Author Topic: Between Two Dimensions: The Non-Spoiler Edition!  (Read 9020 times)

Tsuken Yasashi

  • Student of War
  • Ready to start fightin' for real?
Between Two Dimensions: The Non-Spoiler Edition!
« on: April 04, 2015, 05:38:59 AM »
Because I plan to write this idea as a novel series and sell it in anime conventions as a Doujinshi Novel Work, I will give you all, the readers, the non-spoiler edition of my summary of the series.  In addition to revealing some of the plot of the book, I will exclusively add in the Journal of Eiji Kuroda in this forum topic instead of the complete story of what I plan to write, which gives out further details about the perspective of the main protagonist of the series before, during, and after the book series' events!  Think of it as an appetizer before each book nears its release date.

So where do I start?  Ah yes, why not summarize the three books I plan to write?  Here we go:

Book 1: Bond of Memories  The Outside World: A world that is known to us as the Present Era.  Nearly 50 years has passed from that era, kicking off what is known as the Science Era, which began after a war between Japan and Korea ended with a peace treaty several years ago, showing mutual respect to one another in pursuit of scientific discovery.  Eiji Kuroda would have been an average citizen of Japan, doing his duty as a Junker: one who cleans the streets and convert machine and computer parts that existed long ago into the new machinery of today?s standards.  One night, in a district at the city of Tokyo, Japan, he encounters what seemed to be a kidnapping during his nightly exercise routines, changing his life forever when he finally mustered the guts to stand for the poor woman who was being attacked by the mysterious pursuer.

Renko Usami, now aiming for her Doctorate?s Degree in Physics on Strings at Tokyo International University, had lost someone.  For a year, she wandered around Japan, looking for the clues and whereabouts of Maribel Hearn, her best friend and confidant, who went missing one day.  They were members of a club called the Sealing Club, in which the both of them would discuss about the extraterrestrial and spirits.  One night, in a district at the city of Tokyo, while searching of her missing friend, a youkai: a mystic apparition based on folklore, began attacking her in need of sustenance, changing her life forever when a mysterious man saved her from being eaten by the monster.

This book series is about the endless possibilities of the world, as well as a nod to the Touhou Series and its fans.  The first of this series dives into finding the unseen and forgotten connection between modern reality and fantasy folklore.  What paths will Eiji and Renko walk on as they struggle in the modern world?  Will they eventually find what they truly seek?


Book 2: Revelation in Redemption [Will give out summary once I completely rough-draft book one]


BUT WAIT, THARE'S MORE TO COME IN THE NEAR FUTURE, as I have everything that I have written out in various Microsoft Word files.  In the mean time, feel free to drop in questions, suggestions, and feedback of what I have posted so far~!

Now, I has a link, posting my draft copy on it.  Check it out: Between Two Dimensions
« Last Edit: September 21, 2016, 02:51:38 PM by Tsuken Yasashi »


Between Two Dimensions - Arc One Complete

"War is a grave affair of state; it is a place of life and death, a road to survival and extinction.  A matter to be pondered carefully..."  -Sun Tzu's Art of War

Tsuken Yasashi

  • Student of War
  • Ready to start fightin' for real?
Re: Between Two Dimensions: The Non-Spoiler Edition!
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2015, 04:58:37 AM »
Next, we move onto the characters.  As they say, one does not have a story if the audience does not know who the characters are, right?




Characters, as they appear in order of appearance in each book:


-Character #1: Eiji Kuroda (Main Protagonist) [First Appearance in Book 1]

Race: Human Male

Age: 25

-Occupation: Junker, Former Martial Artist, and Former College Student of Tokyo International University [Associates Degree in Modern and Feudal Japanese History]

-Personality:  Eiji has an air of aloofness around people, preferring to not interfere with the way they live.  This has made him reserved, distant, and sometimes disinterested about many subjects between conversations, though this has enabled him to become more aware of the situation around him, as well as taking matters rather seriously instead of seeing them either in a positive, negative, or humorous light.  In combat, he seems to be more of the reckless type, despite his calm and cool demeanor, rushing in combat first to assess his opponent.  He yearns to improve himself in combat and as a person; the textbook definition of a true martial artist.  He has a soft, yet shy side when approached by women and girls and hides the fact that he is interested in all forms of music.  He also tends to be forgetful at times, despite being the wise person that should know everything.

-Backstory:  Born in Tokyo, Japan to a normal family, Eiji would have been your average person.  In fact, he was living a normal life until his middle school years came around, in which he began to see Youkai: fantasy spirits and creatures based on folklore, around his vicinity.  Despite the fact that he had a choice to save people from these creatures' misdeeds, he was powerless to do so, forcing him to watch in fear partially due to his own moral code of “not interfering with anyone’s life.”  From random strangers to friends that he knew and saw back then, they were either eaten or abducted alive in his line of sight, gone missing, or were apparently “kidnapped.”  This burdened his mind with regret to a point that Eiji nearly committed suicide, witnessing such events in front of him numerous times.

As a result, he tends to not make many friends throughout his growing years, though people who have helped him develop himself tend to have his respect in his own point of view.  He took up the martial arts at the start of his high school education to ease his regrets of the past he created, which lead him into going to college.  However, he eventually dropped his academic education to focus more on the martial arts to begin training and proclaim himself as a Youkai Hunter.  Little did he knew was that he is actually a descendant of a lost clan that existed long ago in the history of Japan, which were known for their extermination skills against Youkai.

-Abilities:  Eiji has knowledge and experience of various martial arts and their weapon counterparts, though he prefers his variation of Bushinryu Ninjutsu, a fighting form he managed to replicate from the Video Game Series Fighters on the Street (WE HAS A STREET FIGHTER SCWUB HERE!).  This fighting style relies on the practitioner to execute fast, rapid strikes and kicks to overwhelm their opponent(s) until a weakness appears in their opponent(s) for the user to exploit.  Because he recently replicated this fighting style from a video game, he lacks the full utility of the style that is portrayed in the video game due to real-life physics taking into account and his limited knowledge in this particular fighting method.  To compensate for his inexperience with the new strategies given to him, he modified some movesets with his own martial arts experience, trading off gravity-defying attacks for heavy and strong attacks that would actually make sense in real-life fight situations and physics.

-He also could detect and sense Youkai and spirits at a short distance, which he later hones to become instinct upon entering Gensokyo.  However, this power derives from his connection with the lost clan his ancestors once existed as, and as a result, he finds out that he is the inheritor of this lost clan's secret, but forgotten technique: the Sealing Strike during a near-death experience in combat.  It is a focused open-palm strike that seals an opponent's magical abilities, and unlike most sealing techniques, which has a limit to how much power it could seal away, the potency of this technique is near limitless, that even powerful youkai or entities are not immune to it. However, he only shares a very small fraction of this lost clan's bloodline.  As a result, the ability can only be used once per fight, last for a certain amount of time upon contact with the opponent, and does not affect an opponent's physical capabilities.  Other limits are the facts that it requires a small window of time to charge up, the technique's range is in melee reach, and must have his full concentration to achieve the full effect of the ability.  Almost any form of contact can break this technique's prep time, so Eiji sparingly uses this attack in most situations.

-He has the ability to strengthen a weapon's durability he is holding during his fight against his first youkai and later, could create a spirit weapon that takes the form of the broken blade of a weapon, which allows him to deflects danmaku, ranged attacks, and letting his strikes pass through physical matter.  Its drawback is that he could only create a spirit weapon from broken swords only, as that is the preferred weapon he is proficient with.

[Picture(s) Coming Soon]



-Character #2: Renko Usami (Main Heroine) [First Appearance in Book 1]

-Race: Human Female

-Age: 25

-Occupation: College Student of Tokyo International University [Aiming for a Doctorate’s Degree in Super Unified Physics Major].

-Personality:  Renko tends to take matters in a very objective and logical approach.  Being the leader of the Sealing Club, she tends to be a bit flashy and mostly takes pride in her approaches when discussing about discoveries and the mysteries of fantasy folklore.  Some speculate that she and Maribel shared a Pseudo-Love relationship, since they were generally together during their club activities and discussions, hinting her constant swing to depression when they are separated from each other during their adventures.  Renko takes this as a sarcastic compliment in response more than an actual ‘fling’ going on between the two.

-Backstory:  Renko Usami is a College Student of Tokyo International University, living near Tokyo, Japan. She majors in physics and is very objective and logical in her approach to matters.  She has a friend named Maribel Hearn and together, they began the Sealing Club. Their club, consisting of only the two of them, describes itself as a “club for necromancers.” However they don't do many of the things necromancers would normally be associated with. Instead, they investigate spirits and such. Specifically they're interested in Gensokyo and seem to be among the few, or even the only, humans in the outside world who know of Gensokyo's existence.  About a year ago, her friend disappeared from the world, in which she is currently seeking clues across Japan to find where she could have disappeared to

-Abilities:  Renko is a Living GPS, Telling the current time by looking at the stars and the current place by looking at the moon.  Upon entering in Gensokyo or being near the Great Hakurei Barrier, her powers can extend from “buffing” magic based on Astronomy that motivates her allies to fight efficiently, to making the galaxy stop functioning for a short amount of time.

She also carries a spray of mace as a self-defense tool against strangers, as well as a handgun.  Though the handgun is believed to be broken, making it a mere toy to the public, it is believed to be of futuristic design and has the crest of the Lunarian Capital on the magazine design.




-Character #3: Jun Satou (Side Character) [First Appearance in Book 1]

-Race: Human Male

-Age: 23

-Occupation:  Martial Artist, College Student of Tokyo International University [Aiming for a Master's Program in IT Degree], Japanese-English Translator

-Personality:  Jun is a focused martial artist and takes his practice in the martial arts seriously, though he originally joined martial arts just to keep his fitness and health in check.  However, he seems to be more of the talkative person and seems to be carried away by doing so, making a lot of friends and connections in the process.  He also tends to be more honest about himself compared to most others that he has encountered.  He also seems to be more prudent and prefers the careful mindset when it comes to fights and solving problems, always wanting to study his opponent(s) or the situation first, plan a strategy, and then execute said plan to take them down.  Because of this, he tends to keep a cool head in many situations.  However, he tends to try to keep things at a positive level, and when situations become too serious or unbelievable to understand, he tries to joke about it, hoping for the situation itself just passes by.  He does care about friends who are close to him, particularly Eiji and Renko.

-Backstory: Jun and Eiji first met when they both were taking Karate at different times five years ago.  Eiji was a black belt, 2rd rank at the time, while he himself was a brown belt, and they both learned from each other from sparring, tournaments, and even hanging out with each other once in a while.  As time went on, Eiji left the dojo in pursuit of creating his own style, while Jun remained in Karate, dabbling in Judo to make him more diverse in many combat situations.  At the same time, his father wanted him to pursue a safer goal in life, so he chose to pursue being an IT Technician to keep the old man happy.  Being in a co-habituate school system, from the dorms to the classes, he became Renko's roommate, and although he does not understand Renko's current situation, he does everything he could within limits to at least help her live a good life.

