Chapter 3 : Told you so.
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In my past life, I was never a really observant person.
I wasn't completely oblivious, I just didn't notice things that were of no interest to me. People around me called me an airhead for it, even my mother would tell me to be careful. She'd tell me to keep an eye out for what was going on around me, that someday my carelessness would come back to bite me. I always thought she was paranoid.
But fuck me, I could almost hear her saying 'I told you so'.
In my defense, going through the whole rebirth thing wasn't easy on my mental state. In addition to that, who in their right mind would think they've been reborn as a side character in an anime they were obsessed with when they were a teen.
Granted, being reincarnated in of itself is hard to believe and I might not qualify as a 'sane' person after acting and living as a literal baby for the past three and a half years, but even I knew how crazy it sounded.
It's actually impressive that I managed to stay clueless for as long as I had, my name was Haku for goodness sake ! As in 'side character with a tragic backstory, dies before sixteen in a dramatic death scene that inspires the main character's own ninja way' Haku.
My stupid dumbass just heard my new name and was happy I didn't get an embarrassing one like before.
I had thought it weird that we had no TV, radio, computers or any technology I was used to seeing in my old life. I'd assumed that either we were dirt poor, I was reborn in the past or my parents believed in amish views. It wasn't until I learned enough Japanese to know what the hell my parents were saying that I connected the dots.
A mention of an evil demon purge and crazy shinobi in my father's unfamiliarly hateful voice got the ball rolling.
It wasn't just what he was saying that got me thinking, it was the way he said it. If he had mentioned them in his usual tone I would've believed it a joke. Dad was always joking, he liked mom's smile as much as I did.
But when he talked about Shinobi and the so-called demons his hazel eyes went dark, his voice deeper. His face twisted into an ugly grimace and every word he spoke sounded like a curse. When he mentioned the demon purge his frown turned into a smile, it wasn't one of his pretty ones. It was one filled with malice.
It was disconcerting to say the least.
After that I started paying more attention, and boy did I feel stupid.
It might have been my subconscious preventing me from catching on before because, once I made an effort to tune in, I found out how much this rebirth business had really fucked me over.
Shinobi. As in ninja assassins. Ninja assassins who can breathe fire and shit. Kiri, as in the bloody mist. Land of water, as in the land that is currently in a state of civil war.
The purge of clans with kekkei genkai, as in the demon purge as my dad so lovingly called it.
The same dad who, some time in the next few years, will kill my mom and then try to kill me too just because of some stupid plotline.
Great. It's Cool. No problemo.
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Why couldn't I just stay dead ?