The Snow's Daughter
I'm gradually posting installments of a short story collection here that's centered around the young superheroine Keiko Mitsugi (Ronin) in Worlds Within Worlds - currently, the pieces range from a little over 200 words to just under 2,000, which is probably a good ballpark figure for how the rest of the series is going to go.

I'd advise not reading these stories if you're uncomfortable with dark/mature themes, possible porn, psychic ninja antics, or overuse of the present tense.

That being said, we're all a lovely bunch of disturbed individuals here. So do read and enjoy, won't you?

The birth of Keiko. G, 228.

By all rights, Keiko Mitsugi should have been born on a cold, moonless night, the silence of which would, in an ideal world, be broken only by the occasional shriek of the wind. Real life, however, isn’t so poetic. She’s born in the middle of the afternoon on a perfectly ordinary January seventh; as he looks as his daughter’s face for the first time, Akira Mitsugi thinks how fortunate it is that she chose to arrive the day after the blizzard ceased. Outside the room where Reika reclines on the bed, exhausted but radiant, the snow forms a dazzling blanket over the Mitsugi lands.

“She’s everything we’ve hoped for, Akira.” She props herself up on her elbows; her smile’s positively beatific, straight out of Madonna and Child.

“She is,” Akira agrees. He sits down next to her, brushes a sweaty lock of hair away from her eyes. “Have you thought of a name?”

“Mmm.” Reika closes her eyes. Her smile remains in place. “What do you think of Hokuto? Or Keiko, or Miyuki.”

“Hokuto.” He tries out each name slowly—this decision isn’t one that should be rushed, after all. “Keiko. Miyuki.”

“I think I like Keiko best.” She squeezes Akira’s hand gently, too tired to put any real force in the gesture.

“It’s a fine name.” He leans over and kisses her forehead. “She’ll bear it well.”