Nar Yakushi

Fall, Ponyville, 2037. The Friday school bell rings, hailing the beginning of the weekend. As the football team, cheerleaders, and marching band get ready to load up onto busses for tonight's game against Canterlot High, the rest of the students of Ponyville high school file out of the school. Among the crowd flooding out of the school are Sugar Cookie Yakushi, and her two best friends, Silver, and Chrome Foil. Silver is a lean, and somewhat short unicorn with gray fur, silvery-white hair, and an outfit that screams "Ask me about obscure Star Trek Lore." Complete with an admittedly stylish pair of glasses. Chrome is of average height, but on the chubby side. He has royal blue fur, and a light purple mane that has a poly-chromatic shine to it under the right lighting. While other students talk about tonight's game, the trio talks about tonight's TTRPG club meeting. The newest edition of the Cyberpunk TTRPG series released last week, and the club is starting their first session tonight. They made sure to have a proper session 0 the week before, of course. "You went with a linear frame, with a sledge-fist cyberarm, right?" Chrome asks his brother as the trio make their way to the club's meeting place. Silver nods enthusiastically "Yep! 5d6 damage on martial arts, and brawling attacks, with bonuses to grappling! I'm gonna be a melee powerhouse!" Chrome nods in agreement. "We should try to get you a mobility tool so you can get into melee quicker too. Otherwise, you're just going to get shot to pieces." Beside the two, Cookie raises an eyebrow. "Isn't that what you're for, Chrome? You went with a long range build, right? You'll just shoot the guys trying to shoot Silver before he gets shot, right?" Chrome shrugs. "Depends on initiative order, and how many enemies their are. Plus, this edition isn't as melee-favored as RED was." At this, Cookie chuckles. "Yeah. Maybe we should get my dad to run RED for us sometime." At this, Silver adopts a jokingly reverent tone. "I would be honored to be GMed by the Night City Legend, Strawman." This causes the trio to laugh before moving to different conversation topics.  The ringing of the bell on the front door brings Kisho Yakushi's attention away from his current task of arranging decorative tablecloths. He opens his mouth to greet the new customers, only to gasp when he realizes who they are. "Cookie!" Kisho exclaims, excited. In the front door, Cookie gives her grandfather a big smile, and approaches with her arms outstretched. Her grandfather shuffles out from behind the counter as quickly as he can, and embraces her. A gasp from within the kitchen causes Cookie's ears to twitch. "Pumpkin!" The voice of her father cheers from behind the kitchen window. Her eyes dart to the kitchen window where she spots her father hurriedly removing his apron. He shuffles over to a sink out of view, where he washes his hands for a good 20 seconds before emerging from the kitchen. Kisho releases his embrace, only for Cookie to wrapped up in a much tighter hug from her father. She returns it in kind. A loving warmth filling her chest that causes her to nearly melt in his arms. Chrome, and Silver wave hello to Kisho, and Nar, then turn to head to the restaurant's side room. Neither father, nor daughter want to break the embrace, but after around 30 seconds, Nar reluctantly lets his daughter go. His face beams with a warm smile. "You guys have fun tonight! You'll have to tell me how your first session goes! We'll have your food out for you guys pronto!" Cookie leans in to kiss her father on the cheek before turning towards the side room. "Thanks papa. I will." Entering the side room, Cookie finds the familiar space of the TTRPG club room. A large rectangular table dominates the center of the room, where the rest of the club is already set up, ready for tonight's game. The wall of the room is full of decorations such as figurines, posters, and memorabilia. A large bookshelf on the right wall hold various rulebooks for many different TTRPGs, and extra dice, and materials for people who forget theirs. Sitting above the head of the table where the TTRPG club's president, and tonight's GM is sat is a framed character sheet. It's the character sheet of the Night City legend, Strawman. Nar's Cyberpunk Red character who was the only character to survive a full campaign.  Sat at the head of the table is Parch Tomes. The TTRPG club's president, tonight's GM, and Cookie's long time crush. Probably one of the most geeky students at Ponyville high, his passion for his hobbies is infectious. Chrome, and Silver where the people who introduced Cookie to the TTRPG club, but it was Parch who got her to stay. During their first club meeting, he helped her with every little detail, and question she had. He made her feel welcomed, and appreciated, and even gave her a dice set as a welcome gift. He isn't the strongest guy in Ponyville high, and his looks are average, but that doesn't matter to Cookie. His passion, kindness, and overall good nature are what draw her in. It's just too bad he's not looking for a relationship at the moment. Cookie confessed to him last year, but he rejected her. As gently as possible, mind you, but it didn't make it hurt any less for Cookie. She was devastated for quite some time. Even stopped coming to TTRPG club meetings, until her dad sat her down for a talk about friendships, expectations, and relationships. Now? She's just happy he's still her close friend.  Other than Parch, Chrome, and Silver, two other students sit at the table. Two seniors who helped sponsor the TTRPG club. Cookie doesn't know them as well as the others, since they don't hang out with the others outside of the club. They're nice enough though, and love to make characters that help others get into the spotlight. One munchkins his characters to all heck, while the other is almost always the utility guy.  