*FWOSH*

The loud song of wind flew past me at increasingly fast speeds. My vision was blurry, impeded by the tears I couldn't stop.

The nighttime sky hung over me, darkness with little bright stars. In all my life, I never thought much of the sky…but now I couldn't help but compare the sky to my life, my horrible life.

Everything feels horrible, num, yet incredibly painful. The world is harsh, school is harsh, home life is harsh, and I just don't wanna do it anymore.

I was born and raised in a strict Japanese household with parents who cared more about my grades than my presence.

If I didn't come home with good grades, they wouldn't even acknowledge me, and when I did, they would only give me a compliment or two before completely disregarding me.

School life wasn't much better. I was bullied and cursed by the gods with a frail body that didn't allow me to participate in sports or gain muscle easily.

I was bullied harshly, and even when I tried to stand up for myself, my bullies would just knock me down and carry on.

My parents didn't care; they never cared, and I was forced to carry on.

My life is dark, dull, and empty, and so is the sky.

The only exception… is the few bright lights overhead. The stars, whispers of hope.

I have a few friends, friends I care about, friends I wouldn't want to hurt…but I don't think I can stop them from feeling any pain.

In the end, I'm selfish, and the pain I feel now surpasses the pain they'll feel once I'm gone.

I looked down at the bright lights underneath me, city lights, cars driving by, and all the people below.

The people that were screaming for me to come down, to keep trying, to enjoy what life has to offer.

My heart beat a bit faster. Perhaps if even one of those people had seen me walking home, said hello, and asked how my day was going, maybe I wouldn't have been in this situation; maybe I could have truly changed my life for the better.

But now…it was too late.

My one shining light turned on me, and now my world is black.

A small, depreciating smile danced on my lips as I stood over on the edge of the building: my loneliness, my depression, and all my pent-up tears. I was just a step from never feeling those cruel curses again.

And that thought pushed me and motivated me.

I took a step forward, and my body fell.

Screams echoed beneath me; the people gathered on the sidewalk shouted in terror, yet I didn't care much for them, not anymore.

Dead at sixteen years old, a tragic tale all too common. In the end, the most important part of my life was my death. Every day I lived had been completely needless, all thrown into one statistic.

Yet I couldn't bring myself to care. I was free for the first time in my life.

I closed my eyes and let gravity do the rest.

—

Darkness is what comes after death.

A shame, with the way my life had been, I had turned to several different religions to ease my pain, to make me feel something beyond the emptiness that remained in my heart and mind.

The one I had turned to the most was Christianity, mainly because there was an all-loving God who died for me.

In my heart, there was nothing more enduring than sacrifice.

But if Christianity had been real, I likely would have suffered for the sin of suicide.

Though, that would be better than my current existence.

Let alone with nothing but my thoughts in complete darkness.

My loneliness, my pain, and all my horrible experiences… they're still here with me.

Nothing changed, only I no longer have a body to move-

Or maybe I can?

Suddenly, I felt myself moving, describing the feeling as nearly impossible. Everything was warm, wet, and genuinely uncomfortable, but I could definitely feel myself moving.

I didn't know how long things felt that way, but sooner or later, I felt my head leave the warm, wet place, and then I felt a soft touch gently ease the rest of my body out.

The process definitely took at least a dozen minutes, but for me it felt like hours.

By the time it was all over, I had realized that I was smaller—much smaller—small enough to be held in another person's arms.

"Zuuk frey tyren!" A masculine voice shouted with a mixture of joy and worry.

"…Lysh lon brola, ven rekka." The soft voice of a woman sang out through haggard breaths of exertion.

My heart began to beat faster as the dots began to connect.

My weight was shifted from the arms of one person to another, and a warmth enveloped me. Soft round orbs pressed down onto my torso and legs as I opened my eyes for the first time.

Breathtaking. Those were the first words that came to my mind when I looked into the blue eyes of the blonde-haired woman who was holding me.

"Lash yak la theat ven, Law."

"Hic ven!" The man shouted again, and I turned my little head to look at him, jumping for joy.

A soft giggle escaped the woman holding me, and my eyes locked back onto her warm blue orbs.

Reincarnation could be the only explanation for what has happened to me now… but I remember everything about my past life.

How the hell is that possible? And why couldn't whatever god that sent me here take that shit away?!

My eyes narrowed as I suddenly felt exhausted. Sleep was calling to me, and even as I tried to fight it, my eyes grew heavier and heavier.

The woman just smiled softly down at me, and the man approached and took my small hand in his.

"Hil ven yarl locen, il lok!" He beamed a wide grin at me, and that was the last thing I saw before my eyes grew too heavy for me to keep them open.