-Abilities: Like Eiji, Jun is a Martial Artist, and prefers his fists and weapon in combat, a Katana, mainly used for Kata forms.  He does not know this, but he has potential to use spell cards, despite being a Human with no special magical abilites.  Unlike Eiji, who is currently focused on developing his own form of fighting, Jun focuses more on being a Karate Master and has dabbled in Judo as a secondary fighting style to fall back to.

[Picture(s) Coming Soon]




Character #4: Rumia (Antagonist) [First Appearance in Book 1]

-Race: Female, “Youkai of the Dark”

-Occupation: N/A, Generally, Youkai are Youkai, and therefore, they hunt for food, humans or not.

-Personality: Apparently, Rumia is quite simple-minded, and doesn't like the sunlight or the summer heat.  She seems like to fly around aimlessly during the day and the night, sometimes bumping into trees since she is less capable of seeing obstacles through her veil of darkness.  Because of this, some speculate that she is not as smart as she believes so.  Despite her innocent appearance, she eats humans and thinks that a youkai's job is to hunt them down, but she also seems to be quite lazy and has commented that it is generally a pain for her doing it.

-Backstory: Being a youkai was simple for Rumia.  For one, she was not tied down to a job or role in life, owing nobody anything.  However, even hunger gives off something to do once in a while, and Rumia was one of those youkai who hunted humans.  The Vampire Contract, which states that a youkai could not simply hunt a human in Gensokyo down in free sport, made her job rather hard to execute.  However, that did not stop her by much, for hunting humans outside of Gensokyo or those who were gapped inside Gensokyo were fair game (And that is why many people make Rumia the first person to be an obstacle for most of their OC's).  She grew fond of tormenting a person named Eiji Kuroda at one time during his growing years, as he reminded her of a hopeless version of a person she once met in Gensokyo, and continued to do so until he quit college.  After that, she stuck to people who recently gapped inside Gensokyo, until one day, she once again wandered into a gap that she could not see, transporting her back into the Outside World of the Science Era.

-Abilities: Rumia has the ability of manipulating darkness. By covering herself in pure darkness, she is able to prevent sunlight from passing through the darkness, as it is magical in nature and can render traditional lights such as torches useless within it. Because of this, people who happen to go inside the darkness would not able to see anything.

In addition to her power to manipulate darkness, it is hinted that her ribbon hides a form that was sealed off long ago.  When removed by a person with abilities to seal magical powers, Rumia unleashes this sealed off power, becoming EX Rumia!  She gains a black stormbringer sword, looks more mature, and her magical powers are multiplied by 9, becoming a formidable threat to even the most skilled youkai exterminator.

It should also be noted that while her field of vision is reduced by her own ability, she is used to it enough to be able to read Aya's newspaper even with almost no light, while Rumia herself couldn't write notes or read her notebook. At that time, she has also shown that she can control how much light can pass through the darkness, as she let only a bit of it entering to be able to read.

Normal/EX forms



Character #5: Charlotte Cambria (Side Character) [First Appearance in Book 1]

-Race: Human Female

-Age: 28

-Occupation: Youkai Hunter, Bodyguard of a Noble Daughter in France.

-Personality: Secretive, dutiful, and honorable, Charlotte tends to keep these things at heart, especially in her dual roles as a Bodyguard and Youkai Hunter.  She is also materialistic, often buying things here and there.  Many men comment her as being the ‘textbook definition of a woman’ in their perspective.  However, she is against her secretive side of the job, which is to keep society from noticing that there are youkai around their everyday life, making her say more than what she really needs to at times.  Even though she holds this in so that society itself does not break out in rampage, she has held a grudge against the organization she serves because of this.  She believes that human society has a right to know where these things come from so they do not fall victim of attacks such as those reported as “kidnapped,” or “Gruesomely Murdered.”

She also has a disdain for men, for they were the ones who constantly tried to get together with her because of her beauty and attractiveness.  As a result, many see her as having a cold heart when they were rejected or witnessing such events, which sometimes it is true.

-Backstory: Celeste was raised to be a maid of the Royal Palace in France.  One day as a child, she was brought up by the combat instructor of the palace for the students to demonstrate their fencing skills on her.  However, instead of them beating her up for demonstration purposes, she too demonstrated talent for fencing and beat them instead.  The instructors at that palace, impressed by her talents in the sword skills despite her youth, taught her combat lessons in fencing for free with better accommodations and education of the Royal Palace in France.  Later, she became the bodyguard for the lady-in-waiting of France; the young noble Liliana du Alexis.  Later, she was recruited as a Youkai Hunter by the International Youkai Exterminators' Agency when both the princess and her survived a band of wild Youkai assaulting them in the dead of night at a country side in Romania.

-Abilities: With the power of Christianity at her side, Celeste Cambria is specialized in exterminating ghost, demon, and vampire type Youkai.  She is skilled in Fencing, and seems to be a master at it.  She also could create mirrors from thin-air, which could reflect laser danmaku around, depending on the angle of the mirror and the trajectory of the shot, while it could support her weight while she advances forward towards her opponents.  This power, however, can only be formed with light sources that are around her on the given situation, whether from the moon, sun, or the interior lighting of a building.  When focusing her attacks, she can project a laser danmaku from her weapons, which shoots at a straight direction to her opponent at blinding speed.

[Picture(s) Coming Soon]




Maribel Hearn/Yukari Yakumo (Main Antagonist?) [Mentioned in "Journal Entries" & First Appearance in Book 1]:

-Race: “Gap Youkai,” Formerly Human

-Occupation: Unknown, she sleeps most of the time.  Was formerly a student at Tokyo International University from the outside world many years ago [Bachelor's Degree in Psychology].

-Personality:  Yukari is known for being a very youkai-like youkai who sleeps all day and lives for the enjoyment of life. Though she rarely leaves her house, she's well-connected and is acquainted with most of the most powerful youkai and anyone having anything to do with the Great Hakurei Barrier or the outside world, although she rarely attacks humans. She has a tendency to toy with her opponents rather than use her full power from the start. If anyone is suited for the role of "mastermind", it's Yukari. She excels at mathematics and is experienced due to her long life.

She possesses superhuman intellect, and especially surpasses in dealing with numbers. Concretely to what extent this amazing intellect goes is hard to know, but it would be no mistake to think that this intellect far surpasses that of humans.

-Backstory:  Before she was Yukari Yakumo, she was once a human girl named Maribel Hearn, who lived in the outside world, attending a Japanese College or University.  Maribel came from a lineage which has had the ability to sense the supernatural since long ago. Because of this, she has the ability to see borders. Society wasn't receptive to strange people, so she had to keep her ability a secret.

As opposed to how it has been revealed that Renko Usami's hometown is Tokyo, Maribel's hometown and home country is unclear. Since she fluently speaks Japanese with Renko, she probably has lived in Japan for a long time.  Some speculate that she and Renko shared a Pseudo-Love relationship, since they were generally together during their club activites and discussions, though Maribel denies this notion between the two due to being the complete opposite to Renko.

The more that Maribel and Renko ventured between the boundaries of Gensokyo and the Outside World, the more Maribel began to lose grip between what was real and fantasy.  Eventually, she broke down, abandoning Renko Usami in order to save her only companion’s life as a human from the fate that Renko would have succumbed to during their last adventure together, and became Yukari Yakumo, the dimensional traveler that would later become one of the most powerful youkai in Gensokyo History.

According to Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, an apparent article on Yukari appears in the first edition of the Gensokyo Chronicle from 1,200 years ago. However, this article did not refer to her name as "Yukari Yakumo". It is believed she chose this name for herself, the name "Yukari" signifying that she was a youkai of boundaries, and the name "Yakumo" from a poem about creating a great fenced mansion where one can live a peaceful life in seclusion, and a strong fortress to keep the gods trapped inside. This land would be Gensokyo.  It is also hinted that Yukari forgot her real name because Renko Usami constantly nicknamed her “Merry” during her time as a Human.

Over a thousand years ago, Yukari met and became friends with a human girl named Yuyuko Saigyouji. Over time, Yuyuko was driven to suicide out of despair over her ability to control death. After Yuyuko died, her body was used to seal the Saigyou Ayakashi, a youkai tree which drained the lives of too many humans, by an unknown individual who hoped Yuyuko would never have to suffer and experience pain again. The seal was created as the boundary between life and death. Yukari continued to be friends with Yuyuko's ghost, although Yuyuko gradually forgot who she had been and why she had died.

It is not stated who sealed the Saigyou Ayakashi. It was someone who held Yuyuko very dear, judging by the record "My wish... is that she will never again reincarnate, and never again suffer pain..." Yuyuko's profile describes the hypothetical breaking of the seal as "breaching the boundary." The boundary sealing the Saigyou Ayakashi is apparently the boundary between life and death.

-Abilities:  Yukari is with no doubt one of the most powerful youkai in Gensokyo. A few other youkai like Suika Ibuki and Yuugi Hoshiguma have been considered to be around her level. Yukari also refers to Eiki and Watatsuki no Toyohime as being stronger than she is, and tries to avoid direct confrontations with them.  Despite her power, she might still lose spell card battles to humans or youkai.

Her physical strength is what you'd expect from a youkai. While the extent of an average youkai's strength is never really specified, their bodily ability is typically very high, so her strength is still far from that of a human.

Yukari is able to create boundaries in thin air within space and time.  With the word "boundary" in its name, Yukari is capable of pretty much anything put under the influence of this ability.  The most common application of Yukari's boundary manipulation abilities is opening "gaps," which act as portals between two places, where she's able to hold, sit on or emerge from such gaps.

Yukari is skilled in Onmyoudou, the Taoism-derived arts of traditional Japanese court wizards, and specialises in spells which create and manipulate barriers (presumably due to overlap with her innate abilities). Yukari has been able to teach some of her spells to Reimu Hakurei, whose own techniques have similar roots.

Yukari also displays great aptitude with shikigami, a technique that binds a powerful kitsune and numerous lesser servants at once under her command.  As Shikigami are strongest when following orders, Yukari must also be skilled at giving the correct orders to fully maximize her shikigamis' potential.


More will come, eventually.  I just gotta sort all of the characters out atm, xD
« Last Edit: April 14, 2015, 04:02:36 AM by Ninja575 »


Between Two Dimensions - Arc One Complete

"War is a grave affair of state; it is a place of life and death, a road to survival and extinction.  A matter to be pondered carefully..."  -Sun Tzu's Art of War

Tsuken Yasashi

  • Student of War
  • Ready to start fightin' for real?
Re: Between Two Dimensions: The Non-Spoiler Edition!
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2015, 09:21:28 PM »
And then, to the settings.  This is where many people believe that a "Black, shadowy world" or a 'random anime convention name' is considered a plot.  However, that just spells laziness in a writer's details, since details are an important part of how a story builds imagery to the reader!


