NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: Reincarnation
[MC's POV]
I'm fucked.
I'm so fucked.
"I am so fucked."
"How many times do I have to tell you Seiji, no cursing." A voice told me from the side while I continued staring at the ceiling as I lay flat on my black like a well-laid corpse, contemplating on how fucked I was.
My head lifelessly rolled to the side to look at the person who had just reprimanded me. He was sitting on the floor with one of his knees coming up to his chest. There was a small table in front where different Japanese dishes were set and he was eating a bowl of rice with chopsticks.
He wore a black traditional Japanese dress and there were many scars on his face that hinted at the violence he had seen. But underneath such scars was a young face that could not be older than 20.
"Come and eat your food before it gets cold." He told me while shoving lumps of rice into his mouth. He did not even bother to look at me, his eyes were closed while he enjoyed his food.
Of course, he would be enjoying his food peacefully, because unlike me, he was not absolutely fucked. Wait, that's not exactly correct. He was just as screwed as me, but unlike me, he was blissfully ignorant of what the future held.
You might be wondering why I was in such deep trouble and even contemplating killing myself right now. The answer was simple.
Currently, it was the year 1910 and somehow, I was living in a rural village in Japan.
And if it wasn't obvious already, I had somehow travelled back exactly 110 years into the past.
How it happened? I did not know. The last thing I remember was sending a leave letter to the principal, faking sickness so that I could skip school that day.
I did not die, I did not get hit by a truck nor did I fall into a rabbit hole like Alice.
One moment I was there and in the next, I found myself here. There was no hint, there was no warning and there definitely was no logic.
Actually, I found myself in this situation yesterday but being hopeful that it was a dream, I slept. But the next day, I was still in the same situation, trapped inside some kid's body in an era that was known to be the worst.
For people who are not well versed in history, let me tell you some of the future event that awaits me - a person living in Japan during the early 1900's ; World War 1, The Great Kanto Earthquake that killed around 150,000 people, World War 2 which was known as the bloodiest war in human history with 85 million casualties and two atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Yeah, what a remarkable future that awaits me. Did I also mention that Hitler would be coming into power soon as well?
Fantastic.
"I am so screwed."
"Are you going to lay there all day like a dead fish? If you don't come I am going to eat your share." the young man said after a while.
I continued lying on the floor for a few more seconds before I pushed myself up. I looked at the man whom I recalled to be Kenshi, the eldest sibling and my big brother.
Since coming back to this era yesterday, I have slowly been gaining the memories of this 4-year-old body that I inherited. There were a total of seven members in our family but all of them were away to work for the day except for me and my brother.
They thought I was sick since I refused to act right yesterday and slept the whole day. So they made my brother stay at home to watch over me at home.
As the youngest in the family, I was quite spoiled.
"I'm not hungry, you can have it." I said and my brother simply shrugged, "Suit yourself then."
I got up and walked out of the room to wander around aimlessly while gathering my thoughts and processing the entire situation. Everything still felt unreal to me.
I walked out into the courtyard and a pleasant breeze came to relieve my not-so-unpleasant mood. The leaves of the trees fluttered in a flushing sound and the air which was still untainted by pollution filled my lungs.
The sun hung high in the sky and its gentle warmth caressed my skin. The greenery seemed to reflect this warmth as it glazed like jade. It was a beautiful summer day and the chirping of birds and the buzzing of insects was what really made this felt like a dream to me.
I was born deaf back in my original life. So this was the first time I was hearing things. If not for the memories I was slowly gaining, I would have had a harder time adjusting.
So I listened closely to the different sounds of the world and the melodious music of still nature. I thought to myself, maybe everything was not so bad.
I had no family back home as my mother ran away with a guy when I was ten and my father passed away due to alcohol the following year. I had no real siblings as I was an accident my parents won't allow to happen twice and I have been passed around between relatives like a chore.
My social life was not good because I was deaf. I couldn't afford hearing aids either so I remained completely deaf for the 13 years I had been alive. Instead, I had to adapt to reading people's lips for the most basic level of communication.
I was bullied in school as well because I was sent to a government school where all the poor and lowlifes of society went and they were more than happy to bully the small kid more unfortunate than themselves.
I actually kicked one of them in the shin not too long ago and I was trying to skip school in fear that they would get revenge before everything happened and I travelled to the past.
So there was nothing much to miss from my other life. So maybe even though I was born in a really bad era, this could be a great chance to start over.
I had a proper family now and judging from my memories, they were all great people. With my future knowledge, I could escape all the upcoming disasters and maybe even thrive in this world
So maybe this was not such a bad turn of events.
Scratch that, this was a great turn of events. This was a new start for me and I was finally able to fulfil my dream of hearing sound as well.
That's it.
Maybe I am not fucked.
I fucked.
...
...
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"We're home." My mother was the first to announce her return as my small body quickly got up to run up to my new family.
My brother Kenshi followed behind with a small smile. He was a cool guy who actually fought in the Russo-Japanese War and survived to tell the tale. I spent the entire day with him and in doing so, I was able to gain back all of my memories.
Yes, my memories.
I realized after recalling everything that I had not taken over the body of a small child, instead, I was born as such and I recalled my memories only now.
"Welcome home." I said with a smile on my face, feeling giddy at not just seeing my mother but also hearing my own voice.
I liked talking, even in my past life when I was deaf. It always felt like magic to me how people could share thier thoughts, feelings and intentions with just a movement of thier lips.
"Oh~ was my baby feeling well today?" She chirped at me while picking up my small body and rubbing her cheeks against mine. She smelled like grass and soil which made sense since my family were farmers.
"Y-yeah." I replied with a blush and a smile on my face. It was awkward as a 13-year-old to be handled like a baby but at the same time, it felt good to be loved by your mother. That other bitch could never.
"Where's father and the others?" I asked and my mother replied with a smile. "I came home early to prepare food since your brother can't be trusted with the task. They will be home soon."
My brother had an awkward smile and rubbed the back of his head under my mother's faux disappointed gaze.
"Do you want to help Mommy cook dinner, Seiji?" My mother turned back to me with a beaming smile.
She was beautiful. She wore dull clothes tainted with dirt and her hair was tied into a messy bun. By all means, she wore no flattering clothes but she looked beautiful to me, like nature's greatest gift.
"Hn." I nodded with a small smile.
And that was the start of my new life. It was easy for someone who never had anything to start over.
.
.
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