Chapter 1 - Change?

Takumi Lin, an 18 year old college student living in urban Hokkaidō, Japan, clear skin and a petite body, a high male voice along with his straight nose, he is well known for his overflowing self confidence and his skill with women but his fate will soon change, for better or worse?

It was a Wednesday afternoon and he was getting ready to meet a girl by the 'lake of Gold'.

"Haaa… I don't even know why I bother getting fussy over my clothes, I could go meet the president in mere rags and he'll love me," he praised himself.

After about 15 minutes of fangirling about himself, admiring the gem like silver of his hair, to his handsome bone structure and his bright blue eyes, he was absolutely astonished by his own beauty, which he never failed to acknowledge everytime he looked in the mirror. He put on a black suit and set out.

While he was on his way to his destination he thought to himself, "Well, it looks like another woman has fallen victim to my loveliness, I wonder how I'll get her off my back now." Then he exited his vehicle.

He strolled over to the lake where his date, Misao Tanakura was waiting in a tight pair of jeans and a white T-shirt with a cat embroidered into it. She had short, pink hair that was shaved neatly at the sides, her dark, evenly tanned body was toned with muscles that were of an athletic nature but didn't take one bit from her womanly beauty. She had radiant, smooth skin and blazing red eyes, her square shaped cheek bones slightly shifted from her gritting her teeth.

"You're late Takumi," she scolded.

"Oh, my deepest apologies my dear Misao, I presume you must have been aching to have me grace your presence once more," he boasted, the girl huffed in annoyance.

"Allow me to calm your nerves with a kiss, loved by women from all walks of life," then he leaned in.

"You know your arrogance is really starting to piss me off!" She said in rage, and with no hesitation she pushed him into the lake then marched off.

He yelled back at Misao as she marched off and he tried to swim to safety, but to his surprise he felt his body getting heavy and he slowly sank to the floor of the lake, almost as if he was being pulled down.

"Is this how the great Takumi meets his end?" He asked himself, "It looks like the gods decided this world can't handle my magnificence and decided I should be with them in the after life."

But as he sank lower and lower he could see the water shining in a golden hue.

"Gold? Quite a coincidence," he thought, then his vision was blinded by a golden light.

***

"Ugh! That damn narcissistic pain!" Misao was literally stomping on her own way as she fumed at the failed date which just occurred.

Her mind wasn't on her surroundings as she was consumed by anger. So much so that she couldn't even hear the sound of a speeding truck's horn coming towards her.

*Honk!~*

As she stepped foot into the middle of the street, that was when she finally registered what was taking place. The oil truck was directly in front of her when she raised both her hands in a cross guard out of reflex, only to come into collision with the vehicle.

"Gahh!"

Misao looked like a complete superhuman as she barely budged from her spot, only creating trenches with her feet as she moved across the road. But her strength seemed to rupture something in the trucks interior, resulting in a massive explosion!

***

In an unknown realm, the silhouette of a child could be seen swirling it's hands around in a mystical fashion. In the left palm, were two balls of light of celestial quality, one purple and one orange. While the other palm was faced down and moved the fingers as if creating something out of nothing.

After this spectacle was complete, the being proceeded to direct both balls of light somewhere. They traveled on the same path towards another realm for a while before splitting apart, going their separate ways. These two balls of light were the spirits of Takumi and Misao.

As the souls entered the body of each of them, created by the child-like silhouette, the face of the silhouette showed a menacing smile.

"Now the real fun starts!"

***

To Takumi, the feeling of being submerged in water suddenly disappeared, as he regained his vision he found himself on the ground in the same clothes he left home wearing in a forest with coloured trees like that of a rainbow.

He got up and looked at the sky where he saw two balls of light in the distance, "two suns?" He questioned, then he began to walk aimlessly. "I could do with some food right now," he said, then he was greeted with a knock on the head by a fruit.

"Sorry about that kid," a soft female voice said from up in the tree, he looked up and to his surprise the owner of the voice was a small cat-like creature of snow white fur with a small patch of blue in the forehead and two tails with a katana as long as it's body slung across her back.

"You know, if you could use 'Ryū no chikara' (dragon force) you could have easily evaded that fruit," said the small animal as she hopped out of the tree.

"May I ask where am I?" Takumi questioned.

"You don't know where you are?" Asked the cat, "Oh you must be the hero the village head summoned, we'll stop here and get you some food and then we'll head to the village to begin your training." Takumi was sceptical but his hunger got the best of him so he played along.

After their meal the cat told him to follow her to the village, "You know, I didn't catch your name," said Takumi.

"Oh it's Ichika Teneshi, but the villagers call me snow." She replied with a grin.

"Oh I'll call you by your real name since it's more sassy," and the cat laughed while they walked.

During their journey out of the forest Takumi asked, "So you said I was summoned, may I ask the reason?"

The feline's face went gloomy and told him the terrifying story of how the queen of Tenshu, which was the province they lived in had made a pact with Kotsukuo, the ruler of the jade-underworld and how it unleashed demons from purgatory onto the nation and he was astonished, he then asked about the king.

"the current village head was the king," Ichika explained, "the queen banished him after she was corrupted, saying she can conquer the land without him." Takumi couldn't hide his amazement.

"So I'm supposed to take down these people?" He asked with fear, "Well it looks like I got a huge load on my shoulders." For the first time in all his life, he didn't feel as high and mighty, even if it was only for this one instant.

The sky grew dark quickly and Ichika advised that they should stop here and camp until morning because the demons usually lurk at night, Takumi  happily agreed. Ichika used her ice dragon force and created a small living space that could hold them both which caused Takumi's jaw to drop.

During their slumber they were interrupted by a eerie howl, "wh-what's that?!" Takumi asked while shivering.

"It's a mild demon, don't worry I can take it just stay here." Ichika assured, then she went out to face the beast.

Takumi slightly opened the door and poked his head out to get a peek at the battle, but to his surprise all he could see was Ichika unsheathing her sword, then sheathing it followed by the demon, which resembled a tiger but had jade spikes protruding from it's body being sliced into perfect halves after which the corpse disappeared in a blue jade colored mist.

Takumi was speechless, "how'd you do that?" He asked while she entered the room.

"Oh that's the Ryū no chikara I was telling you about, and after your basic training is complete, you'll be able to do it too and maybe even more," she explained.

"Oh I can't wait to start," Takumi responded, "But who's my trainer?"

Ichika smiled and said, "you're looking at her."

Takumi was confused about pointed out the fact that she was a cat and couldn't possibly train him, "Oh this is just my cat form, I have a human form I just like the feeling of being a cat," she replied giggling,

"I'm intrigued as to what your human form looks like," said Takumi, "show it to me.

" You'll see it when your training begins, now get some sleep tomorrow your road to heroism begins," and with that they slept awaiting the next morning and the adventures that were to come.