— Law Greyrat (Six Months Later) —

I sat on the floor, my legs growing colder by the second as I remained in the long staring contest with the older boy in front of me.

Green eyes stared into my blue with no small amount of disdain.

My older brother, Rudeus, didn't seem to like me very much.

Since the day he first saw me, he didn't like me, which is a shame honestly, but it is what it is.

Rudeus is one year older than me, or rather about nine months. Our parents, Paul and Zenith, got straight to work once he was born with no real issues.

I was getting a grasp of the language here and knew some words, the names of everyone in the house, and most of the house's layout.

A new life meant another chance, and while I would rather not have my old memories, I can see that there are some positives to them.

Even without fully knowing the language, I knew I was destined to be a genius in whatever field I pursued as the years went on.

And instead of just looking forward to my future and blurring out my present, I actually have good parents who spend a lot of time coddling and playing with me.

It may sound incredibly desperate, but I don't care. All I ever wanted was someone to love me, someone who cared.

And now I have three of those people.

My mother, Zenith, is better than my old mom in every way. She's more beautiful with silky blonde hair and blue eyes, she's patient and judging by the way she makes others laugh, she must be funny as well.

A true mother.

My father is handsome, with blonde hair and green eyes (good for me, I'm destined to be a lady magnet), a hard worker, and a goofy father. The kind that makes faces at me, hoping it'll get me to laugh—it never does, but it's the thought that counts.

A good father.

Then there's the family maid, Lilia, who has red hair and purple eyes. She's beautiful as well and very caring. She's not a woman of many words, but she's very considerate when caring for Rudeus and me.

A fantastic maid.

Life… this life is much better than the other one.

In this one, I have something to live for and wake up for every day.

And it feels great.

I was snapped out of my personal happiness when a sharp pain hit my forehead.

I winced and gripped my forehead before shooting my eyes toward the culprit.

A smug grin was on Rudeus' face, and he was clearly proud of what he just did.

I knew our relationship wasn't going to be the best, but flicking a six-month-old baby?! Are we serious?

Well…he's only a year old, and I'm stealing our parents' attention, so maybe he's just jealous.

I got onto my knees and started crawling away, content with going anywhere he wasn't at the moment.

As I did, I ended up coming across the bane of my six-month-old existence.

Stairs.

I had been downstairs many times before, but it was because someone had carried me. Going down as I am now was very dangerous.

I couldn't quite walk consistently yet, but I could take a couple of steps. But honestly, even if I could, going down these stairs wouldn't be easy even if I could walk.

I needed to go down carefully.

"Hm!"

I turned around to see Rudeus standing behind me with the same smug smile, and I blinked at him.

There was no way he could go down these stairs, even if he is almost a year older than me.

Though… the way he was smiling at me seemed like he thought otherwise.

Well, if he wants to try…

"Bah," I said, moving aside to let him pass.

He held his head higher, and his smile grew into a grin as he took a step forward. He looked down the stairs and paused.

I remained watching him for half a minute, and all that time, he hadn't moved.

A cheeky smile came to my face.

He can't do it either!

"Bahahahaha!" I laughed, making him turn his head to me. A deep sneer, unfit for a child, was directed at me, but I couldn't stop laughing.

All that pomp, and here he was, cowering like a little bitch! I was aware of the hypocrisy, I killed myself, but I don't care.

"Enough!" He said with an angry babble. His cute little fists were clenched, and seeing this cute little boy so angry only made it all funnier to me, though I held my laughter in and let him try.

He took a cautious step down, and upon getting both of his feet on the step, he grinned confidently.

He took another step, then another, and another, and eventually, he had made it past halfway.

And when he went to take another step-

*BANG*

I cringed at the sight of his body falling down the rest of the steps. All it took was a small mistake, an undershot of his step for him to go tumbling down.

"WAAAAHHHH!" He cried out at the pain, and I gotta admit, I actually felt bad.

"Luat fulak zonoa?!" The voice of my father rang out as he came around the corner and looked up at me, my wide eyes met his for a moment before he picked up Rudeus and ran up the stairs to grab me in his other hand before taking us back down.

When he got back down, I could see how worried my mother and Lilia were as they looked at my crying older brother.

Paul put me down on one of the chairs and took Rudeus over to our mom, who took him with care and shushed his cries.

Falling down the stairs as an adult was one thing, but as a little boy… our bodies just weren't as strong yet.

He didn't look too bad off besides the lump that was forming on his forehead.

Still, it hurt to see the little guy like that.

