Warnings: MINOR SPOILERS.

Onmyōdō

Chapter 01:

"Happy Death Day"

The last thing I remembered was driving.

It was a warm night, dotted bushland, the country road smooth beneath the wheels of my car. I played music loudly—Bon Jovi, my favourite band, finger tapping to the beat as I admired the inky expanse. The moon hung lofty in the sky, stars gleaming capriciously, a trail of clouds refracting moonlight.

Looking at the scenery, I couldn't help but smile. Mabel was right. The night really was different out here—like a bowl of diamonds she said. I thought she was just boasting, being rural born and all, but there just really was no comparison, was there? I glanced out the window when I could, to commit it to memory and savour sometime later.

Then there came that shuddering impact. That screech of metal on pavement. The sudden lurch as I swerved off lane. A quick flash of illuminated dashboard, contents flying everywhere. Glass shattered, hairline fractures that grew to a deadly swarm of whipping blades. I shut my eyes, trying to ignore the flickering light, the world turning over and over and over—

Darkness.

Then a beating.

Sounds fell on deaf ears. My head throbbed, and I felt weak, alive, and furious all at once. I could barely move, barely see and understand except for some thin, straggling semblance of consciousness that followed me past the darkness and the tumble that seemed to go on for an entire eternity until—

A blinding light.

Then I was being carefully bundled into a soft cloth, warm arms wrapped tightly, words I didn't understand echoing around me. I yelled out in anger, and after a few minutes of scrambling around a light hit again—stronger this time. I blinked several times until my vision started to clear. One last blink and it was finally back.

Something soft pressed to my skin—I felt sticky, clammy. Hot. Everything was burning up and my face felt flushed and my mind was racing.

Something prodded along my head, curving over my cheeks, and dipping to cup my face. Above me, brilliant, rich umber caught against the sunlight streaming through some opening. It stuck to my face, clinging with sweat and tears. I saw the semblance of a woman, dark brown hair—nearly black—covering a thin line across her forehead. She spoke in a wispy voice, nothing that I could interpret—a garble of jargon that pierced my hypersensitive ears.

It took me a long time to figure out what happened. The rebirth, birthing, new continent—all that. Might seem obvious to you that I'd somehow been reincarnated into a new body with memories of my old life intact, but when you're caught in that situation yourself, reality takes a while to sink in.

For the first few months, I struggled to so much as remember what had happened a few minutes prior, let alone analyse the car accident that killed me or my subsequent rebirth. Infant's brains don't hold memory very well, apparently. They don't know how to interpret patterns or analyse events, so for a good while everything was hazy, like seeing underwater, and the water was brackish with a new, unfamiliar life. It was only much later when my brain finally reached a point of development that critical thought became possible—and that I finally learned my name.

'Yui Itadori' That's my new name. It meant 'Gift from God.

I suppose as names go, it definitely could have been worse. Yui sounds pretty. Delicate. Refined and gentle. The only problem is it doesn't sound like me.

Too bad I can't remember my old one.

Months, days, hours, minutes—all-time blended, and so did my memories. It was natural—healthy even, for a baby. Not that I'd let it, though. I refused to lose them.

In every waking moment, I repeated memories in my head—a desperate mantra to retain some small semblance of my past. I wanted—no, needed to remember. I was desperate for something to validate that I had a before. Something solid in a world that felt like it could collapse at any minute. My education. My colleagues. My boyfriend. My family. I replayed all these memories one by one, a constant reel of personal recollection, ensuring that my forgetful, infant brain could not forget my precious old life.

Yet despite these efforts, it was my name that escaped me—a string severed by the razor-edged blade that was this new existence.

I don't know why I forgot my name and not other things. I remembered my family, my friends, even the name of the college I attended. Thinking it immortal, I guess I didn't take the time to painstakingly safeguard its permanence in the way I safeguarded everything else.

That being said, as soon as I learned I'd been given a new one, I clung to it with ferocity. I looked up on reflex when people called, made sure to give a ready smile. They called me the happiest baby in the world for it, not knowing that when I cried at night, it wasn't because I wanted to be coddled or fed. It was because I had lost some small, important facet of my old life. So I cherished it—my new name. Took comfort in its normality. What had happened to me was not normal, after all.

Time passed, and I was happy. I had a mother, a father—a family that adored and cherished me. Things were looking good, and I was finally getting accustomed to this new life.

.

.

.

At least until I started seeing them.

A/N:

I've always toyed with writing a self-insert of my own (and a fanfic in general), but never really got to it. The fandoms kinda new, and nobodies written one yet, so I might as well try my hand at it.

We'll see how it goes.

Pairings are already set, but it might take a while to crawl out.

Thanks for reading.