So, HERE WE GO WITH IT!



Book 1: Connections

The Outside World (Book 1 and 3).  Basically known as the Science Era and somewhat as the world we envision tomorrow.  This is where Eiji and Renko live at, as well as the original world Maribel/Yukari formerly lived at.  Youkai generally go here to hunt for prey in prudent and silent ways to satisfy their hunger for food due to the Vampire Contract ? A law that states that any human living in Gensokyo cannot be hunted down by youkai in free sport.

o   Tokyo Prefecture/Metropolis
       -Arakawa-Cho
                  ?Eiji?s Apartment Quarters (Apartment #209)
                         A Japanese Rental Apartment in Tokyo, Japan at the city of Arakawa of Tokyo Metropolis in the residence of Higashi-Nippori.  The apartment has a living room, two bedrooms which one could be interchangeable to living quarters, a restroom, a hallway, and a kitchen that is connected to the Living room.  Eiji keeps a Shamisen and a Guitar, as well as an old game system that is maintained rather well here.  He also has a workshop, where he is currently developing a wooden sword for practical use.

                  ?Near the Riverbank of Sumida River
                         A river that branches from the Arakawa River outside Tokyo, Japan, which runs through the Saitama Province, and empties out onto Tokyo Bay.  In Tokyo, the Suijin Bridge plays as a landmark of the city of Arakawa in the metropolis.

        -Shinjuku-Cho
                  ?Kyoshu-Ryu Karate Dojo
                        One of few martial arts dojo that resides within the city surroundings.  Eiji and Jun trained here as they developed their martial arts skills together once before.

                  ?Boyu Shinkansen: Hiroshige No. 36
                        A Subway train and route that runs between Tokyo and Kyoto.  It runs in a straight line, is underground, and features a Kaleido-screen projection on its windows to educate the people of Japan and its tourists of its history.  It takes almost exactly 53 minutes to reach either destination in a one-way ride.

                   ?Eiji?s Workplace: Takeda Salvagers
                        Eiji works here, as his occupation is a Junker, a variant of a mechanic who disassembles and salvages parts and electronics to reuse them on new or repairable items.  Though some may think that he was wasting his life here, he is rather content with his current position in the workplace.  ?Service is its own reward,? as what he would comment about it.

o   Saitama Prefecture
        -Kawagoe, Saitama
                   ?Tokyo International University
                           A university that both Jun and Renko go to learn about the ways of their respective majors.  Apparently, the two are roommates at the dorms and keep themselves friendly towards one another.  Eiji used to go to this university as well, until an incident happened, forcing himself to quit university to change his life.

o   Kyoto Prefecture
        -Minami-za
                    The primary kabuki theatre that resides within Kyoto, Japan.  In 1996, Minami-za was registered as a Japanese Tangible Cultural Property in respects to its historical architectural value in connection to the city itself.  This seems to be the last standing Kabuki Theatre in Japan.

        -Mount Atago
                    A Mountain that resides within the Kyoto Prefecture.  The mountain has many paths to the summit, but the viewpoint is practically the same once reached.

            -Maribel?s Former House
                    A house within one of the many residential areas of Kyoto.  Maribel and Renko used to live at Kyoto, attending community college in the prefecture.  Now, Renko uses it as a secondary house when she needs to search for Maribel in Kyoto.


o   Yamanashi Prefecture
          -Yatsugatake Takane-Cho
                    ?Highway
                           A highway that connects Kiyosato, Japan to Tokyo Japan in terms of the highway direcctions.  Nothing special here, except that walking on highways are legal in Japan.

                     ?Kiyosato, Japan
                           A small town that resides within the Yamanashi Prefecture near the mountain ranges of Yatsugatake.  This town is more of a tourist location, in which one of the high school Kendo Clubs are famed for winning the State Kendo Competition multiple times.

                     ?Hakurei Shrine
                           A shrine that resides just north of the town near a highway route.  It is deserted and in decrepit condition, as nobody is willing to take care of it due to multiple hauntings happening at the place.

o   The Boundaries Between Gensokyo and the Outside World
                  An area between both dimensions that show nothing but eyes floating everywhere.  The ground is invisible, despite the fact that it can still be stood on, giving off a feel that one is flying around it, despite gravity being normal in such a place.




Book 2: Memories
((Coming Soon, once I've written the rough draft of Book 1))



Book 3: Forgiveness
((Coming Soon, once I've written the rough draft of Book 2))
« Last Edit: April 08, 2015, 05:40:45 AM by Ninja575 »


Between Two Dimensions - Arc One Complete

"War is a grave affair of state; it is a place of life and death, a road to survival and extinction.  A matter to be pondered carefully..."  -Sun Tzu's Art of War

Tsuken Yasashi

  • Student of War
  • Ready to start fightin' for real?
Re: Between Two Dimensions: The Non-Spoiler Edition!
« Reply #3 on: July 04, 2015, 09:16:55 AM »
[UPDATE: July 4th, 2015]

Been a long time since I last updated and posted, but I have been busy writing the book.  Got 6 chapters done, so I've decided to release some back story in the form of my main character's journal entry.  Keep in mind that the following journal entries are scaled only to the important ones in his journal, as they have relevance to the events that will occur in the actual story.



High School Years:

Synopsis: Seven years prior to where the story begins, this section of journal entries were the developing years of Eiji Kuroda.  A highly intellectual, but cynical high school student of Tokyo, Japan, he was invited to join the International Youkai Exterminators' Agency, a secret organization that controlled the population of troublesome youkai around the world.  To join, however, he was to create a journal and continue to write in it for two months and submit it to them by way of letter in order for the organization to have an idea of his psychological behavior and him as a person.  After analyzing what he wrote, the organization rejected him due to the fact that he lacked the necessary qualifications in joining the organization.

Saddened by the recent loss of his brother from a war between Korea and Japan, Len Kuroda, Eiji became lost in life after the organization refused his entry application.  Still, he continued to write in his journal in an effort in finding peace with his mind and spirit, recording special events happening around him, and his personal thoughts and afterthoughts of his decisions in life.  Many events had occurred to the point that he believed his path was found once more.  One of these events was the encounter with Hata no Kokoro at the end of a Noh performance his school underwent in Kyoto, Japan by way of Backstage pass, rewarded by his homeroom teacher for him being a filial student throughout his years in high school compared to his peers.  She had foretold that a series of events in the near future will change his life forever and that a half of one of her masks will aid him as those events unfolded.  Having an interest in Sengoku Japanese History to the modernization of the states, Eiji decided to aim for a History Major once he was in college.

The following is the journal entries made by him throughout his high school years:



May 2nd, 2065

   The International Youkai Exterminators’ Agency, a place I plan to work for after high school, told me to begin a journal and turn it in within two months so they could get an idea of how my psycho-whatever you call it was like before considering me for hire.  So, here I am, beginning this journal.  Although I do not like to reveal what is currently happening with me in my life due to the fact that I lost many of my friends back then, I suppose it would help calm my mind doing so.

Where should I start?  Len, my older brother, left due to the fact that the “Call of Duty” for his country was made.  Something about a war about to happen, I suppose?  Can’t blame him for answering the call, for he was the one who drafted in it to pay for his college dues.  At the very least, he taught me how to dismantle, clean, maintain, and assemble a pistol before he left, entrusting a copy of an instruction manual of how to do so.  I thought that he was joking at first when he told me that I was pretty much the ‘man of the house’ once he left.  Hopefully, he will be safe and sound in the army.  Last time I saw the news with my dad, we had just engaged in war with Korea, and those people could be dangerous folks to handle…


May 14th, 2065

   School is easy.  I can’t believe that most of my peers believe that school was hard enough for their lives to live through, and instead, want the smart guy to answer the questions the teachers gave him to cover for their mistakes.  They, themselves, are to blame, for they were always on their holophones and tablets, wanting to update themselves.  What is a selfie anyways?  Despite all this, I keep having this feeling that there are eyes watching me at almost every direction I go, trying to distract me while I try to live life the way I want.  I should probably try to pay no mind to it, since it may just be my imagination or something like that…


May 25th, 2065

   Today is my older brother’s birthday.  He called us, stating that the army was going to dispatch troops to an army base just north of the city of Matsumoto, Japan in Nagano Prefecture to begin an airlift to Korean Soil.  At least, that is what I heard from my dad, and it was a relief to me that he was all right.  Hopefully, he comes back soon, as I do not know what I would do without him if he dies…


June 6th, 2065

   An explosion happened somewhere northwest of Japan.  I heard it in the morning when I was walking to school.  I knew that it was not so close to us in Tokyo, and at school, we were given the day off after morning classes ended.  The teachers around the faculty kept the projectors on the news channel, which the news stated that an army base just northwest of this prefecture suffered an attack from the Koreans.  How they came up to this conclusion was mind-boggling to me, despite the fact that the faculty and its student took heart of this.  However, something was strange from this explosion, as it did not look like any ordinary bomb created such a huge hole on the surface, according to what I saw in the news.  Not only that, but my older brother must have been in there.  Oh god, I hope he is all right…


June 27th, 2065

   I could not go to martial arts practice today, despite finishing final exams.  Today marks a sad day for me.   My brother went missing when that explosion happened.  The Army delivered this letter, in which my mom read it to dad and me.  He is considered MIA at the moment, and the army was doing their best to search for him.  I know that my mom and dad told me to keep my hopes up, but I only have one thing to blame here, and it was most likely that curse that I have when I tried to make friends back then!  Why?  Why must all of you that lay hidden from the sights of us humans torture me of all people?!  Ever since middle school, I have been seeing these floating creatures flying around, and each time I tried to tell people not to follow them, they generally thought I was kidding.  Even if I tried to stop my friends from following them, those creatures knocked me back and left me there, as they kidnapped my friends!  I wish that they would take me instead!  That’s it, I can’t handle life anymore!!!!



-A letter from the International Youkai Exterminators’ Agency-

July 4th, 2065

   We have reviewed your journal that you had submitted to us, and we have taken full consideration of your thoughts and spirit in entering our organization.  After reviewing what you have wrote in here, we have decided to seek others who have better qualifications on the job.   We’re sorry that we could not fill in a proper position for your entry to our organization at this time.  Please apply once more when times are rather peaceful in Japan...


With Honor and Apologies,



Mr. A.

Y.Y.

-End of Letter-




July 14th, 2065

   Awake, in Arakawa North Hospital.  What happened to me when I threw myself off a building?  Last time I remembered, I broke down shortly after the ‘death’ of my older brother, despite my parents’ objection to that theory of mine.  They still thought that I was crazy, but I’ve calmed down ever since.  I read the letter the place I wanted to work in.  Now, I do not know what to do with my life at this point…  Guess I should prepare to go to college to buy myself some time before the call to living on my own happens…  I’m still against the fact that my parents believe that college is everything, but if it makes them happy, I guess I should go to it for their sake.  Once I get out of this hospital, maybe I should pay a visit to Jun, one of my martial arts buddy, to see if I missed anything important in Karate Practice.


