(a/n) - since my first set of FSD sidestories were more or less connected, i've decided to relabel the first 4 as 'sidestory 1', these next few will be 'sidestory 2'. the chapter titles are being edited, but i'm leaving the chapter text themselves alone for now. hence the funky numbering on this one.

Fate/School Days Sidestory 02(5) - Reiko

If mere words could sum up my life, the phrase, "I saw that coming," would fit the best.

I inherited from my Mother the ability to transcend time. My power was certainly not perfect, but it allowed me to view flashes, snippets of the world to come and the possibilities that existed amongst the multiverse. Time passed unusually for me, my visions imparted wisdom upon me and granted me experiences beyond what my six years would normally allow me.

There were two unfortunate side effects resulting from this. Barely after my fifth physical year, I pushed too hard in an attempt to make sense of a vision. Though I learned much from it, the effort involved overstressed my magic circuits and I... was broken. The small shred of control I had over my abilities evaporated and it wasn't unusual now to find me lost to the world for hours on end.

The second side effect was compounded by this event. When I say I had visions of the myriad futures, it wasn't anything like simply watching a movie or television show. I took the feelings and impressions from whoever I was using for my viewpoint. I also experienced Time much differently in a vision. For however many minutes or hours I spent entranced, I might live out hours or - rarely - days at time. I was bombarded with sights, smells, and sounds all out of proportion with what I could normally understand.

So I learned to understand them.

The problem then lay in the fact that everything that I experienced was purely in my head. I still had a five-year oldmind to try to frame everything around. My command of languages was insufficient, I had no way to voice the thoughts and ideas my mind would come up with. My early attempts were dismal and disappointing. Frustration mounted as time and time again I was unable to verbalize what I really wanted to say.

By my fifth and a half year I retreated. I used my limited vocabulary to space out short messages. Limited warnings or statements for my family to piece together. Oddly enough, my siblings seemed to find it easier to piece together the meaning of my words the less I said. It still wasn't a level of communication I was comfortable with, but I had a reasonable compromise.

My only refuge was with myself. Many times during my visions I would have an older version of myself as a guide or companion. For a figment of my imagination, she often provided me new insights and interpretations for what I saw. Many times they were things I would never have found myself thinking, and it were almost as if she were an entity completely different from myself. Though my words were nonsensical, they still held meaning for the both of us and I found I could converse with her more freely than anyone else alive.

Outside of my dreams, I was still alone. The doll I carried became her proxy. Whenever I needed a second point of view, I would talk to her as if she were my phantom self, using her as a second conversation piece. Despite also being a figment of my imagination, I could never quite achieve the same companionship I had achieved with my dream self.

It was something that frustrated me to no end.

Today I foresaw disaster.

Today was an off day. While the majority of the family spent their free time out and about the city, us younger children - plus Karin-neesan and Koyuki-neesan - stayed home under the watchful eyes of Uncle Gil and Akitsu-kaasan. With Uncle's hands-off approach to day care, the activity for the day was babysitting by the television.

Gekkou-nii, Kumako-nee, and oddly enough, Karin-nee were pleased with the decision. However, despite their initial indifference, when it came to deciding what to watch, Akitsu-kaasan and Koyuki-nee somehow swung the vote into watching an ancient - not mention completely out of season - movie called "Frosty the Snowman". Once Kumako-nee was told a brief synopsis of the story, she was all for it and the future I had predicted was locked.

One thing I knew, however, was that the future was never immutable. It was always changing, and even if destiny could not be completely altered, it could be manipulated.

I quickly removed myself from that possible future by fleeing the room as fast as I could.

(a/n) - this is my take on why child!reiko is so quiet all the time, and also why she tends to mumble into her ever present doll almost continuously. the idea of future!reiko influencing her visions and slowly guiding her development also seemed an interesting idea. anyhow my overall goal is to suggest reiko having a mental maturity at least a few year above what she should, even if she cant vocalize properly to suggest it. however it seems all i did was make her sound too mature, for which i am sorry