Takarakuji: Rakkihiro (Light Novel/Manga)

"I will be posting this story on RoyalRoad.com”
So this is written like an action anime or manga, but there are no pictures as of right now, making it more like a Japanese light novel. I hope you enjoy and thank you for your support! Fan art is welcome!
Takarakuji: Rakkihiro follows 15 year old Keizo Yoshimatsu, and how he was chosen for The Lottery. He is sworn to protect the alternate world of Rewarudo from evil, with the help of companions along the way. In his journey he will meet an interesting cast of characters- friends, foes, and rivals. 
=== 宝くじ：ラッキーヒーロー (Takarakuji: Rakkīhīrō)(The Lottery: Lucky Hero) ===
Written by Silentfoot (Archer Indigo)
== Summary (SPOILERS|not final) ==
Keizo Yoshimatsu is transported to the world Rewarudo for the first time in a dream. He meets Yume Nishikawa, who tells him that he has been chosen for The Lottery, and that she is his partner. When Keizo wakes up, he is very skeptical about this whole thing. The second time he visits Rewarudo, (Chapter 2) Yume tells him more about The Lottery, and how heroes are brought from other worlds to help them defeat evil. Keizo is skeptical still, even blaming his dreams on eating “year-old ramen”. Keizo’s cat, Ichi, has also somehow been transported with him, who Yume quickly bonds with. Yume remarks that Ichi was an excellent choice for a party member and that she would make a great warrior. In his third visit to Rewarudo (Chapter 3), in which Ichi seems to be a secured party member, Yume shows Keizo the training facility, revealing that they are in Queen Ikoto's Palace. Yume shows him weapons and such that he can choose for his journey. He also meets a mysterious red eyed man, who looks strangely like his brother... (Start of spoilers not yet written!) In Chapter 4 we are introduced to the main villain of the story. In Chapter 5 Keizo meets his first rival.
== チャプタ One ==
Keizo sat at his desk, a pencil in hand, a blank sheet of paper in front of him. He narrowed his eyes at it. His cat, Ichi, passed through his legs under the desk, wanting attention. 
Keizo Yoshimatsu is an average 15 year old, living in  the suburbs of Yokohama, Japan, with his mother and his loving cat. After college, his brother had moved to Tokyo to follow his dreams in the world of business. Keizo, on the other hand, thought that was the most boring dream in the world. 
“Why are you moving to the humongous giant city big brother?” he remembered asking as a child, “I don’t want you to leave!”
“You don’t realize, this is an amazing opportunity, I’m very lucky! Don’t worry, I’ll visit all the time, I promise.” his brother had said. But that was the last Keizo ever saw of him.
Keizo closed his eyes and sighed, setting the pencil down. He ran his hands through his black hair. “Mrowr!” He looked down at Ichi and smiled a little. Ichi purred, allowing her head to be petted.  
“Keizooo!” a woman’s voice called. 
“Whaaaaaat.” Keizo groaned. 
“Lunch is ready!” 
Keizo got up and walked out of his room, Ichi padding after him. His mother set his bowl of food at the table. Keizo sat on the floor in front of it, cross-legged. 
They ate in silence for a few minutes until his mother asked, “Any luck?”
“Nope.”
“I’m sure something will happen soon.”
They ate in several more minutes in silence, during which Keizo finished his food. “May I be excused?”
“Uh, yes you may be excused…” His mother had a slightly worried expression on her face, but when he looked back at her she smiled a little.
Keizo returned to his spot at the desk, staring at the paper. His mother and Ichi exchanged looks, then Ichi chose to join him.
*  * *
Keizo went to bed early that night. He fell to sleep rather quickly after his head hit the pillow.
*  * *
Keizo woke up to a girl’s face less than a foot from his. “Ahh!” He yelled, stumbling backwards, now realizing he was actually standing. And not in his room, either. He was in some kind of metal box-shaped room, with a soft light coming from somewhere he couldn’t determine.
“Hello, Keizo Yoshimatsu, you have been chosen for The Lottery!” The girl said. She looked about the same age as him, with light brown hair and orchid colored eyes. She was fairly tall and had a cheerful expression. She wore some kind of light plated armor.
“Uhhh… The Lottery? How do you know my name?”
“Don’t worry Keizo-kun, I’ll explain everything!”