August 7th, 2065

   I could have sworn someone was watching me at a distance as I walked home from getting school supplies.  Anyways, the start of school is about to arrive, and I still have not completed my history assignments I was given over the summer.  Even though that is my strong subject, I did not come up with a topic just yet on what to write about.  Maybe if I pulled a topic in Sengoku Japan, I could come up with something really quick.  Yeah, I better get to it right now…


September 14th, 2065

   For some strange reason, I have yet to continue writing in this journal of mine, despite the fact that the job application is over.  Maybe I have developed some sort of talent to write, or maybe it’s just the fact that writing in here brings a bit of peace in me from what this world throws at me.  Regardless, I have my thanks to give to the application I made so long ago to that organization...  Anyways, I came across a very rare game system that someone wanted to sell off in a garage sale.  Gathering what allowance I could muster up, I was able to buy it, as well as two games within the system.  One of them was an installment on a fighting game series: Extreme Fighters on the Streets VII, while the other was a tactical RPG game: Bright Feelings.

Despite the former having a consistent lack of story, it does have some useful fighting techniques that I could use for the martial arts, specifically that ninja that likes to flip around and talk about his martial art bearing a burden to the world’s balance.  The latter has a good story in it, and it has made me interested in what Jun was constantly going on about in terms of his interest in Anime/Manga that he mentioned to me before.  Perhaps I should console him about it so I could grow a common interest among him and me.


November 2nd, 2065

   Finally landed my first part-time job!  My parents have nagged me about it for so long, that I decided to make money on my own so I could begin to purchase things that I could call as my own.  It’s not so great, being that I have to work as a Janitor, working at 750 YEN per hour, but at least it will put me ahead of the other students who are merely studying in school, right?  I know that this will pretty much mess around with my schedule in terms of the martial arts and school, but money pretty much helps me establish a base to live on in life; a good commodity to have in times of need.


December 25th, 2065

   So I was cleaning up my room in part of the Omisoka Festival, when all of the sudden, I came across a picture of my friends and I back in those later years during middle school.  I miss them a lot, and considering the fact that I do not know what happened to the half of them, I sincerely hope that the ones I knew that willingly left do come back here one day.  I know that’s asking too much in reality, but the friends I have made so far too began disappearing from class as of late.  I know that these floating creatures or humanoid beings console to them to follow them, but I just kind of wished that those friends knew exactly who they were in their life.  Kind of a depressing sight, witnessing your friends follow those creatures to escape the real life, if you ask me, journal.  Well, back to cleaning, I guess.


March 7th, 2066

   Our class went to Kyoto, Japan via the Boyu Shinkansen, Hiroshige No. 36.  Even though I have never witnessed such places as what the kaleido-screens were showing us on the train’s windows, I bet they were a sight to behold back then when they were authentic once before.  Later, we went to Minami-za, in which we witnessed a Noh performance happening.  It was interesting to watch, especially when those masks floated around that woman with long white hair.  After the performance was done, she called me to the backstage.  Though I objected, the teacher was fine with it, revealing that she had paid for a lucky student to go to the backstage to get an autograph of the star performer in this Noh play.

   However, as I was given what seemed to be a half of a replica mask with this star performer’s signature on it, she looked at me with that famed emotionless face she was known throughout her previous play.  It was as if I gazed into an empty void, as well as someone or something was looking within my soul!  I wanted to pull back, but something within myself made me stay firm and resolute.  After what seemed to be a long while of us staring at each other’s eyes, she pulled back, stating that an unsettling event will happen to me in the near future that would change my life forever and that this mask will help me calm down when the events began unfolding.  Gazing at her eyes alone made my heart want to faint, but I held strong and was later lead out of the backstage, taking her word for it.  From her gaze, I felt sadness within them; as if something within her wanted to be released…  Still, the play itself was interesting enough, which drew in my curiosity about the origins of the playwright.


April 8th, 2066

   Final exams are coming up.  When brought up to the school council about my future career, I have decided that I will walk the path of a Historian after that play I just witnessed back in March.  This too was fueled by my interest between Feudal and Modern Japan History, as that has always drawn my interest in how our culture was affected by those events.  Sure, my English skills need improvement, as well as my science grades are lacking, but at least I have math to back my history grade up, as I found out through my high school years that I’m a master at trigonometry.  Some of my peers believe that I was wasting my time in studying hard for history, but I disagree, for it seems as if history had completely taken an ironic turn to them, despite the fact that they had not noticed it just yet.  Wish me luck in my pursuit in life, journal!


May 30th, 2066

   Final Exams are complete, and there is so much that I must talk about.  The war is over between Korea and Japan, in which the two had signed a peace treaty between one another.  From what I heard over the news, they stated that a new era was about to occur, adding in evidence that they were now going to focus more efforts in discovering ways to benefit for one another, as well as find solutions to cleaning up the environment and ways to increase scientific innovation in their respective countries.  Finally, they got their heads out of the water!

   Additionally, I hope this treaty extends more than just a peaceful one, for we Japanese do need help picking up ourselves off the ground.  I hear that the American from the east got it worse than us in terms of how the majority of their society live in absolute freedom these days, but I just hope that we at least pass them in terms of working conditions in the near future.


June 27th, 2066

   Today marks the day that Len Kuroda, my older brother, died during that bomb explosion that happened in Matsumoto, Japan.  My parents still kept hope that he will come back one day, knowing that the army is doing everything they could to find him, but I know that he won’t come back at this point.  Sure, he may have survival training with him, but there is no way that basic survival training can help a soldier outlast for a year, much more if the army could find his body.  I must hurry to complete my martial arts training and college education.  Sure, I could try to reapply again to the International Youkai Exterminators’ Agency now that peaceful times are here, but they might say the same thing again to me once more.


August 25th, 2066

   After obtaining the results of my final exams, and supplying myself with the college schedule and books early on, I was able to enter in Tokyo International University!  Sure, I may have to revise my English scores to do better in the future, it was most likely my history score that kept my qualifications high!  Some say that being excited for college is not a satisfactory objective to be proud of, since it is pretty much like high school again, but to me, I just want to learn a lot more about the history of our culture and the relevance of others.  Jun wished me luck as I departed the train station to the university, and I told him that I would write back to him once in a while about my college adventures.  I just know that this year of college will most likely be a blast!
« Last Edit: July 04, 2015, 09:11:06 PM by Ninja575 »


Between Two Dimensions - Arc One Complete

"War is a grave affair of state; it is a place of life and death, a road to survival and extinction.  A matter to be pondered carefully..."  -Sun Tzu's Art of War

Tsuken Yasashi

  • Student of War
  • Ready to start fightin' for real?
Re: Between Two Dimensions: The Non-Spoiler Edition!
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2015, 09:12:06 AM »
[UPDATE: December 21st, 2015]

Once again, it has been quite a while since I have updated.  Got another 6 chapters done, halfway completed with the 1st draft.  Will get the pictures in as soon as I could, seeing that I now have 2 months of break from writing, beginning January



College Years:

Synopsis:  College: A time where debt and beer is heavily involved to those who become lost in its freedom.  After declaring his major in History in High School, Eiji decided to attend Tokyo International University in hopes of knowing more about Japan's history.  He had met an American by the name of Elza Shannon during his time as a Professional Test Subject, who proclaimed him as her lover after resolving an experimental incident involving the Lilly of the Valley flower.  Knowing that he was not ready for love, he continuously rejected her claim on him, though she kept going after him, no matter what.

While trying to keep Elza away from him as much as he could, Eiji managed to develop his own variation of Bushinryu Ninjutsu, a military art that specializes in swift attacks and calculated rushdowns with the help of Jun Satou, his sparring partner at the Kyoshu-ryu Karate Dojo in Shinjuku, Japan.  In addition to his newfound fighting style, which originated from the Fighters on the Streets game series, he incorporated his knowledge in Kenjutsu from the amount of years he had put himself in Kendo into his newly formed fighting form.  Gathering his martial arts knowledge paid off, as he was too forming up his very own samurai outfit after witnessing the Battle Theater event in one of the anime conventions his friend and him went to during the month of July.

However, a fateful night had occurred.  Elza Shannon, the woman that kept pursuing Eiji as her lover, died in front of him as he hopelessly witnessed her death in Tokyo, Japan.  A small girl with a red ribbon on the left side of her head had murdered her.  He planned on telling the authorities about it, but a young woman in purple approached him, telling him that this would be their "little secret," which he was not to explain what had happened at this very night.  Sensing a great unsettling presence upon these two women that had committed murder, he silently left them, knowing that he caught them on camera with the use of his camera glasses.  Although he had the chance to tell them, he chose not to, knowing that he may be implicated for murder instead, given that he too was in the scene.

With the death of Eiji's proclaimed lover, who he was about to return the feelings after his second year in college, followed a number of episodes of being depressed, he began to make preparations to leave the college life.  This has affected his performance in the Martial Arts, which he almost drove himself to death by purposely poisoning himself with the Lilly of the Valley flower during his participation in the university's Grand Kendo Tournament.  Instead of losing like most handicapped participants would, he came out as the victor, but at a high price: He can no longer participate in any other Kendo Tournament due to using excessive force, as well as not being able to actively participate in Martial Arts due to his almost permanent ailment.  This has caused many people to become jealous of him walking out with the trophy after the tournament, making some schools target him altogether because of the hosting tournament's lax punishment in their final decision.

As Graduation came to a close, Eiji rethought his life and decided to make preparations to live on his own, choosing to work as a night stocker at the Takeda Salvagers, a salvaging company that specialized in fixing old furniture and electronics for both the government and its people.  After all, life does not always have to revolve around college...

The following is the journal entries made by him throughout his College Years:



September 7th, 2066

   The start of my first semester in college, and I have to say that college seems to be a lot simpler than high school.  I joined the International Kendo Club and became a professional test subject in the scientific studies in medicine, despite my current curriculum being a History Major.  Now that I could not go back to the Kyoshu-Ryu Karate Dojo in Tokyo for a while due to the distance between the university and the dojo itself, I’m at least enjoying the newfound freedom given to me here as a college student.  Thanks to my experience in Kendo back in high school, I was able to pass the entrance exams on it with flying colors.  Though there were several recent graduates from my high school going through college here, the people that I met during the first day were a lot better than what I expected of the typical student.  This may yet be an interesting school year that I will be attending through.


October 22nd, 2066

   I attended a beginner’s Kendo tournament in late September, and though I fought well, I could not pass the semi-finals of the event.  There are a lot of strong opponents that I’ve encountered, as ‘the path of a martial artist is an arduous journey,’ according to what my master would say to me.  There’s nothing much to say about school, except for the fact that the studies have suddenly picked up.  I did make a few friends, especially one female named Elza Shannon, who happened to be co-workers with me, despite living in the United States.  I asked her about how that state was going, and she responded that it was all right.  Guess that debunks my theory about the United States was in the worst conditions at the moment.

