city. He nearly hit a pickup truck and passed a red light, backup is requested."Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. A furious pickup driver stuck his head out of his window and yelled some obscene words at the racer. The racer lifted his foot off of the gas, sneering. "This baby has some power in it. It''ll sell nicely once I get it to the warehous¨C" The sound of a siren interrupted his thoughts. A police car entered his rearview mirror. "Shoot, and I thought there weren''t any coppers here." He pressed firmly on the gas pedal, swerving around the car in front of him. The two weaved through traffic and raced a few blocks, but the red imported sports car far outmatched Ren''s cheaper vehicle. The gap widened by the second... but before the racer had sped too far ahead, a police van suddenly pulled into the middle of the intersection, stopping right in front of him! "AAGH!" The racer stomped on the brakes, pulled the handbrake, and slid into a U-turn. The bumper narrowly scraped the van''s side, and he barreled down the road. "Since when did they start to train their officers to drive like maniacs? What were they thinking?!" While the van may have been objectively much slower, it proved a greater challenge for the racer to shake. Behind its wheel was a true talent at motorsports, and her maneuvers were far bolder than what Ren dared to do. Soon they reached a long stretch of road with less traffic. The racer was able to let loose all of his horsepower, and the gap widened exponentially. The van disappeared from sight, as well as every other pursuing officer. "Phew... now for a place to hide." He slowed down, checked his mirrors, and scanned his surroundings. "I can''t get to the freeway, they have it blocked off." And so, he found his next best choice: a tight alleyway. His small sports car could squeeze into places the typical police car could not. He pulled into an alley and moved at a crawl, trying to cause as little noise as possible. The sound of sirens was very distant... it seems they lost him. The racer grinned, sighing with relief. "Finally." Wait... he squinted. In the light at the end of the alley, he saw the very faint image of a black bumper. His eyes widened. "Oh sh¨C" The racer stood on his brake pedal. The van pulled forward, blocking him in the alley. Climbing out of the police van was a shorter woman with navy blue hair. With a smug face she strode towards him, her hand resting on the holster to her gun. "Really? An alleyway? Ya'' may be good at racin'', but I can tell ya'' suck at hide n'' seek." She was ready to pull her gun at any moment he decided to make a move. The alley was so tight that he couldn''t open his doors. He was stuck. She had him. After the racer was cuffed and placed in the van, Ren decided to stop by the scene of the incident. "You know, what you did in that intersection was reckless." He said to the woman. She didn''t seem to be bothered by him; she stuck her nose up and giggled, "Oh who cares, I was the one who detained him and that''s all that really matters!" "Does everything have to be a competition for you, Sayaka?" "Tch, of course it does!" She chuckled, "That''s what makes it fun. Once you start having fun, a job seems less like a job and more like a hobby. You should try it; detain enough folks and one day you may be higher in rank than a sergeant like me..." She then grabbed him by the uniform collar and pulled him in for a kiss. "... just notmeme." -_- "Ewwww! Kissing!" Mirai gagged, sticking her tongue out. Her dad chuckled, "Oh don''t give that face, you''ll do it too one day." "Is that how you met mom?" He shook his head, "We met in the academy. She was always the competitive type. She strove to climb the ranks as quickly as she could and held a spirit to match her ambitions. But... only one of us became the police chief." Ren slightly smirked. "I wanna be a hero too! Just like mom, just like you!" Mirai smiled. "A police officer?" Ren raised an eyebrow, "It''s dangerous work, are you sure?" Mirai nodded. She didn''t realize it at the time, but this very interaction is what will set her on the path towards her dreams of heroics... But it wasn''t going to turn out as she had imagined. "Mirai''s gonna be the police chief when you retire, you can count on me!" Meeting the Cast & Housekeeping! Hello! If you are reading this, then this probably means you have read Chapter 0 of Mirai-chan no Senpusho!, and if so, thank you! This is the start of my new series I''ve been working on for a very long time now. For the very very minute people that were there for it, I authored the now deleted ''Super Sekken'' series. Whilst it was not very good (I wrote that 60,000-word story in a month) it was my first taste at authorship, and I''ve been spending everyday researching, teaching myself art, trying to iron out my characters and storytelling so I could release something I am far prouder of. This "Chapter" will serve as small bits of housekeeping and explanations, as well as a cast introduction, if you want to know to some degree of what to expect going forward. I will not be spoiling the story so much as I am going to be displaying a groundwork of the world. Whilst I have confidence in my ability to "show not tell" in my