This girl is awfully cheery…
“You have been chosen for The Lottery, which means you get to fight evil in our world, Rewarudo!”
Keizo blinked. “Heh?”
The girl grumbled. “C’mon, you’ve never even heard of The Lottery?”
“Sorry but no.” He casually tried to pinch himself to wake up.
The girl looked annoyed. “It’s an honor to be chosen in The Lottery, so you should at least be a little grateful!” Her expression quickly changed back to cheery. “Anyways, my name is Yume Nishikawa! I’ve been assigned to be your partner!”
“Partner?”
“Well you don’t think you can do this all alone, can you?”
“Still not quite sure what ‘this’ is.”
“I’ll explain more in-depth tomorrow, that’s when the fun will really begin!” She smirked at him.
Keizo realized that the expression on his face must look really stupid. “Umm… ok.”
“Wow, you’re not as fun as I thought you’d be…” Yume remarked.
“W-what was that?! What did you say!?” Keizo demanded. Yume just giggled.
Suddenly, a long, booming gong sounded. “Well, I guess I’ll seeya tomorrow, be prepared.” Yume smiled at him. 
“But wait, wh-!?”
To be continued...
== チャプタ Two ==
Keizo awoke with a start. He threw back the covers on his bed and dashed to his desk. He quickly sketched out the girl from his dream the night before, so he wouldn’t forget.
That was a strange dream alright… He studied the drawing. Could she be a character from some anime that I watched? Or possibly a video game? No, she doesn’t look very familiar. That dream felt pretty real…
Keizo stood up and opened the curtains. It was about time to wake up anyways. He got dressed and walked out into the hall. There was a note from his mother on the table. It said she was running errands down at the marketplace, while the deals were still good. Well. Alone time I guess.
Keizo gathered himself up some breakfast and sat in silence. ‘’The Lottery…’’
He plopped onto the couch after he finished. Ichi jumped up on his lap. Keizo scratched her ears as she purred. Eventually, sleep overcame him...
* * *
“Welcome back Keizo-kun!”
Keizo jumped back. Here again? He was back in that metal room with that girl. “It’s… you… again. Hi.”
The girl blinked at him. “Did you forget my name?…”
“No no no, I didn’t forge-”
“It’s fine, it’s fine, I’m sure a lot has happened since last night. I’m Yume.” she reached out her hand to him, smiling. He took it, shaking it cautiously. Yume.
“Oh! And I see you’ve brought along a companion this time?!” she commented, taking her hand from him and gesturing to the wall behind him.
“Huh? What do you-” He turned around and saw a ball of black and white fur. “Ichi?” 
The cat lifted its head. “Mauuu!” Ichi ran to him and he picked her up. “Ichi how did you get here?”
“So Ichi is her name?” 
Keizo turned back to Yume. “Uh, yes.”
Yume stood frozen, and for a second, Keizo thought she disapproved. That is, until she cried out, “Oh my gosh she’s so cuuuute can I hold her??!?!?”
“Sure, but uh, she doesn’t take very kindly to strangers…” Keizo started.
Yume snatched Ichi from him and snuggled up to her. “Aww, who’s a pretty kitty? You are! Yes you are!”
Ichi looked at Keizo with a face that said ‘How dare you let her do this to me, you filthy human.’ But when Yume proceeded to scratch Ichi behind the ears, her expression changed completely. She purred and snuggled into Yume.
Yume giggled. “I think she likes me!”
Keizo laughed nervously. “I guess she does.”
“She has potential to be a great warrior, you know. An excellent choice for a party member, Keizo-kun!”
“A cat as a warrior?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing.”
Yume rubbed Ichi’s head. “So if I remember correctly, you’ve never heard of The Lottery?!” she asked.
“Should I have known?”
“I’d imagine you would! The Lottery chooses people from tons of different realities! Most of them already know about Rewarudo and The Lottery. I’m guessing yours doesn’t believe in it?”
Keizo just stared. That seemed to give her enough information.
“Here in Rewarudo, we have many beasts and villains that we could never defeat on our own, so we call on the help of heroes from other worlds via The Lottery!”
“B-but I’m no hero…”
“Just because you aren’t a hero in your own world doesn’t mean you can’t be one here!” Yume explained, “The Lottery randomly chooses people, but some believe it uses its own algorithm, though no such algorithm has been proven.”