   In any case, I met her while I was a test subject for some chemical achievement scholarship in the science department.  I think she was researching a flower named ‘Lilly of the Valley,’ a flower that contains a harmful substance when consumed by humans.  From what I have participated in it, I happened to be grouped with students who were in charge of finding a cure as a scientific breakthrough project, in which I happened to be one of their guinea pigs for the project.  An accident happened as we were being tested, which I was part of that control group that was affected by it.

At first, I thought I was going to die as my heart slowed down and I became nauseous for the most part.  She helped me fight through the poison coursing through my veins by helping me manage my breath control.  Eventually, they found the cure in time before the outbreak was loosened into the school in the form of old medicinal practices, which, according to Elza, contained the following items and procedures:  ingestion of activated charcoal, breathing support, IV fluids, an electrocardiogram and a temporary pacemaker, depending on the nature and severity of the symptoms.

   For that, I owe her my life for saving me from this poison our group was experimenting on. 


November 12th, 2066

   Speech class has given me a tough time, as well as with the other students.  Many of them tend to be rather shy when they try to be on stage.  Though that has placed me on my nerves at times, I can’t say that the same thing has affected me at all, for I tend to have stage fright when I realized that there was a crowd in front of me, watching everything I do when I try to share my speech topic to the others.  I know that we were taught to remain calm and all, but it’s just so hard to do so when that feeling keeps happening.  Speaking of which, this is beginning to feel like the past once more...  I just hope that the college students here are not on the exact same boat as the high school students I had met from before...


December 5th, 2066

   College Exams ended.  I am to go back to my parents, rescheduling my college classes based on my major, and seeing what Jun has been up to during the past six months.  Though Elza planned to stay at the college dorms, I have to see what everyone has been up to as of late at home.  I can’t wait for another sparring session with Jun, now that I have a weapon form to be on par with his abilities.


December 23rd, 2066

   My father was proud of me as he noticed that I am a good student at the University.  I have to admit that some of the classes were rather easy, though I had to work hard on my speech and English classes to get them where I wanted to be at.  Right now, I’m securing myself in terms of my money, avoiding most parties, and making sure that I do not turn into a bad egg.  For the record, I’m glad that I am still living at this very moment, seeing that life is suddenly taking a turn for good for the first time in a long while.  The train is approaching soon enough, for I have to go back to Tokyo University to prepare for the coming semester.


January 10th, 2067

   I’m back in college now, holding out fine.  From the looks of it, the classes are becoming a bit harder as I keep going forward.  I’m barely holding my duties between Kendo Club activities and my work, for the two are beginning to overlap one another.  None of my friends are affected at the moment, but it feels as if I had developed my own way of fighting as of late.  From those techniques that existed from the Fighters on the Streets series, which I’ve taken into my own martial arts, I’m beginning to replicate that fighting style.  I know this, in a way, is a bad habit of mine, but it feels as if I’m onto something, and that I should capitalize on it while I could.  I’ll record more notes about it as I try to break the fighting style down soon enough.  For now, I have to get back to my homework about Modern Japan.


February 14th, 2067

   Love is in the air, but not on my case.  Elza asked me out for a date, and I thought that she just wanted to talk about something.  However, I could not accept her love, and as a result, the atmosphere became awkward.  I should have known that she would do something like this…  All I wanted was a friend from this world that was not interested in what I could see at all, not a lover who wanted to be with me for life.  I thought that she would be a good normal friend to have around.  Sure, I have Jun, but meeting other people than him has been a privilege to have in college.  I just hope that she understands that I am not ready to take on the responsibility of love just yet…


March 22nd, 2067

   The middle of semester, and we students finally have a break from all the school work.  I have broken down Bushinryu Ninjutsu, the fighting style that existed in my copy of Extreme Fighters on the Street VII to its core base.  As it turns out, it is not a hard fighting style to understand, just complex to execute because it constantly defies gravity and the laws of physics.  What intrigued me about the fighting style was the fact that this way of fighting relies on a person to perform rapid strikes and kicks to overwhelm an opponent until a weakness is shown for the fighter to exploit.  An alternate way of fighting would be to effectively counter an opponent’s offense by ‘beating them to the punch,’ a strategy that I’m familiar with, according to Kyoshu-Ryu Karate principles.  I believe that I could work with this with what I know about martial arts.  However, it’s going to be a first for me to constantly go at the offense, since I tend to try to be careful when it comes to fighting tactics.  When I get home, I might try this fighting style out to surprise Jun of my findings.  Until then, more studying, I guess!


April 19th, 2067

   There’s nothing much to report, except the fact that final exams are coming up.  It seems as if more and more college students are disappearing left and right, but I guess it’s the fact that in college, one has a lot more freedom to do whatever they please.  For sure, I would have missed a class or two to hang out with the crowd, but then again, I’m not the one who likes to enjoy parties as they are.  It just does not fit my lifestyle, compared to Elza, who happened to be a party girl at times.  Maybe it wasn’t a bad thing that I rejected her request to be my girlfriend after all…


May 8th, 2067

   Time to head back home, for college is over for the year.  Once again, I have to sign up for next year’s classes.  I have a lot to show to Jun, especially the fighting style I have made up over the year.  Also, I hear that an anime convention is coming up, so I’ve been looking forward to spending my hard-earned cash there!  My grades are still holding off strong, so I hope that that, itself, can get myself a good job in the future.


July 21st, 2067

   Convention was all right.  It did not pique my interest that much, until the Battle Theater Event was around.  That event makes me want to make a costume for such an occasion to happen.  Perhaps I could dress up as a samurai from Feudal Japan next year or in two years.  Jun was happy that I had an interest in anime conventions, despite the fact that I originally went for the historical facts to be confirmed in the Modern Era about these conventions that many people once went to back then.  At least this is still one of those traditions that were practiced back then and has endured the test of time, which makes me happy in a way.

   I surprised Jun with the new fighting style that I had developed during my college year.  He asked me where I got it, and I told him that it was a secret.  I cannot allow him to find out that I managed to replicate a fighting style that was based on a video game.  Otherwise, he may study and find holes in it, making my secret weapon during our sparring matches not so much a secret anymore.  Speaking of which, this begins our monthly sparring sessions together, in which every month, I would come visit this dojo so the two of us could fight against one another.  We would keep track of one another’s fight record, as well as giving each other tips and advice for our next duel.  Additionally, we may choose to use a weapon or not, so this would be a good way to help each other develop our own respective skills more quickly in the martial arts.  I’m looking forward to our next duel the next month!


August 28th, 2067

   I sustained an injury from our second duel and now I’m heading back to college as I write in here.  I should not have tried to flip and perform a sidelong wheel kick in mid-air.  Gah, I almost bent my leg trying to land a hit on Jun, which ended me landing on the ground, unbalanced upon landing.  I have to remind myself to revise and refine some of the moves in Bushinryu Ninjutsu, since some of them seem to defy gravity and real-life logic.  Some of those moves would probably find no place here on Earth after all…


October 17th, 2067

   It seems like this new club has been taking a bit of popularity as of late in my university.  They call themselves the Sealing Club.  The members consist of the leader and only one member in it.  I believe their names are Renko Usami and Maribel Hearn.  Never heard of them around campus, so I suppose they are students that transferred from a different university in Japan.  For a club that is small, they’re rather flexible about their relocation to this school.  Perhaps people would join that club in the near future.  Guess we will find out as events unfold!


October 31st, 2067

   Okay, this Sealing Club has officially made Occultism popular somehow in this school.  With the way people are around here, I thought the students here would be more interested in learning about the world outside Japan and the other way around, not about religion and finding one’s purpose in life.  I’ve thought about joining them, but my schedule is just too much to handle at this point.  I just hope the club does not steer the school’s direction in teaching students here about the world…


November 8th, 2067

   Elza joined the Sealing Club and wanted me in it.  Though it had piqued my interest in what club activities were there, I already was in the Kendo Club, which the yearly Kendo Tournament was going to happen in five months.  In fact, I am still working as a professional test subject, saving up what little money I gained from a job in my intended future.  I’m becoming quite a busy person as of late, as my grades are gradually slipping due to my overbearing schedule.  Additionally, I plan on buying some armor to customize it into samurai armor, so yeah, pretty much busy preparing for the future, hehe!


December 17th, 2099

   My parents wondered why there was a large package back at home.  I told them that during the break, I planned on developing a samurai uniform for a convention that Jun and I wanted to go during this summer.  What followed was a lot of squabbling from them, stating that I should not spend my money so frivolously.  However, it has been a while since I actually spent any money for myself, so seeing that I should treat myself to awards once in a while could not hurt me, right?  At least I feel motivated to push through my college classes and activities, now that my armor is prepared for fitting trials and adjustments for the holiday.


January 17th, 2068

   Start of my last semester in school, hmm?  I’ve just noticed that Elza and I have a class together and hopefully, she could stop with the flirty mood she was displaying to me during our time together.  Even though we were partnered up with each other for the rest of the semester, I sincerely hope that we could keep things professional.  I really do want to avoid awkward situations from happening, especially when many were looking at the two of us working in synergy with each other.

Also, my camera glasses came in today.  I plan to test them out on an experimental run when the time is right.


February 15th, 2068

   Once again, love was in the air once more, but I still am not ready for it just yet.  She kept asking me to fall in love with her yesterday, but despite her constant request for me to do so, I just am not ready for it.  There’s a reason why I could not do so, and that was because I’m too young for love, especially when there is so much for me to do in later life while I grow older.  Thinking about love or long-term companionship is something, in my point of view, that should be thought out once someone has secured themselves onto a secure financial base, and right now, I still have not found that base just yet.  As I see most of my college peers falling in love, I wonder to myself if they actually are doing so while being aware of the burden it has between one another, or if they are doing it just for instant gratification…

She gave me a watch as a present.  I wonder if it holds any significance, seeing that she gave it to me so suddenly...


March 3rd, 2068

   Elza has disappeared for the past few days.  I do not know what happened, but I have been tasked to look for her by request of her dorm mate, who knew of us being partnered in a class that we took together.  I suppose this is the time where I pull my camera glasses out to search for her.  According to her dorm mate, the last location Elza mentioned was that she was heading off to Tokyo, Japan at one of the districts.  Wait, she better not know where my house is at…  It’s cold out there, but I have to go, regardless if I like her or not.  After all, she is a friend of mine and if there was one thing I knew about friendship, it would be to never leave them out in the cold.


