When you die, you learn all about the universe. And I do mean everything. You know how the world works the instant of death. It's something that everyone has knowledge of, something that happens to everyone.
Imagine my surprise then, when a Shinigami appeared before me in the Universal Library.
Maybe I should backtrack for a second. The Universal Library is where all souls go. Who you were, how you acted, that determines how the Library looks. So if you believed you were a sinner, the Library would look like your perception of Hell. Shinigami, Grim Reapers, whatever you call them, those are the librarians. They keep the place running and they work under their boss, an entity whose identity is the most well kept secret ever. Some call it God or Allah or Shiva or Zeus. It's an entity that is all and one at once(or at least that's how I perceived it).
Anyways, Shinigami only appear to you in certain circumstances. I had been reading a book titled Secrets of the Universe: Your Guide to the Universal Library when one appeared before me. I knew instantly that it was a Shingami because no one was supposed to share your perception of the Universal Library unless they were your soulmate(and I would definitely recognize my soulmate, trust me).
The Shinigami carefully approached me, its black cloak swirling dangerously behind it. I slowly put the book down and stood, watching it with narrowed eyes.
"You are number 139607, correct?" Each soul was labeled with a number to make things easier for the Shinigami. I nodded tensely. "Come with me." I followed silently, because you couldn't resist a Shingami, no matter what.
I was led to a door, which opened up into a completely white space(think the last episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion). My stomach flipped and my eyes widened. I knew what this was.
"You have been randomly selected to experience rebirth. Will you erase all files?" The monotonic, generic male voice asked, turning to me with a somewhat dramatic flip of a cape. I swallowed thickly.
"I-I will not. Instead, I offer part of myself in exchange for retention of all memories." It was an override that only souls who have been in the Library long enough know. Luckily for me, I've done it a few times.
The way it works is this; I remember everything, including my time in the Library but I must give up part of my soul that will be restored either by death or a dramatic event. What's taken will be determined based on events prior to being received by the Library. In other words, my past life.
"Override accepted." The Shinigami's eyes glowed red and darkness cloaked the dimension. I shivered at the cold feeling permeating my soul, searching for the part that would be stolen from me.
The probing fingers flew out of my mouth, grasping a purple ball of light. My stomach sunk low. Whatever was stolen had to be a physical impairment, going by the color it gave off. I shut my eyes tightly, hands shaking.
The floor beneath me suddenly gave way and I was falling. I didn't bother screaming because I knew it'd only be a matter of time before I was born.
I opened my eyes to a bright, new world.
...
..
.
My name was Fujioka Yuri. It wasn't until a few hours after my birth that I'd realized what I had given up.
I couldn't make any sort of noise with my throat. There was no loud crying when I was born and that scared the nurses and the doctors. After all, my vocal chords were perfectly fine. Babies cried when there was pain, but no sound came out of my mouth. Oh, the tears and the squirming still happened, but nothing came out. It was like something was holding me back from making noise.
Well, I was kept in the hospital for a few months so I could be monitored. Whatever new world I had been born into, it sure wasn't as technologically advanced as the one I had been in last time. Nor were the doctors especially smart(in my opinion). Though I had been a bratty teenager when I died, I could've easily identified the psychological implications that a voiceless baby was exuding. Clearly something mental was keeping me from speaking.
But that was only half right.
There was something mental, but it wasn't of my own doing. The Shinigami had put a rock solid barrier in my mind, keeping my voice and memories safe. It was much like a vault that couldn't be broken into unless you had the key. I had the key to the memories, but not to my voice. That would probably never be granted to me unless I was in a serious predicament.
Besides, when would I ever be put into a life-or-death situation?
...
..
.
My mother died when I was born, so I never knew who she was. Later, my father would tell me I looked almost exactly like her. I've seen pictures, and frankly, he must be loco. The only real connection I saw was her eyes. They were a brilliant shade of green that shamed even emeralds. My own eyes weren't as brilliant but they were still pretty vibrant.
Up until I was about three, I had no idea where I'd been. For all I knew, I could've been my own grandmother(though that would be so universally wrong because the same soul cannot exist in the same timeframe). It all changed once my father took me around my village and I somehow recognized places I'd never been to before.
With a sinking feeling, I turned completely around. If it was there, then I'd be screwed. If it wasn't, I might've been hallucinating.
Nope. There it was, right in my face. The Hokage Monument. Four stones faces gazed at me, piercing my very being.
Without a second thought, I fainted into a black nothingness not unlike the one that brought me into this world.
So I am an avid fan of reborn self inserts and I thought I'd try my own. I don't really remember where I came up with the idea of the Universal Library, but it seemed pretty cool and ya know original. Not many SI OCs have really explained how they were reborn, just that they were. I also wanted to do an impaired OC because I don't see much of those either. Yuri knows that she has no choice but to reborn and she would rather have memories and something wrong with her very soul than forget because she's done that once before and it was not pretty. I'm also hoping to explore why her voice was taken and not anything else. She could've ended up with a missing limb or something tbh. Oh yeah, Yuri will be able to talk a few times but only when the situation is life-or-death(or at least if she perceives it that way). So yeah, leave a review or something. I'd like to know if this would be an interesting read.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. I only own my OCs.