— Zenith Greyrat —

She squeezed her eldest baby tight in her arms. She hadn't known how the two managed to explore out of their room, nor why they thought going down the stairs was a good idea, but both of those points were irrelevant at the moment.

Her baby was hurt and he needed help.

"There there, Rudeus, mommy has you now."

The boy's cries died down a bit, but it was clear he was still in pain. There was a bump growing on his forehead that made it pretty clear he hit his head bad.

"Shhh." She gently stroked his hair out of his face. "Mommy will make it better."

She gave Paul a look which he froze at and offered her a nervous smile, one she didn't return.

She had a feeling that this was his fault somehow, and even if it wasn't, she would make it his problem!

He was entirely too calm!

Zenith placed her son down on the table and held out her hand over Rudeus' forehead.

"Let this divine power be as satisfying nourishment, giving one who has lost their strength the strength to rise again! Heal!"

A soft green glow radiated from her hand and sprinkled over Rudeus. The bump on his head began to lessen until it wasn't there anymore.

All the while, Rudeus stared up at her with wide eyes.

A soft giggle escaped her at his surprised face.

"What's wrong my baby boy? Surprised by how cool your mom is?"

Rudeus remained in the same spot, utterly mesmerized.

"Very nicely done, Lady Zenith." Lilia bowed, and Zenith smiled at her friend. She could tell her a million times that she needn't call her lady, and Lilia would persist. She was a true maid, through and through.

"I hope you learned your lesson, Rudy." Paul walked over and placed his hand on his oldest son's head. Zenith was just about to scold her husband until she saw his shit-eating grin. "But you're gonna grow into a fine man if you can take that much and keep going, yes, you'll make an excellent swordsman."

Zenith smiled at the two and crossed her arms under her bust.

"Last I checked, we agreed Rudeus would learn magic, no?" She argued, and Paul shook his head.

"No, Rudeus is my son, my first born son, he's gotta learn the way of the sword, just like Law will."

"That's not fair though." Zenith puffed out her chest and narrowed her eyes at her husband. She didn't miss the way his eyes gravitated toward her breasts.

Paul would never change…not that she wanted him to.

"Of course it is." Paul stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist. She knew what he was doing, he was going to use his irresistible charm to convince her! "You can always teach our daughter, what do you say we get working on our little girl right now?"

"You're an idiot." She whispered out as a strong blush took over her face. She found herself lost in her husband's twinkling green eyes.

And just like that, she folded, just as she had so many times in the past.

"I'll be whatever I need to as long as I get to stay with you." Paul sweet talked, only furthering her love and lust for the man.

"Lilia, take care of the boys."

"Yes, Lady Zenith." The maid bowed and Paul scooped her up in a princess carry. She didn't offer even the slightest of fights as he carried her all the way to their room.

— Law Greyrat —

Lucky bastard.

I watched as Paul ascended the stairs with Zenith in his arms.

That woman was so unbelievably beautiful, and if he weren't so goddamn handsome, I'd question how he ever managed to pull a dame like that.

Though it seems like his looks aren't all he has, he's quite the sweet talker.

I turned my attention back to Rudeus who was still sitting on the table, but now it seemed like he was lost in his head rather than surprised by the revelation that magic is real.

And what a revelation that was!

I had read my fair share of manga in my last life to take my mind away from my lonely life, and I'd come across some isekai manga here and there.

To think that I'd actually end up reincarnated in another world… a world of swords and magic.

I've seen my father training with the sword before, but he hadn't done anything that screamed superpowered. Maybe he just hadn't shown anything like that?

It was clear magic is real in this world, and I knew what my next course of action would be.

Learning magic.

Rudeus pushed himself off the table and ran over to Lilia who he reached up to. Lilia looked down and offered a small smile.

She reached down and took him in her arms before moving over to me and doing the same. She then walked us upstairs and took us to our room before leaving and closing the door, making sure it was shut before she carried on with her business.

Rudeus and I looked at one another and after a few seconds passed, both of us nodded.

Learning magic was more important than whatever beef we had, so it was time to form a temporary truce.

— Chapter End —

Beta Readers: Basilisk Dragonboy1 Darklord331 LuluViBritania (FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB99th Britannian Emperor(Discord)

Author's Note: The name was supposed to be longer... it's a shame I couldn't put everything. This fic is something I've spent a decent amount of time on but it's also a fic that I've found extremely easy to write. At the time I'm posting this publicly it already has 22 chapters posted on . Each is anywhere from 3-7k words long, around that area. I plan on updating my other fics and catching up on some much needed writing so y'all can take these chapters in the meantime.

Hope you enjoy!