Warnings: Fish slop, existential crisis (again), f re c k ing cursing, and #tiredizuku.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but meh character.
Edited as of 3-8-18
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Text Key:
Italics = Emphasized thoughts/text/dialogue
"Dialogue" = Japanese Dialogue (End of Chapter for Translations)
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Something was wrong.
It wasn't outright obvious nor was it too difficult to find. It was something right under my nose, but always out of grasp when I seemed so close to figuring it out.
Ever since that torturous playdate, I couldn't get the image of my father breathing fire out of my head. It stuck with me.
It was my first obscure hint that led me to believe something was just wrong with this life.
Of course, I had come to accept the fact that my existence by itself was already unnatural. I could even be considered a devil of sorts by some religions. I was wrong and I had come to terms with this harsh reality. What I had not expected, however, was for the world I had been born in to be completely different from mine.
It became noticeable to me. It was basically everywhere.
When Oka-san would leave Izuku and me alone to play, I noticed how advanced the technology in our apartment was. While our mother was off doing her work, I was forced to sit down and absorb my surroundings. It was only natural that I would begin to observe the differences between the technology of my decade and the technology here.
The TV was way more precocious than it had been in my lifetime. It was almost holographic, a technology that hadn't even been attempted the year I died. While Izuku was being pacified and entertained by the kids shows playing on the marvelous device, I was being baffled at the mere sight of this invention.
I caught onto an idea. A simple theory.
I began to believe I had been reincarnated maybe a century or more after my original life. The quality and level of technology definitely supported my theory.
The technology seemed too advanced, even the goddamn camera that Oka-san had used to take our baby pictures with was about the quality of a professional photographer's camera in the form of a small digital camera. It was almost surreal.
Another thing that added to my theory was the sense of style. Of course, I knew that the Japanese probably dressed differently than Americans, a given, but I was sure that they didn't dress this differently. The fashion was too futuristic compared to my lifetime, even for Japan.
That, and the hairstyles that everyone seemed to have. Otou-san had a completely out-of-control mane while Oka-san had green hair. It seemed natural too.
The one thing that just refused to comply with my hypothesis was the stunt that Otou-san pulled. I just couldn't explain it. No matter how I looked at it, it was just plain impossible for the human body to produce flames. Maybe he had a device to create flames, like a plastic lighter of sorts, implanted in his body but even then, the human body couldn't withstand the raw heat of flames inside it for long periods of time, barely more than a minute.
The only thing I could compare Otou-san's trick to was the common 'fire-breathers' that performed at hotels and talent shows in my previous life. Even then, it was all a gimmick. They had oil in their mouths which they would use to blow onto the fire. The flames were never actually in their mouths.
I knew for a fact that my father blew out the flames. There was simply no doubt in my mind about it.
Unfortunately, my theorizing did seem to alarm my parents. Ever since that playdate, I'd started to become distant from my family and even more quiet than I was usually. Even Izuku, who was constantly doing things to get my attention, wasn't able to stir me from my pondering state. I suppose my parents just assumed I was going through a 'phase' or maybe that I was just going to be a quiet child. Even though they had thought something was wrong with me, they seemed to accept the fact that I would be solemn for the time being. There was always an underlying sense of concern for my wellbeing.
I came to be appreciative of the fact that my new family appreciated me for who I was, even if I were only 3 months old. I found solace in the idea that they would be supportive of my already introverted personality. Although, this is a new life, so why not have a fresh start as well? I've already changed physically, so there was no harm in trying to change the way I act around others as well. I figure there might as well be more people who share interests with me in this new life than in my previous one.
It wasn't my fault that everyone I knew in my previous life wasn't a huge weirdo.
Nonetheless, I made a small vow to myself to start acting in a more socially acceptable manner. That includes trying not to be a smart-ass all the time.
It was a few weeks after that horrendous playdate that I grew back into my normal demeanor, which wasn't all that different in retrospective. Oka-san and Otou-san acted as if nothing had ever happened. I knew they were relieved this was only temporary. I wished that I hadn't concerned them so much.
Infants that become silent or quieter than they normally act are usually mentally ill or will become unhealthy in that department. In short, I probably gave the two of them a near heart attack over the idea that I may have had autism or some similar handicap. Even then, they rode through the whole experience like it had never happened and finally adjusted to my reverted personality once the 'phase' was over.
I'm sure they counted their blessings after that short-period of paranoia. The weeks continued to roll by as I was consistently tortured with the life of a small infant. My days were rather uninteresting and filled with boring 'tasks' that I had to live up to so as to seem like a decently normal infant.
It was about the time that I was five months old that everything began to become fascinating again. My little legs could scoot me farther than ever before and I could wander around the apartment for a good twenty minutes before I got tired and needed to take a nap.
Great achievements were being made.
Izuku never got tired of my company and followed along on these crusades around the nursery, living room, and the hazardous kitchen that Oka-san was always trying to keep us away from.
It was during this time of exploration and wonder that I realized what was wrong and unfortunately, it would set me up for a future of disaster and self-doubt.
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Have you ever just woke up and started to stare at your ceiling?
That's what I used to do. It was what I was doing right now.
I had woken up a little too early in the morning and decided to just aimlessly stare at the ceiling. I didn't want to make a fuss; that would cause way too much trouble for my parents. I'd rather give them a few extra hours of sleep they would need to function for the rest of the day.
It was Day 167 (Yes, I have been counting) and I'd been doing this for the last month or so. Time seemed so slow compared to when I was a teenager.