worldbuilding, I do think a small guide could be helpful. Posting: Concerning my living situation, my posts may be either frequent or distant. I''ll try to write and post when I can, but I''m not confident in my ability to make an official schedule. Title and Logo: Mirai-chan no Senpusho means "Mirai''s Whirlwind Palm!". Another name and English translation I''ve considered is "Mirai Wants to Fight!". Both can be used interchangeably, with abbreviations being "MnS!", "MWP!", and "MWtF!" respectively. Setting: The setting takes place in a small rural town of New Tako. It''s quite distant from the busy Japanese metropolises, though the closest is Osaka. This small town is known for its wonderful fishing spots around its harbor, and equally so the number of seafood and street food vendors who are eager to capitalize on the town''s increase in tourism. Compared to other places in Japan, New Tako Town attracts very little tourists, but what numbers they do get help its local economy as well as its efforts to modernize. Most of the town center has modernized, but if you go far out enough, you''ll still find plenty of quaint traditional houses, farms, and most of all, the Keikan Mansion. The Keikan Mansion belongs to the Keikan Family, of whom are considered minor nobility for they are descended from the Ishiken Clan, a small samurai clan created during the Sengoku Jidai period, or the Great Warring Period, in Japan out of the townspeople''s interests to protect their land from the war-torn chaos across the archipelago. The Ishiken Clan wasn''t exactly powerful compared to armies of other warlords, but they made up for their lack of strength through the employment of ninjas and diplomacy to avoid charging into battle, thus risking their town being plundered. This method of stalling and quiet assassinations allowed the clan to grow its forces, protect its harbors, and train its men, eventually leading to their first and final proper battle during the Sengoku Jidai: a face-off with the newly established Tokugawa Shogunate. It was a futile fight that resulted in the Ishikens'' inevitable defeat and the torching of their castle, but the rest of the town was miraculously spared. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. During the Edo Period, a new castle was built where the old one stood and acted as the headquarters for the now subservient Ishiken Clan. This remained until a riot broke out in the late 19th century, where the castle was once-again torched, and the clan was dissolved as were the samurai and shogunate as a whole. The Keikan Estate was founded in the 1920s, but after World War II, the family decided to sell their land so more houses could be built, leaving only the three-story mansion that exists now, which is stylized like a shrunken-down castle as homage to the Keikan Family''s link to the Ishiken Clan. Family members still get involved with local politics, like Keikan Ren, who is the chief and head of the town''s police force. Meet the Cast! Keikan Ren: As previously mentioned, Ren is the head of the police force, so every misdeed and crook on the loose are reported to him. He also attends to political matters outside of his job, representing the family and its influence on the local culture. Due to this, he is very busy, but he hopes that his only daughter will not hate him for the lack of time they spend together. Keikan Sayaka: Competitive, sharp, and smug, Sayaka is confident in her abilities to come out on top. But all Mirai remembers of her mom was that she unexpectedly left when she was five. She doesn''t know why her mom left, or really much about her beyond the stories that her dad tells her. Keikan Mirai: Mirai is the heir to the family fortune and the legacy of the Keikan Family. She doesn''t realize the sheer weight that is to be placed on her shoulders, but she sees no reason to worry about it. Mirai is seven years old, she''s got plenty of time to decide about what to do. Right now, she has her sights set on becoming the coolest hero she can be! Maybe her dad would spend more time with her if she was... Nozomi: Nozomi is the first student of Kanrin Mark, of whom trained her out of necessity. She''s a very spiritual person, being a miko at the Shin Tako Jinja, but also a practitioner of dark magic, giving her access to a terrible power she must keep in control. Nozomi chose to become the maid of the mansion because she lacked a home herself. She isn''t confident in her ability to babysit, nor cook, but it seems like both Mirai and her needed company. Kanrin Mark: Kanrin Mark is a man with a debt to pay-- or so he felt, after Ren and Sayaka saved his life a few years ago. He happened to be training a student already, so he''s offered to extend his services to Mirai. He doesn''t really enjoy training kids and would much rather stick to his day job as the Maguro High school janitor, but a debt is a debt. Yamamoto Miura: Classmate of Mirai''s at Furuo Elementary School, Miura noticed one day that Mirai was lonely and offered her a seat at her table. Miura''s parents are musicians, her father a conductor, her mother a former idol, and she shares in their love for music. One day she''d like to perform in an orchestra, but what instrument should she play?