March 7th, 2068

   Back at home.  Caught and now reviewing footage that I recorded from my glasses on the search.  Fortunately enough, my parents think I am taking a small break from college, but right now, I’m trying to think of what just happened.  From what I saw in the film, I just witnessed a small, blonde hair girl eating what seemed to be Elza Shannon, who she just killed in front of my eyes by impaling through her heart.  Why did I do nothing as I hid inside a bush as I watched her get killed like that?  After the scene, the blonde girl apparently flew off and disappeared.  After that happened, another woman with an umbrella appeared behind me as I stood up to check my phone, which I had an unsettling feeling about her.

   She then told me that this would be “our little secret between each another,” in which I stood up and ran back home in fear for my life.  For some strange reason, she looked like a member from the Sealing Club back in Tokyo International University.  However, seeing that I made a ruckus on the scene, the authorities may be after me at this point.  So here I am, hoping that I did not leave anything behind at the scene.  I’ll have to change clothes, wash my old ones and myself, and then continue on with life as it is at college.  If I cannot stop her death from being revealed, then at least I could try to do my best to prevent my involvement in the scene.


March 20th, 2068

   I just wished that I would have told Elza that I did love her…  Why did I have to leave a cold attitude behind for her in the afterlife?  I wonder if that decision would have made a difference between her life being saved or not.  I’m getting the feeling that my former self is reverting back onto me…  I have to focus on the tournament at this point, but it’s so much harder to do so, especially when I’m going through a loss.  Bah, enough of this pessimism!  I must win this tournament for the sake of the International Kendo Club!


April 10th, 2068

   I can’t actively participate in Martial Arts anymore...  At least, that was what the doctor said during my physical examination after the fight.   According to their report, they stated that I had pushed myself too far after sustaining some sort of poison during the fight.  It’s not my fault that I was dealing with a loss, only to see the murderer of my friend spectating at a distance.  It’s not my fault that my mind went blank when I was facing death for the first time!  Everything I did to carry this club to where it could be at, and for what?  Nothing!

Regardless, we won the trophy for this year’s tournament, but because I used full-force (I think I shattered someone’s armor with my weapon), I was banned from future tournaments for a number of years in order to recover from the incident as of late.  I have no clue on who spiked my drink during my break, nor am I in the condition to think of it…  On the bright side, I feel as if I have developed a new form of fighting after going through Kendo.  With the knowledge that I have learned over the years in martial arts and that video game, that video game I have been consistently playing, I think I’m ready to take the next step in life.  I know that my parents would be angry about me not continuing with college, but as what my master once said, “The mountain top can be reached by many paths, and yet, the viewpoint is all the same, regardless of the path.”

I just hope that this poison is not a permanent health issue…  The doctors did say that it came from a flower that was rarely seen today and when they asked me about it, I did not have a clue about the details.  That’d be terrible to live through if this certain poison still remained within me…


April 25th, 2068

   I feel conflicted as I began to apply to different jobs across Japan.  This is probably one of those human elements that I am facing, one factor being the uncertainties of one’s future.  At least, that is what the conditions were mentioned about it, according to my psychology class.  It’s just the fact that I have to move on with life that is stopping me at the same time doing so.  Need to shake this feeling of mine off before it flusters into a mess in my life!


May 18th, 2068

   Graduation ceremonies happened and my family and relatives wanted pictures with me and my degree on hand.  I have to admit that I am a bit proud of myself, though I have boldly decided to myself that I will no longer take college classes unless if a skill set was required to be learned in college for a specific job I wanted later in life.  I feel ready to tackle the real world, now that I have applied to many different jobs around Tokyo, Japan.  Now all I need to do is play the patience game and wait for the job interviews to be ordered and passed by and then hope for the best that I actually get hired by any of the places I have applied to.


May 30th, 2068

   One of the organizations back from the Kendo contacted me about that tournament they hosted up back in April, calling me to meet up with me about my behavior.  Not sure what they meant, but I suppose it wouldn’t be so bad to see what they want with me…  I have a bad feeling about it though, given their attitude when they requested me to go to where they were at.  Still, it wasn’t my fault for doing so, since I was handicapped by poison during the third round during that fight.  Let’s just hope we could just work out a peaceful agreement or something like that…


June 16th, 2068

   Convention time had passed by and I was able to draw in some who wanted my picture or selfies with me.  I was not surprised when many were not interested about Feudal Japan, due to the fact that they were more interested with the hyped anime of the year.  Despite all of this, I won in Battle Theater for being the most stylish combatant out of everyone who participated.  I owe that award to my martial arts training and Fighters on the Streets, for it has taught me many techniques to use in the performance, specifically that ninja’s fast run technique and the many sword movements I learned from my Kendo lessons in college.  Upon arrival back at home, I had a message from one of the jobs I applied at.  The Takeda Salvagers, a salvaging company that ran in the Shinjuku District, called me to see when I was available for an interview.

   Though this is not the job I sought out to work for, as long as I am contributing to Japan’s well-being, I would not mind working here, even if that meant for the rest of my life.  Wish me luck on the interview, for I will need as much as I could get to sustain a job these days!
« Last Edit: June 02, 2016, 01:47:43 AM by Ninja575 »


Between Two Dimensions - Arc One Complete

"War is a grave affair of state; it is a place of life and death, a road to survival and extinction.  A matter to be pondered carefully..."  -Sun Tzu's Art of War

Tsuken Yasashi

  • Student of War
  • Ready to start fightin' for real?
Re: Between Two Dimensions: The Non-Spoiler Edition!
« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2016, 02:49:05 PM »
[Update: September 21st, 2016]



Kept you waiting, huh?  Completed my first book a few weeks ago and now, its in the editing phase.  I posted a beta-draft of the book on Archive of My Own.  Check it out at this link: Between Two Dimensions

Still trying to get the pictures in.  Who knows when I'll be able to get the Final Draft in for printing and distribution.  Anyways, I'll be writing an extra four chapters that transitions to the next book.



Survival Years

Synopsis:  After finding a decent job he can hold himself with in the long-run, Eiji decided that college was no route to take, given the fact that his main motivation in staying in there had banned him from further competition entry.  His parents soon found out about it, to which they forced him out of their apartment, forcing him to live separately from them.  Though he resented them at first for doing so, he understood that he had to grow up, to which he moved into his new living quarters near the Higashi-Nippori Gochome at a small apartment complex.

While he was in the midst of moving in, a blonde woman of his age, calling herself "Yukari Yakumo," suddenly appeared before him, wanting someone to confide to, to which he welcomed her in his small abode.  She wanted him to meet her friend at the upcoming Higan Festival and he accepted her invitation to it, enabling him to properly introduce himself to them.  Jun told him that they were the sole members of the Sealing Club in Tokyo International University.  They seemed to be inseparable by nature, to which Eiji was happy about the two.

After sending off his departed lady friend, Elza Shannon, in the Bon Festival, he began to form up unusual objects from time-to-time in his mind.  It had caused him to buy a product called Mechanic Simulator 2068, which he used to help him gain his promotion from Inventory Stock Grunt to Junker in his occupation.  During his road to promotion, he came across an ancient spear shaft that was thrown in with some junk materials.  It glowed a red hue, which attracted him to take it with him once he was done with his business trip in Kyoto.  To this day, despite doing some research on it, the spear part remained to him a mystery why it appeared before him.

During his road to promotion, Yukari frequently visited him during the transition of winter to spring, which he was curious how she was able to visit him so often.  She needed help in dealing with an urgent problem she was facing, but he could do nothing to help her, given both his busy schedule and his little knowledge about her predicament.  Consequently, she stopped appearing before him, to which he began regretting that he could do nothing to help her deal with her problem.  Another friend, he now lost, which had scarred his mind to this day in losing people he knew.

Not all was lost though, to which his newly formed martial art, Mushinryu Ninjutsu (無心流忍術, Innocent Flow Ninjutsu), was now complete.  Wanting to test it, he entered in a martial arts tournament located in Kiyosato, Japan.  Little did he knew was the fact that he actually entered in a Youkai Fighting Competition, which fiercely opposed him upon entry.  Needless to say, he held his own until the semi-finals, to which his advancement was halted by a competitor named Hong Meiling, a Tai-Chi-Chuan Master.  After the fight, she gave him some advice, telling him that those palm strikes he executed on her caused her some trouble.  Proud of his newly formed martial art breaching reality, yet knowing that he had a long ways to go to perfecting it, he went on a three-week journey on part of the Tokaido road, studying war manuals and philisohpical martial arts books to reform his martial art.

Several months passed by, to which he was summoned once more to another business trip to western Japan.  Upon returning from it, he encountered Renko Usami, a young woman he was introduced to by Yukari back from the Higan Festival two years ago.  He insisted she hitch a ride with him, to which she told him to drop her off near Kiyosato, Japan at a mountainside.  Wanting to know what she was doing, he followed her, entering in an abandoned shrine that a long lost friend she was searching for once went to.  She requested his help, to which he accepted.  However, he found not her friend, but a headband that seemed to belong to the Sanada Clan of the Sengoku Age, which caused him to dream of a man similar to his age that began a brigade that tried to save an ancient land that was in peril.  It was strange that this headband was linked to the Sanada clan, for the boss' son had the same surname as this particular clan.  He hoped that it had no involvement with him, given that he now possessed it and the current whereabouts of the person was unknown.

With all the events that had transpired through these years, Eiji felt as if danger was approaching close to him.  Aware of it, he decided to craft a training weapon for such an occasion, using special materials that were resistant to breaking apart.  Additionally, he lacquered the ancient spear shaft red, as well as ordering a spear tip for it in order to make a functional weapon out of it.  Although these would not be enough for the days to come, he knew he would be prepare for such an occasion in a few months, should it jump to him so suddenly.

The following are journal entries about his survival years, detailing the events:



October 23rd, 2068

   90 days has passed and I believe that means that I am done with this probation policy in taking a day off during the time of my future work schedules.  It was tough, but I was able to get through it with relative ease.  I probably will not be able to write in this journal for a while, since time passes by so fast when one does not have school and instead focuses their attention in the workplace.  Soon, however, I will need to have my own place to live in, for my parents will find out soon enough that I am not continuing my education as my parents believe I am...

   Sparring sessions were held off at first, but Jun and I were able to procure a day during the weekends per month.  The rules are still the same regarding our sparring policy between us two, despite now Jun decided to go to college at Tokyo International University.  I wish him luck as he takes on his personal journey to find himself in college.  I just hope that he does not end up being lost while doing so like what most students do.  Anyways, I have to practice more on my fighting form, as well as learning how to handle electronic and mechanical parts for my job.


December 5th, 2068

   Eventually, my parents found out that I was not going to college anymore.  When my birthday arrived, they told me that I now have an apartment at the Higashi-Nippori residence at the district of Arakawa-ku of Tokyo Metropolis.  And here I am, writing to you, journal, in this place that I should call home.  Though I was surprised and angry about this sudden change in living quarters when it did occur, I suppose I should be glad that this was pretty much their final farewell to me, as well as a greeting to being a full-fledged adult.  They must have been angry when they finally found out about it, most likely from Jun or the school itself.  Well, I have to get back to unpacking before work arrives.  I currently work on night shifts, as it is generally the time when it is the coldest to work and given that it is winter, it is also the most reluctant shift that nobody undergoes in this season.  No complaints, I suppose?