“You keep talking about The Lottery as if it were a machine.”
“Well… that part’s harder to explain.” she said, stroking Ichi’s back. “I’ve never seen it in person, and neither has anyone else. It’s probably a force of some kind, maybe like a spell. Some believe The Lottery may even be a person.”
Keizo pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is all so stupid.”
Yume stopped petting Ichi. “What?”
“I mean, how come in real life, I didn’t have any luck with my manga, and in my dream I have all these crazy ideas!”
“This is not a dream!!!” Yume yelled.“This is real life Keizo! Just not the same as your real life.”
“I suppose you’re right… This is all a bit too far-fetched to be real or a dream from my own imagination. Maybe this is a side effect of eating year-old ramen… ”
“What? Are you listening to me at all Keizo!!?!?” Yume yelled. Ichi yowled and jumped out of her arms.
“Jeez, calm down.” Keizo said. 
Yume glared at him in annoyance. “If you don’t believe me now, you will when we start tomorrow. We’re already a day behind because I had to tell you what The Lottery is! And our time for today is almost up now.”
Keizo sighed. “I’m sorry.”
Yume stopped glaring. “What?”
Keizo knelt down to pick up Ichi, who was anxiously clawing at his feet. “I said I’m sorry.”
Yume closed her eyes for a moment. Then she smiled. “Hmph. I like you Keizo-kun!” She opened her eyes. That’s when the gong sounded “See you two tomorrow!” She waved.
“Mrowr!” Ichi responded happily. Keizo nodded, “Sure.”
To be continued…
== チャプタ Three ==
"Had a nice mid-morning nap, did we?”
Keizo opened his eyes sleepily. His mother was in the kitchen, unloading the groceries. “Don’t worry, this boring weekend will be over soon. You have school tomorrow!” She sighed, but Keizo couldn’t tell if it was because she was tired or worried.
“I bought some Daikon.” She looked up. “Hey Keizo, are you feeling ok?”
Keizo broke out of his trance. “What? No, I’m fine.” He looked down at Ichi in his lap. Ichi looked right back up at him. I wonder… 
Ichi yawned and jumped off his lap.
*  * *
Throughout the day, Keizo found himself wanting to go back to Rewarudo. Maybe for ideas for his Manga. Maybe to see Yume again. Probably just because he was bored.
He went to bed early that night. “Wow, you’re that excited for school?” his mother asked, “I guess you want to see your friends again.”
“Uh, yes! That’s it, yeah!” he responded. Actually, Keizo didn’t have very many friends at school. If you couldn’t tell already, he isn’t the most social person. Maybe that’s why he was so eager to revisit Rewarudo. He considered Yume as a friend.
*  * *
And there she was, yet again, her face less than a foot from his. “Are you ready for some fighting today Keizo-kun?!” She asked, leaning forward a little. 
This time, Keizo didn’t jump back. Yume took a step back herself and smiled, crossing her arms. “You look ready to me! But first…” She reached out her arm to him, touching her finger to his chest. Keizo blinked in amazement as armor materialized around him, just like Yume’s, except his was a little darker with green accents, and hers had purple. Keizo actually had a short black cloak, which he liked a lot.
“There!” Yume said, “Was that the right color option?”
“Actually yes.” Keizo replied. “How’d you guess my favorite color?...”
Yume winked at him. Ichi stepped out from behind Keizo and mewed her approval.
“Hey there Ichi! I think you need something too…” Yume picked her up, to which she responded by purring. Yume made a simple bandana around Ichi’s neck.
Keizo smiles at the two.
“What’s that I see, a smile?” Yume asked, raising an eyebrow.
“U-uh…”
“Well it should be because we need weaponry next. And for that, we can finally get out of this room.” Yume bent over and set Ichi down, then turned to the wall behind her. She put her hand up to it, which was scanned with some faint blue light. A seamless door opened up, sinking in then sliding into the wall. 
“Follow me.” Yume said, signalling with a nod. She walked through the newly opened doorway. Keizo quickly followed after, Ichi at his heels.
They met some kind of weapons room, with shelves and racks filled with strange weapons, like a fusion between medieval and futuristic technology.
