'huh what is going on over here!!'
The thought exploded in Sumi's head like a bubble popping—sharp, sudden, and completely out of place. For a heartbeat she felt a wet, helpless confusion, the way a newborn might feel when the world tilts and nothing is familiar. Then another, stranger realization slid behind it, the voice in her mind sounded thin and small, not the rough, steady tone she remembered from years of patrols and late-night coffee. It was a child's voice.
'Wait—my voice… it's a child's voice too?'
Panic fluttered, quick and paper-thin. The world around her held its soft, warm shape—the pale hands cradling her, the sweet scent of powdered soap, the dim light like honey through glass—yet inside she felt pulled apart.
'have...have I been reincarnated????!!!'
The thought roared so loud it felt obscene in the quiet room. It was ridiculous. Impossible. It was the kind of thing whispered in fortune-telling stalls or inked into fantasy novels—a neat, impossible escape from a life that had been small and heavy with regrets. But the certainty that followed was a cold, steady thing, memories that were not supposed to belong to this tiny body still sat behind her eyes—case files, a patrol badge, the weight of a pistol—layered over the immediacy of infant needs, warmth, feed, be held.
She forced her gaze up. The woman hovering above her filled the view.
'that means this women is my mother...'
At that instant the door opened and the room brightened with a new voice, quick and delighted.
"Lady Suha! You are awake!!!"
Suha turned her face and bloomed a smile so soft and small it could break a heart. It was a smile that practiced kindness in the same breath it claimed ownership of the room. Suha lifted Sumi with a careful reverence, her fingers gentle where the baby's skin wrinkled. A thin laugh, almost a coo, slipped from her.
"Look look Dena! My daughter is looking so cute~"
From the doorway stepped a maid, tidy and brisk. Her dress was a deep, soothing green that matched the houseplants in the sunny parlor, carved simply but with a freshness to. Little floral decorations—tiny embroidered blossoms and a single ribbon at the collar—danced at her sleeves and hem, giving her outfit a cheerful, homely air. Her hair was pinned back in a practical knot, a few curls tucked loose to soften her face. She moved with the quick, sure steps of someone who had learned every corner of the house.
"Ohh~ cuteee~" the maid trilled, her words airy and indulgent, melting into the room like warm tea.
Suha held Chika up to the light, eyes glinting like jewels, and the name fell from her lips like a blessing.
"My daughter...."
"Sumi Hana."
At the sound of it Sumi felt a tiny, electric shock run straight through her chest—less pain than a sudden recognition, like touching a cold window and feeling warmth on the other side. Her mother's eyes widened in satisfaction; they were the same striking red that now pinpricked through Sumi's new, hairless head, startlingly familiar despite the absence of hair.
"That's your name~" Suha said, smiling down at her as if Sumi were a marvelous secret revealed at last.
Inside Sumi's head everything became a rush.
images, feelings, memories and new sensations colliding.
'She is so beautiful... no, I—this is impossible—I'm reincarnated??? She is my mother!!'
Thoughts tumbled over one another, raw and jagged and moving too fast to be neat. One instant she was the tired detective who had lived in the margins of other people's lives; the next, she was an infant in the soft, protected center of someone else's world. The sensation was dizzying and oddly peaceful all at once—the panic of not knowing braided with a strange, gentle comfort at being held.
Her tiny body let out a protesting squawk, the sound sharp and real, and Suha laughed, delighted. Suha nestled her closer, humming something without words, and Dena crossed the room with a quick step to fuss with a blanket, the floral embroidery of her dress catching the light.
Sumi's mind lurched between two edges—grief for the life she'd left and a hesitant thrill at the thought of being given another chance, even if wrapped in the helplessness of a newborn. The world smelled of soap and linen and Suha's warm skin, and for the first time in a long time she felt, absurdly, like it might be possible to start again.
'Is this it?... is this my second chance to live my life...'
The thought drifted across Sumi's mind like a hesitant whisper, fragile yet strangely warm. The idea wrapped around her tiny chest, making it rise and fall with a strange mix of hope and fear. She was still trying to understand the weight of it when a new sound spilled in from the doorway.
Footsteps—hurried, uneven.
Then a voice, full of breath and urgency.
"Darling!! I'm back!!"
Sumi shifted her gaze, slow and clumsy like a baby would, though her mind moved with an adult's wary awareness. A tall man stepped into the room. His presence filled the space at once—partly because of his size, but mostly because of the way relief washed over him the moment he saw Suha and the child in her arms.
He had striking white hair that looked soft and brushed back neatly, though now a few strands fell over his forehead from rushing. His eyes were bright blue, clear enough to remind her of a clean sky after rain. His clothes were layered, made of thick, fine fabric stitched with careful patterns along the shoulders and cuffs. They draped over him in a way that marked both status and responsibility without him needing to say a word. The faint dust on his boots and the looseness around his collar showed he had run here the moment he heard.
He looked exhausted, almost panicked—but the second he locked eyes on Suha, everything softened.
Suha smiled at him, tears gathering at the corners of her long lashes. Her voice trembled in the gentlest way as she spoke.
"Dear… look… our baby… our daughter."
Beside her, Dena bowed her head and lifted the skirt of her green, flower-trimmed dress in greeting.
"Welcome, Lord Mito."
Mito didn't even wait for the formalities to finish. He stepped forward quickly, almost stumbling, and fell to his knees before Suha. His blue eyes widened in wonder when he saw the tiny bundle in her arms.
Sumi stared back at him, her newborn body unable to move much, but her mind suddenly spinning.
'is he… my dad?'
The thought felt small and unsure, like a pebble dropped into water.
Mito reached out with both hands large, steady hands and Suha gently placed Sumi into them. The moment he held her, his expression broke into something bright and overflowing. His tired eyes lit up, and emotion filled them until they almost shimmered.
"Our boys will be happy knowing that they have become a big brother.." he said softly, but with a warm excitement.
Suha let out a soft laugh and wiped her eyes, nodding gently.
"Yes… I'm sure they will be overjoyed by hearing this news."
Mito slowly, carefully raised Sumi up, holding her with the same awe someone might have when touching something precious for the first time.
"Welcome to the family, my daughter Sumi..." he said, voice steadying with pride.
Then he added.
"You are now the 3rd child of the Great Flower Family."
Sumi blinked, tiny lips parting in helpless confusion as her mind tripped over the words.
'a... Great what?????'