Chapter One:
再起動
"Oi, Yumeko -"
That was not her name.
"Ne, how are you so good at reading already?!"
Because she had spoken this language before.
"Yumeko-chan.."
She had brought tears to others' eyes before. However, anger had always sprouted before sadness in their wake. Until now. Staring at the woman before her with blank eyes, she tried to soften her gaze as best as she could to console the sobbing woman - but how could she? Why should she? That woman was not her mother. That man was not her dad. The roof over her head was not her home.
She was not Yumeko Tanaka.
She was not Mitarashi and Morino's daughter.
She was not theirs.
"Yumeko-chan, please…" the man, her father, pleaded with her.
Coldness.
It had been so, so very cold at the end of her life.
Please.
She had also begged with that same word.
Yumeko.
That was not her name, but as she stared at the heart-wrenched couple in front of her, she wondered if she could try - probably she should try. To become her. To become Yumeko. But as the woman continued crying, she realized that part of her would always abhor that notion. She was Nakamura Ichika. Daughter of Yue and Tendo Nakamura. Future wife of one of the damiyo's lead commanders. Court apothecarist and poisoner. She may have lived less than they, but she had surely seen more. Lost more.
So as they cried, so did she. Quietly and bitterly, she cried inside as she extended her hands to reach out to the couple in front of her.
Tanaka Yumeko she would be.
Nakamura Ichika, she would try and bury.
Fortunately, that task was something she could delay in completing. With her mastery over the language and gradually improving motor skills, Yumeko made herself spend most of her toddler time wondering around her new house - home.
Having been born in more simpler times where wood was more prevalent than lush carpets and digital screens, Yumeko was not used to the new technologies of her new life. She absorbed more from the advances in the new century than she did from her children's books. While it had taken some time for her new parents to acclimate to her preference and thawing heart, they did their best in trying to provide more puzzles than hand-holding workbooks.
"You can't watch that much TV, Yume-chan," her father scratched the back of his neck as Yumeko toddled towards the remote and began pressing buttons to turn the screen on. Yumeko frowned - pouted, really, and hook, line, sinker - he had her propped onto the sofa watching the news versus the newest episode of some children's show. Not that Yumeko could resist those too. She had a few quiet favorites that she entertained to satisfy her parents' skepticism on her overall maturedness.
"Ah, Yumeko…" her mother's voice chastised. Yumeko and her father turned their heads to meet the woman's disproving frown. "You -"
"-Smash!"
"Smash!" Yumeko instinctively repeated as the news flickered to her most favorite coverage - heroes.
Both her parents reflexively laughed at their daughter's sudden exclamation. While she never refrained from hiding her disconcerting intelligence, it was also well-known by her parents that her comforting childish antics prevailed when in the presence of heroes and Quirks.
Quirks.
"You really wanna be a hero one day, don't you, Yume-chan?" her father ruffled her wild dark blue tuft of hair.
Yumeko puffed out her cheeks and pointed at the blinding smile of All Might.
"Smash!" she grinned.
Quirks.
That was another new advancement in this world.
Nakamura Ichika was a purveyor and researcher of all things strange. Hence, her dabbling in poisons and apothecary. Yumeko decided she would carry her previous life's quest for power and knowledge into this one too by learning as much as she could about Quirks. And if possible, getting her own one too.
Author's note:
Can you believe it that I just got into BNHA after many years of delaying it? Anyway, this is not an SI but a reincarnation fic. I've been trying so hard to make one, and with this I hope I can finally execute it. BNHA is so complex but simple that hopefully it will provide a bigger and more plausible playground for my ideas of reincarnation than Naruto. Thanks for reading!
Warning: Yumeko will be slightly powerful what with her edge as an adult with tons of experience from XYZ time. But she has a cap, and she will reach it first before others due to the nature of her mind.