“We have swords, lances, axes, gauntlets, hammers, maces, chain blades, bows, and blasters! Well at least these are what we’re legally allowed to use.”
Keizo took in all the weapons. “A bit overwhelming, usually there are only three or four options…”
“What do you mean, usually?”
“I mean, like in a video game, you know? An RPG or fighting game maybe.”
“Huh? I have no idea what that is… video game?” Yume asked, cocking her head to the side.
Keizo laughed. “I’ll tell you about it later.” He continued to search the room. “So uh, what kind of weapon do you use?”
“Me? I’m an axe user myself.” She whipped her arm to the ground, causing an axe to materialize. A large, heavy blade on a long shaft. She twirled it around gracefully, leaving it to rest on her shoulder. “Top of my class, I may add.” She said proudly.
Keizo walked up to one of the shelves. He picked up a pair of guns, which immediately began to glow green. They felt comfortable in his hands, not very heavy but not too light, he felt like he could wield them all day.
“Energy Pistols.” Yume explained, “Very fast and can do some real damage when used in succession.”
Keizo lifted one up and aimed it at the wall. “Can I try them out?”
	“Yeah but-”
Keizo pulled the trigger, causing a green bullet-like beam of energy to shoot out with a bang. It made a black burn mark on the metal wall.
“Keizo!!!” Yume practically screamed, “You can’t fire that in here! You didn’t let me finish! I was going to say wait until we get to the training facility-”
Keizo shrugged, smirking. “Hey, what can I say?”
Yume grumbled. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.” Ichi meowed in agreement. 
“Anyways… follow me again.” Yume said. She dematerialized her axe and opened another door in the wall. Keizo, not knowing how to dematerialize his pistols, just carried them for the time being.
They walked through a short hallway, which led to a huge room, maybe the size of a Shukyu field. The floor was dirt, and the ceiling opened up, only metal arches separating it from the sky. A strange, greenish, turquoise sky. There were targets, dummies, and all sorts of training equipment on the field and… other people?
“This is the training facility, here at the Palace.” Yume said, watching Keizo gawk around the room.
“The Palace?” he asked, still looking at the other people.
“Oops! Pardon me, I must not have told you. Right now we are in the center of Rewarudo, at the capital. We’re in Queen Ikoto’s Palace. She rules Rewarudo. Well, her and the Prime Minister. Actually, I heard this really interesting thing abou-”
Keizo had stopped listening. As they had gotten closer, Keizo could see the other people in the facility better. Some looked more human than others, with a few having features such as different looking eyes, or maybe even a few scales. We truly are from different worlds. But out of all of them, one caught his eye more than the rest…  
Tall. Black hair. Charming expression. “Brother.” Keizo breathed.
Yume continued. “-And that’s when she kicked his ass like ‘yah!’ It was so cool and- Wait, Keizo come back!” She picked up Ichi. 
Keizo had begun running, no, sprinting all the way to his, “Brother! I-” 
The black haired man looked at him with piercing red eyes. “May I help you?” he said in an agitated tone.
“Nope, I’m sorry, you looked like someone else…”
Yume finally caught up. “Keizo? What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” Keizo responded, his head down. He grabbed her arm, leading her away.
“Keizo what’s the matter? Who was that?” Keizo took her to a bench, close to the edge of the field, by the wall, out of earshot.
“That guy looks exactly like my brother. It’s not him. I can tell.” He looked up into Yume’s eyes.
She wavered, then nodded. “I see. You must not have seen him in a long time. I understand that feeling.” 
Keizo nodded back. Yume’s eyes sparkled. She put her arm around his shoulder. “I’m sure some training will take your mind off of it.”
Keizo smiled weakly at her. “Thanks for being so… friendly to me.”
Yume smiled back, warmly. “Of course! Though I can’t say the same about you.” She stuck her tongue out at him, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow. Keizo laughed a little, rubbing his rib.
Yume got up. “C’mon!” She ran away, signalling for him to follow.
Keizo smiled down at Ichi, who purred back up at him. “Well, I guess that’s our queue!” He ran after Yume. 
The red eyed man watched them from across the field.
Carefully.
To be continued...
== チャプタ Four ==
Coming soon!
== Gallery ==
Category:Original Stories
Category:Original Stories (Unfinished)
Category:Literature