In my previous life, a day would have seemed way too short. In this life, every minute seems like a decade in time. It was odd how your age of all things changed your perception of time, constantly elongating and shortening every second. It was scary how time passed.
I continued to lie down on my back, taking in every detail of the ceiling's appearance. Although I've looked at this ceiling for over twenty days, it was always refreshing to look at it. I'd think about plenty of things while I examined it.
I was about to turn on my side and go back to sleep when all of a sudden, the lights came on at full intensity. I winced at the sudden brightness, the ceiling that I had just been staring at abruptly casting rays of light upon my fragile eyes. Of course, my go-to reaction was crying.
A feminine sigh sounded through the room, usually routine with every time one of my parents had to wake Izuku and me up. It seemed like Oka-san had the day with us.
I felt myself elevate from my cradle as I was blinded by the sudden flash of brightness. Oka-san's soft lulling put me to silence and after a few minutes, I was staring at her with tired eyes. She had dark, dark bags under her eyes. It must have been early, maybe too early to wake us up.
She carried me to the other side of the room and plopped me into our playpen. It was filled with an excessive amount of toys that usually kept Izuku entertained for hours. As for me, I enjoyed playing with blocks. There was just something about them that was so cool. My inner child was released every time I had a chance to play with blocks.
As soon as I was on solid ground again, I scuttled on over to the set of blocks in the corner of the playpen and began to arrange them into a castle. Oka-san moved over to Izuku's side of the room and gently shook him awake. He didn't react as harshly as I did, only feebly rubbing his eyes as Oka-san lifted him out of his crib and lowered him next to me.
I took a second to burble an incomprehensible "Good morning" to him before returning to my quest to build the best block castle ever. He wearily glanced at me and then decided to lay down again. Poor thing, it must have been too early for him to be awake.
"Watashi wa sugu ni modotte kimasu, chīsana mono," Oka-san, the giant human looming over our playpen, said exhaustedly.
She then walked out of the room, leaving Izuku and me to our own devices. Izuku just closed his eyes and decided to take a nap on the floor. I continued to build my block castle.
It was after about fifteen minutes that Oka-san came back into the room and scooped both Izuku and me up into her arms. Izuku squirmed against her brace, desperately whining for more sleep. Conversely, I was quietly sitting on her arm. Today seemed different.
I do not like different.
Before I knew it, I was stationed on a high chair along with Izuku inside our apartment's kitchen. I didn't even know we had a high chair before now.
Oka-san walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed two small plastic bowls of what seemed to be mush.
Oh, I was going to be fed. Hooray.
I had neglected to mention the fact that I had started teething. To put it simply, it was not a fun experience. I felt the urge to chew on my hands every few minutes, only submitting to that urge on occasion. Izuku wasn't as temperate as I was. He would stick his mouth on any object in the room, including arms and legs.
He was basically a ravenous monster in the form of a small infant.
Back to reality, the plastic dishes were plopped in front of Izuku and I. We both got closer looks at the supposed food inside the container and I instantly accepted my fate. Whatever was in that bowl, it couldn't be that bad, right?
Since neither my brother or I had the ability to successfully use utensils, Oka-san took up the task of hand-feeding the both of us.
She first dug up a spoonful of mashed up food from the plastic bowl and raised it towards my face. I didn't resist because I wasn't up for giving her a bad time, and I was hungry as fuck, so she shoved the spoon into my mouth.
I instantly regretted letting her feed me.
She fed me fish. Fucking fish.
I hated fish with my soul. It had that taste, you know the one, that made you want to hurl your insides out of your body.
Almost as fast as the food went in, it came out of my mouth in a disgusting dribble.
"Ichido!" Oka-san panicked as she rushed to get a napkin to wipe my face, "Sakana wa anata no tame ni yoidesu!"
I paid no heed to whatever she just said. She fed me fish. As long as there was fish involved, I was unwilling to comply.
I turned my head in a rebellion of her demands and complained using my nonsensical form of speech. Oka-san just sighed in response.
She then turned to my brother.
"Anata wa dōdesu ka, Izuku?" Oka-san raised a spoonful of fish-mush from his plastic baby-bowl, "Sore wa oishī to wa omowanai?"
Oka-san shoved the mushed up fish into my brother's face. His immediate response was an entire face scrunch.
I guess I set a bad example for him.
He did the same exact thing as I did, which was pretty gross after seeing it happen to someone else, and was dramatic enough to slap the spoon out of Oka-san's hand.
He stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry as Oka-san wiped his face down. For about the fifth time today, she sighed.
I immediately felt guilty for my brother's misbehavior. I would have to do a better job at setting a good example in the future.
Just as I thought Oka-san was going to bend down and get the baby-proof spoon from the floor, she just stuck out her palm at the dropped utensil.
Almost like magic, the spoon came flying into her hand.
I looked at her as if she suddenly turned into a pineapple. My gaze wandered to the spoon and back to her face.
She placed the dirty spoon on the kitchen counter and moved to get a new spoon.
I looked once more at the spoon.
Something was definitely wrong.
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Translations:
"Watashi wa sugu ni modotte kimasu, chīsana mono" = "I'll be right back, little ones"
"Sakana wa anata no tame ni yoidesu!" = "Fish is good for you!"
"Anata wa dōdesu ka, Izuku?" = "What about you, Izuku?"
"Sore wa oishī to wa omowanai?" = "Don't you think it's yummy?"