December 21st, 2068

A blonde woman showed up in front of my door earlier today.  She wanted to talk for a while, to which I let her in the apartment.  Seeing that she was in need of someone to confide to, I decided to keep her company for a while.  It?s strange that she was in search for me, given that she claimed that she knew me from Middle School...   Although I do not recall anyone I knew that looked like her back then, she does look strangely familiar to a girl I hung out during that time.  She calls herself Yukari Yakumo and we talked for quite a long time.  What a weird name, by the way?

I should probably be careful not to give too much information about myself next time.  She seemed to be demanding it for some strange reason.  Let?s just hope she isn?t after my money or something like that.  After all, I really do not like it when door-to-door salesmen start showing up at my door when I?m not at home at all.  Got work tomorrow, so yeah, best to head off to bed immediately...

I have to admit: she does cook some really good purple rice...  It?s rather tasty.

March 17th, 2069

   I am now officially moved into my new home!  After finally paying off the rent and other utilities expense and over three months? worth of unpacking and organizing, I now have a place that I could call home!  Jun asked me about what the Sealing Club was all about and I told him to just avoid it.  He asked me why and I explained that they did not accept anyone that was ordinary.  Knowing him, he would try to join it anyways, but I guess it?s his grave if he actually did pass their tryouts.  I just hope he knows what he was getting into, considering the fact that a friend of mine that I made in college died upon joining the club.

Jun also plans on going to a special convention during the Higan Festival this year.  Apparently, they hosted up a special Battle Theater tournament every three years, which may interest me if I were to participate in it.  I might do so, though honestly, I don?t know if I?m ready at all for it...


April 27th, 2069

I haven?t been writing for a bit of time again...  During that festival, I saw Yukari once more, to which she was with a brunette woman with a mushroom hat.  They seemed to be yearly festival goers to this event, which is good that I got to introduce myself to them.  Jun told me later that he knew of them from college, though he did not mention to me that one of them had a nickname.  Still, they seem to be nice women, considering that the two were happy being around one another.  I look forward to seeing them more often, given that work doesn?t obstruct me as it is at the moment...


June 2nd, 2069

   Jun called me, stating that we didn?t have our monthly sparring sessions for the summer.  Something about owing money to the University for Classes that he took and that he has to find a job over the summer to cover it.  When I attended college, my financial aids and Pell Grants were enough to cover for my classes, while my time as a professional test subject for the institution covered whatever was left on the debt and my books.  That debt could be a killer to many who enter in college without precautions of what value the courses are in study at a university, which is part of the reason why I quit college once I got a substantial degree to hold my own.  That also meant we could not attend the anime convention that we generally went to this year, though.  That?s fine by me, considering the fact that I too am busy with keeping up with paying off on the apartment and utilities and my development on Mushinryu Ninjutsu.

Also, the tournament flyer Jun sent me has piqued my interest.  Given that it?s held every three years in the Higan Festival, it?s giving me enough time to prepare for it.  Something seemed to be off as I saw these competitors from the tournament held this year.  Many seemed to be in costume and appear to look different from the usual person I?ve seen; as if they existed from different planets or from fantasy books.  It seems I will have to take up the sword once more when it arrives, despite my status on Kendo tournaments and what great timing than right now.   My dad has been testing his own swordsmanship on me to improve himself, which gives me a bit of a sparring partner somewhat!  Regardless of how these people appear to be, I look forward to testing my my martial art I?m developing.


August 15th, 2069

   I normally do not celebrate the passing of Bon Festival holiday, as many spirits that I have been seeing since my middle school years generally float by aimlessly as bonfires were lit across Japan.  However, I feel as if I should, for Elza Shannon died over a year ago.  I have yet to pay respects to her, despite the fact that her remains were sent back to the United States to be cremated.  The body may have been reduced to ashes, but I know for a fact that her spirit remains around Tokyo somewhere.  Perhaps I should make a small wooden boat with a lantern for her to be guided to the spirit world, though I do not know how effective that would help to ease my mind?


October 8th, 2069

   Normally, projects do not show up often, but I?ve begun to create unusual objects at times.  Right now, I had bought a product from my workplace that was about to expire; a Mechanic Assistant 2068, as what I recall.  This product has taught me the basics in repairs and had helped me guide my way to learning my work, so this has piqued my interest in modifying it into a holographic projection in one?s spiritual energy.  This may be my largest product bought yet, but I know that I will need this product if I am to look forward for that promotion from Stocker to Junker.


December 7th, 2069

   My birthday passed by and my parents sent me a little bit of money to help me sustain my life here.  I?m actually doing quite well, despite avoiding moderately long conversations between almost anyone I come in contact with.  Aside from the ?business as usual? situations such as needing help or requesting me to fill a shift for a person taking a vacation or day off, I have Yukari Yakumo, who comes every so often to keep me company.  It seems like I am cursed in not having many friends, since almost every time that I try to have one, they end up either dead or missing in Japan by Youkai.

Speaking of which, I recalled doing some research about Youkai when I was still attending university classes.  These Youkai were mentioned in the historical textbooks as I remembered.  It?s strange, considering the fact that finding one would be hard, according to my research.  In this day and age, however, it seems as if they had become common to encounter, which that contradicts that they are supposed to be hard to find in today?s time?

Maybe I?ll talk to Yukari about it on her next visit.  Perhaps she knows more about it than I?


February 12th, 2070

Yukari has been visiting me often these past few months.  Something seems odd about her usual behavior.  She seemed to be depressed about a situation that she got into with her friend and what?s happening to her, to which she?s been trying to hug me because of it...  At first, I told her to stop hugging me, but she ignored and kept doing so anyways.  If it makes her happy, I guess I wouldn?t mind her being close anyways...

Speaking of which, how did she get into my house when I was gone?  I always made sure to lock my door every time I get out and come back inside my house to prevent robbers from taking my stuff.  It?s strange that she somehow is able to get into my house, even if everything is closed, apparently.  Personally, she should call me if she wants to get in my house, since she?s kind of being a stalker to me.  I should probably ask about what she got herself into once she comes back again, given that her mood seemed to have worsened each passing day...


March 6th, 2070

A few days ago, we had met.  A few days ago, Yukari cooked me purple rice...  Two days ago, she had given me a deep hug, to which I thought returning the feelings would ease her pain.  I even gave her advice in the current situation she was in, which I stated that she should get it over with before it flustered her mind.  Now she did not show herself back to my living quarters as she had promised before she left me just yesterday...

This must be the last time that we would meet one another...  I fear that something had happened to her and as much as I would search for her, I just can?t do it.  I know that I will not be able to find her anywhere in Tokyo, nor in Japan, or most of all, around the world.  It?d be a waste of time, effort, and money to do so...  This is just like last time, when Elza died and it was too late to save her from her fate.  Only this time, however, I can?t do anything to locate the one that I loved to begin with...

I?m sorry... Yukari Yakumo...  This samurai of yours just doesn?t know what to do to start his search for you...


May 23rd, 2070

   Out of all the monthly sparring sessions Jun and I undergo, it seems as if I have the upper hand between one another in terms of who has the better fight record.  There had been a couple of times that we both knocked each other out, but most of the times, our sessions went up to a judge?s decision.  Generally, the one who was defending would have the upper hand in split-decision making, but my pressure mentality in fighting tactics has gotten me far to the point that I nullified many counter moves Jun had attempted in our sessions together.  There?s so much more that I have to learn about Mushinryu, yet it seems as if I have hit a plateau right now?  Perhaps if I took a bit of aerobics, I could unlock more of its utility this fighting style has to offer me.

Yes, that is what I?m calling my martial art from this day forward!

   Also, I joined back in the Kyoshu-ryu Karate Dojo.  I?m only doing so because I want to enter in some tournaments and fights while I could still improve on my own martial art.  Hopefully, they understand that I need a place that I could associate myself with when joining in tournaments.  After all, I?m kind of forced to do so, seeing that most tournaments do not accept people who simply fight on the streets to enter in the competition.


June 16th, 2070

    When I came back from home from work, my boss left me a phone message on my message receiver.  Apparently, he wanted to be updated on my progress in how his son was doing in the workplace.  However, I had to report nothing unusual to him at the moment, since he seems to be a good kid.  Why he asked me about him had me questioning if there was some family problem, but I suppose it was something normal, given that he was a father and wanted his kid to work at the company he ran?

   I just hope his son really wants to be the one in charge of the company.  Preserving past relics, whether electronical or antiques, is vital to those who are collectors of this sort of thing, like me and my video games.


July 18th, 2070

   About two weeks ago, I was sent on a business trip to Kyoto, Japan.  There, I met another one of the branches of salvagers of our company, which they were using heavy-duty machines in a destruction zone on a train route.   They were cleaning up after demolishing the old railways just outside the city as part of reconstructing the railways of the Tokaido Shinkansen route.  I was working with the big boys now and despite the fact that I was a small person, I was able to contribute by taking on a support role in terms of keeping their work areas cleaned and their supplies in line.  I would have joined in with the heavy lifting, but my small height stature prevented that from happening.  While driving to the recycling center to dump off a truck load of unusable objects to be reformed into reusable materials, I saw a strange wooden pole near a house.  It shined a faded red hue in a heap of unneeded electronic tools, which a resident of Kyoto had seemingly thrown it out to be taken away by the local recycling company.

   I parked the truck and got out to take a look at it.  After examining it, I noticed that this was no ordinary pole, for it had a hole shaped like some yin-yang jewel and holes above it where this stick secured something.  There also seems to be glowing engravings throughout the shaft.  I took it and brought it back home for further examination, but even my educational knowledge have given me a limited amount of research to work with on identifying this object.  For now, I will place this pole in a bag and leave it be...


August 21st, 2070

   I joined a tournament, participated, and won 4rd place in sparring and forms out of 32 competitors.  It seemed to be an open Martial Arts tournament in Kiyosato, Japan, which meant that I was allowed to use Mushinryu Ninjutsu during the sparring part of the tournament.  Most of the participants were surprised that I displayed a large amount of aerobics against my opponents.  I lost to a female Tai-Chi Chuan master though, who wore a green beret and a Chinese outfit.  She was able to stop my movements in its tracks.  Makes sense that I lost to her, seeing that she was able to disrupt my flow of motion, causing me to go at the defensive at most times.  After the fight, I felt strangely better; my breathing was cleared out ever since I purposely poisoned myself in that tournament years ago.  Perhaps it had something to do with her hitting me at those final moments of our bout?

I?m glad that I was able to apply Mushinryu Ninjutsu as a legitimate martial art in real life, given that it is still a fledgling fighting style.   It still needs some refinement, since it originates from a video game series.  After the tournament, she gave me some advice about economy of movement and taught me some palm strikes for usage in the fighting style that I was developing.  I will have to try practicing those kinds of attacks she taught to me as soon as I have time experimenting with them.