After Cookie sits down, and food is brought in Parch begins pre-session formalities. He goes over lines, and veils for the campaign, campaign themes, and more stuff they've already gone over in the session 0. Just before the session can start however, another figure enters the room. Dressed in his Ponyville High varsity jacket, and Ponyville High baseball cap, Rising Star, the star pitcher of the high school's baseball team enters. He ignores the majority of the room's occupants to approach Cookie, sliding into the seat beside her. "Hey Cookie. Thought I'd find you here." The two seniors share a look. Chrome scowls, and Silver buries his face in his character sheet. Parch tries to speak up to ask Star if he would like to join, but the baseball player cuts him off. "Listen, I've got two tickets to the big game tonight. Wanna go with me?" Star flashes a smile that just oozes 'I have way too much confidence in myself.' It makes Cookie's stomach turn. She shakes her head, gesturing to the others at the table. "No thanks Star. I'm attending the TTRPG club meeting tonight." Star's smile dims slightly as his eyes scan the room. His attention turns back to Cookie. She can tell he wants to make a comment, but doesn't want to upset her. Probably because he's been trying to date her since spring of last year. "Suit yourself." Star begins to stand, only to pause to flash Cookie another smile. "But if you change your mind, give me a call." He mimes a gesture of 'call me', then gives the rest of the group a dismissive wave before turning to leave.  For the rest of the night, up until closing, the TTRPG club has their first session of the newest Cyberpunk TTRPG. Silver pastes 3 mooks with a stop sign he rips out of the ground. Cookie manages to trick a fixer into giving the crew a better cut in a gig, and the munchkin making senior makes Parch question his combat balance after he nearly one shot the mini-boss of the session. All in all, it was a great session!  After closing, Cookie waves goodbye to her friends as they all depart to head home. She stays behind to help her grandfather tidy up the dining room a little, while her father, and the kitchen crew close up in the back. At the end of the night, when closing is done, father and daughter strap on their rollerblades for a short skate home. Nothing too fancy. Just a pleasant skate through the chill night air. As badly as they both wish they could go a little faster, and maybe do a few tricks along the way, they know better. With the injury to his knee that Nar received a few years back, his doctor has been pretty clear that he shouldn't skate like he used to. He can go on leisurely skates, or even to rinks but if he ever tries to street skate like he used to, he might re-injure his knee, and may not be able to walk properly afterwards.  After arriving home, the two say goodnight before heading to bed. At least, Nar goes to bed. Cookie has other plans for her night.

Today is a day Nar has been both excited for, and dreading for a long time. So much so that he didn't sleep all that well last night. Today is a day he's known would be coming for a long time. Now that it's here, he almost can't believe it. What could have Nar filled with such a mixture of emotions? Why, Cookie's first day of Kindergarten!  After the meet and greet earlier this week, Nar is sure Cookie's going to enjoy her first year of school. Her teacher is genuinely passionate about teaching her students in unique ways that keep them engaged, and wanting to learn more. The school itself is nice, and the playground has plenty for the students to do at recess. Ponyville Elementary was a fair bit different from what Nar remembers from his time attending it, but that wasn't a bad thing.  As the sun begins to rise over Ponyville, Nar, equal parts excited, and nervous, approaches his daughter's room. He slowly opens the door to see Cookie asleep in her bed. Quietly, he shuffles over to the bed, and kneels down. Reaching a hand up, he gently rubs the side of her head with a soft "Rise and shine, sleepyhead." Cookie shuffles in her bed for a moment, then flips over to face her father, eyes slowly opening. In an instant, her arms latch around his neck, and Nar lifts her out of bed. "Good morning Papa." She yawns, head resting on his shoulder. Nar responds with a gentle "Good morning, pumpkin."  After carrying Cookie downstairs, he sets her down on her chair at the kitchen table, where breakfast is waiting. Eggs, a cup of yogurt, and toast with jelly, hand-cut into the shape of a heart. Nar sits across from her with a plate of his own ready to go. Before the two can eat, they clasp their hands together. Then, together, the two let out an "Itadakimasu! (Thank you for the meal!)" After which, the two begin to eat. Nar asks Cookie if she's excited for her first day of school, which she responds to with an enthusiastic "Yes!" which ends with her accidentally spilling some of her yogurt on her pajamas. This causes Nar to chuckle, and state "Remember to put your food in your mouth, pumpkin. Not on your shirt, you silly goose." He then uses his magic to grab a napkin, and wipe the yogurt off of her shirt. Later, after the two have finished breakfast, Nar helps Cookie get dressed, and get her school supplies ready. Once she's all packed, the two head outside to greet the sun. Cookie then clambers into Nar's satchel, where, after a few seconds, her head pokes back out. Her eyes now covered by a pair of goggles that match the ones Nar wears. Seconds later, the two glide down the sidewalk as Nar skates his way to Ponyville elementary school. The trip itself is pretty short. Only about 3 minutes of skating for Nar. As other parents drop their kids off in cars, or walking them, and others step off busses, Cookie clambers out of Nar's satchel. She neatly places her goggles back into the satchel, then looks up to her father. He pulls his own goggles up to reveal the tears welling in his eyes. Kneeling down, Nar gives Cookie a tight hug. "Have a good first day, pumpkin. I'll be back to pick you up when school's over." Cookie responds with a warm "I love you papa." Somehow, Nar manages to pry himself off of his daughter, and slowly stands as he watches her turn to head inside. The wet warmth in his eyes is wiped away by his forearm, then quickly covered by his goggles. As Nar turns to head back home, he smiles to himself. Maybe he should have brought Asuka along with him.