Streets, Rogues, and Underworlds

Chapter 1

"A summoner who can't summon is the same as worthless."

I don't know how many times that sentence has been repeated throughout my life, but it has always been there. I hear it when the older women of the house walk passed me. I hear it when the head of the family, my uncle Yoshino-sama, scorns those words at my face. I hear it from the little children, my distant relatives, as they train.

It's a mantra that I live by as a non-summoner born into one of the most powerful summoner clans in Japan.

My existence to the family is a disgrace.

The morning is unexceptionally cold when I wake up today. Spring is arriving but snow still covers the ground as if winter isn't ready to unclasp its claws from the world. I shiver as I force myself to get up, fighting the temptation to slip under the covers of my futon. Sleep didn't come easy last night and I kept turning around to find myself sore on all the wrong places.

Well it had been a long night, and last night hadn't been all pleasant.

It is still in the wee hours of the morning, the sky still dark outside. I slide the door of my room as quietly as possible. The whole house is still asleep at this hour. I shut the sliding door back before I quickly make my way through the dark corridor.

The servants in the kitchen are already bustling about as they prepare food for the house when I enter the kitchens. I savor the warm of the room and the smell of steamed rice and cooked vegetables.

As if on cue my stomach starts growling.

"Atsuko-chan, I almost thought that you failed to pull yourself out of bed today."

Chiyo-Oba, a maid that had been in service of the Fujisato clan for more than five decades, stands behind me. She smiles, displaying her set of crooked teeth.

"Hurry along now, wouldn't want you to go hungry."

I smile as she tosses me a bun from a tray seated on the table next to her. I catch it with ease and frown.

"Aren't these supposed to be for the breakfast trays?"

"Yes, they are. Now hurry along and eat."

"They're for the family members, I'm not supposed to eat this."

"Well aren't you a Fujisato yourself, Atsuko?" reply Chiyo-Oba with her usual haughty tone. "As far as I'm concern I serve and feed any Fujisato."

I open my mouth to protest further but Chiyo-Oba silences me with a look before she gives me a wink. I give her a smirk in return before turning around as I sink my teeth into the juicy bun.

I take it back, I'm not going to complain if the buns are this good.

The servants of the household are already up and running as they prepare for their duties, and I quickly finish my bun before hurrying to the main hall with a bucket of water. This has been my routine for the last fifteen years since I've lived in the Fujisato household. I clean with the rest of the servants, scrubbing the wooden panel floors and dusting the furniture. But today is different.

I make my way to the main hall of the house and kneel to the floor as I begin to wipe it with a cloth and my trusted bucket by my side.

The Rite is coming up and the all members of the Fujisato clan, including the lower branches, will come to the main house to participate. It happens annually every year, during the end of winter, and is a large event for the family. Young members would have the chance to spar and fight one another in the annual rite ceremonies in front of the elders.

Sometimes mafia bosses and the yakuza would attend just to watch the spectacle of summoners fighting one another, if one of them manages to catch any of their eye the youngster might end up being hired as a bodyguard or an assassin. This is what keeps the Fujisato clan running for generations.