September 1st, 2070

I feel as if a spirit journey had called for me in my mind.  I had taken off work just recently and the boss allowed me to use my accumulated vacation time off for however long I should within reason.  I chose to take three weeks off, given the fact that I do indeed need the break from the machinery and bustle of the labor.  This gives me enough time to study the books that I had bought from the internet: The Art of War, the Thirty-Six Strategems, the Book of Five Rings, and the Hagakure.  Long ago, I had sought and bought these four unique books from bookstores and the internet and finally, they have an opportunity to be studied thoroughly by me!

I look forward to learning a lot from these texts as I walk through the Kōshū Kaidō, one of five roads that connected Tokyo as a trade route back in the Edo era.  In today?s time, it should be labeled as Route 20 in the Japanese Highway System...


September 19th, 2070

Finished the long Spirit Journey on one of five Tokaido roads and now, I had just arrived back at my house in Tokyo, Japan.  It was quite interesting, as I learned many things, ranging from the importance of my job, to reflecting a lot about my life until now.   I also encountered many interesting people along the road, to which I had made a few contacts here and there.   I hope that people can learn a lot if they have the time to take these kinds of journeys before they grow too old in doing so.  Along the road though, I?m beginning to feel that someone or something was watching me, but I just can?t quite put my finger on who exactly is doing so...  I just hope it?s nothing foreboding that has latched onto me...


October 12th, 2070

   The job track that I am currently on has finally noticed my hard work and efforts as a night stocker and had told me that they are considering me for a position for a Junker.  I may have to think it through, considering that the job requires me to switch from graveyard shift to a daytime shift.  It?s going to be tough to switch around my schedule, but I suppose it comes with the territory, yeah?  Still, I?m glad that they appreciate what I do in the job, considering the fact that I tend to work too much for them?  Even I do scare myself sometimes with my workaholic attitude, according to what my co-workers comment about me.


November 26th, 2070

   Jun bought a van today and showed it to me as finals were approaching for him.  Though I thought it was a waste of money for him to do so, I suppose its fine for him to buy himself a car, as that was his decision to do so, not mine.  Still, I am a bit jealous that he has his own way of transportation, meaning that he could go almost anywhere with it instead of being stuck taking the subway to go to places.  However, traffic here is pretty much a clutter due to the fact that the majority of citizens in Tokyo tend to walk more than drive.  I wish him luck on maintaining it, as I hear that taking care of one takes time and effort to keep vehicles operational.


January 2nd, 2071

   That?s weird?   There?s a book called Swallowstone Naturalis Historia in my ElPad Library?  I opened it and saw who wrote it: Maribel Hearn and Renko Usami.  Where have I heard those names from before!?  Bah, the book was a bit of a good read, given that it has a good intro.  Anywho, I suppose I should devote some time to read it when I can?  It might be interesting, heh!


January 29th, 2071

   Along the way to driving back from work in the company?s work truck near the evening, a woman in a black mushroom hat was attempting to hitch a ride in Tokyo.  At first, I was going to ignore her, despite the fact that I was ahead of schedule, but then something told me that I should at least see where she wanted to go.  And so, I did, which she told me to go drop her off at Kiyosato, Japan.  Wondering what she was going to do there, given the fact that it was quite a long way from Tokyo, I drove to that destination, per directions she gave me and we arrived at the town.  She then told me to drive further north of the town, which brought us to a highway.  I dropped her off when she told me to and we parted ways.  However, something bugged me; as if my conscious told me to follow her.  I found a parking area not far from where she was dropped off at and followed her to wherever she was heading off to.

   When I arrived at the staircase that the woman ascended, I noticed a large structure hanging above me upon reaching the top.  It was as if one of those shrine gates at Kyoto, Japan were standing here and now, but the key difference was that the paint was worn out, the sign was missing, and the structure itself was weak.  Continuing on the poorly conditioned set of stone stairs, I arrived at the top to see that same woman that hitched a ride on the truck I drove here was crying at the center of the grounds.  Approaching her, I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she just realized that she could not find a friend that had disappeared some time ago, further stating that this place had the best chances of finding her.  She asked for my help and I took up the offer once more.  The two of us looked around the grounds for her lost friend.

   Unfortunately, we did not find her friend here at this abandoned shrine.  What I found strange while I looked around, however, was the fact that I felt rather at home when searching the area.  It was weird, for the buildings did not look like a condition of a place to live in, considering the current state it was in.  It felt as if I should have known what this place was, yet I did not know it at all.  I also found a headband laying down on an abandoned alter within the main building.  Upon further investigation, I noticed the insignia of the Sanada Clan on it, to which I recognized it as the headband that the boss? son wore frequently to work!   As we went back to the truck with no leads on her friend, I took a last look at the place, feeling as if I should have been at home here, which gave me the chills just looking at it.  Perhaps one day, someone would come here and fix it up so it would have visitors bustling around the area once more?

   We talked a bit more about each other as I drove her back to Kawagoe, Japan.  Usami Renko was her name and she seemed to be a university student there, assuming that she told me to drop her near one of the dormitories of the institution.  Something seems to be off about her; as if I had met her from somewhere before?  Bah, must be my imagination?  It might be best not to think of her as I get back to work.  After all, I?m so going to get in trouble once I return this work truck, heh!


February 16th, 2071

...What happened two days ago??  I remembered walking home, and yet, can?t help but recall vague memories about something happening.  Next thing I woke up with was a bell on my journal and a love bite on my neck.

My memory?s all a fog after what had happened.  Mizunami called me, stating that I had collapsed before entering my apartment yesterday.  She helped me get inside my place with the help of the landlord, to which she redressed my wounds and cared for me while I was recovering for a time.  Hopefully, she remembered to place my work clothes in the dirty pile of my laundry, for I still need to wash them due to what happened that day.

Hence here I am, writing on this journal today, back at home at the moment?  I should probably catch more sleep time, since its cold here and I forgot to pay the heating bill for once?  Sometimes, I can?t help but to think that this world works in mysterious ways, especially when someone probably bit me while I was asleep.


February 24th, 2071

I just found out from my father that mother died...  He plans on remarrying soon, though I?m against it, given that she had just recently passed away.  I just can?t believe that she passed on from this world so soon...  She was a good mother, despite the fact that we had different ideals about one another.  Come to think of it, the two kept yelling at one another when I was a child, which in a way; I missed that around my house.

I still don?t know why father wants to remarry...  Probably to kill the sadness that he?s having right now.  I just hope it has nothing to do with an affair or anything...


May 5th, 2071

   Apparently, the boss? son went missing from existence these days.  Strange that this kid had disappeared from his parents, for he seemed to be a good man in my eyes when I talked to him about life ahead of him.  I do recall his name being Yusuke Sanada and I sincerely hope that he did not get into a heated argument with his parents nor had trouble in school by his peers.  Though his parents offered a reward in terms of a promotion in the facility for finding him, all I could really do is hope for the best for the three of them.

   Speaking of which, that headband I found back at the end of January better not have had any involvement in it.  I should probably avoid thinking about it from here on out?


June 20th, 2071

   I was sorting out my apartment once more and while doing so, I dug up a half-mask that was given to me from some time ago.  Thanks to these journal writings I made, I was reminded that it was a replica mask from that star actor from that Noh performance back in my high school years, which inspired me to take on a History Major back in college.  Looking at this mask gave me an air of calmness; as if every situation that happened to me back then suddenly felt as light as a feather.  For the record, I have to tell that star performer from that Noh performance back then how much I owed her for showing me the path throughout the years?  Additionally, this mask would probably looks great on my samurai armor, so I hope many people would recognize me as a legitimate samurai, now that I have a mask to cover myself to look more like a warrior from historical japan!


August 28th, 2071

   Woohoo!!  Got promoted to Junker!  Passed my electrical and machines exams and now, I?m on my way to fixing old things!  Now, I can actually bring in the dough and start investing!  Jun told me that I should start investing and saving up my money, in case if there was an emergency, so now, I could finally take his advice into heart.


September 27th, 2071

   I?ve been having strange dreams as of late.  It?s got something to do about a young man who was being forced by his parents and some unknown organization to vote for some woman running for President of the United States.  It was quite weird, considering that he seemed to be involved in trying to save a land in peril, despite everyone objected his tactics in doing so.  Consequently, objecting him brought upon their doom because an invasion happened soon after, causing him to mentally break down?  I? just hope that these dreams do not get in the way of my life, for they have been constantly making me wake up early in the morning, despite me wanting to just have a good night sleep from a hard day?s work.


October 12th, 2071

I?ve decided to make a training weapon for myself.  I have this blueprint created to craft a wooden sword, using many materials.  This is no regular wooden sword; however, for I had decided to pour some kind of copper metal within the carved wood I had dug up from a source on the internet given to me from Elza long ago so long now.  It was tiring trying to encase the metal in the wood, but it should be worth it, given the fact that the lead basing that was coated inside the wood is holding up the metal rather well.  This prevents the metal from burning up as it is poured in the wood.  I just hope that everything sticks together, as I am currently melting the copper down.  It?s a good thing that I made these multipurpose shock gloves a year ago because it melted the metal down into a soldering agent within minutes.


December 11th, 2071

   I?ve been hearing that some brown-haired individual was wandering through Tokyo for days on the news feeds that I?ve been subscribed to.  Never knew who she was, and yet, a feeling of mine tells me that I should pay attention to her movements.  Additionally, I?ve been seeing purple rice being cooked in my rice cooker these days.  I?m grateful that food is being cooked here once in a while I?m at work, but I can?t shake the feeling that someone?s been tampering with my cooking materials at home lately, despite it being left perfectly intact.

Still, I have yet to know what this wooden pole was.  The only information I found out about the object was that it claimed to be a set that came in 3 parts for an ancient spear that I did not quite catch its exact function.  I just hope it?s not cursed at all?

Speaking of spear parts, I ordered a steel yari tip for it.  I also lacquered the shaft a red color to resemble a familiar spear that belonged to a famed samurai named Yukimura Sanada, the red-clad samurai who made a final attempt at taking Tokugawa Ieyasu?s life at the final battle of Osaka Castle in the Sengoku Era.  I know that the color does not quite match my clothing choice for my samurai outfit, but it was the only color available that would work on wood at the local art store.  The tip won?t come in until late February; during the apartment?s cleanup period.  I hope my inbox would be kind to keep it there for me when I am at my parents? at the time.  I can?t wait to have my first real weapon, aside from the practice sword I am almost finished completing.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2017, 08:20:20 AM by Tsuken Yasashi »


Between Two Dimensions - Arc One Complete

"War is a grave affair of state; it is a place of life and death, a road to survival and extinction.  A matter to be pondered carefully..."  -Sun Tzu's Art of War