This is really happening.
A new life. A new world. A new start.
The realization didn't come all at once. It crept in slowly, settling deep into my thoughts like something too real to ignore. Every breath felt new. Every sensation warmer, clearer, heavier.
And thank goodness I was reborn as a boy again.
I didn't know what kind of cosmic lottery Yakashi was running, but at least he didn't mess that part up.
But that old man Yakashi… oh, we are going to have a LONG conversation when I finally see him in heaven again. I'm storing all my complaints like a grudge-collection quest.
A very long one.
With side missions.
For now, I looked up at the two giants hovering over my newborn body.
*My parents.*
Real ones. Warm ones.
Their voices were gentle, their touches careful, like I was something precious instead of a mistake that shouldn't exist. My chest tightened in a way I didn't understand yet.
Then something strange happened.
No, not strange embarrassing.
I peed.
All over myself. And the blanket. And maybe a little on my mom.
Time froze.
My parents panicked and rushed to change me. I wanted to disappear into the void.
*So this is my second life's opening move…*
*Great.*
---
*Two Years Later*
Life has been… interesting.
Very interesting.
And very humiliating.
I can crawl like a champion now. I play around the house with the twin maids, *Sakari* and *Nina*, who treat me less like their employer's son and more like an adorable pet that keeps getting stuck in random corners.
They laugh a lot.
At me.
Hide and seek with them is basically me crawling everywhere and them pretending not to see me at all. Fun… and humiliating.
Sometimes they'd crouch down and whisper, "Oh nooo, where did Hikaru go?" while staring directly at me.
Cruel. Absolutely cruel.
One afternoon, while chasing a dust bunny in the attic, my tiny hands brushed against something hard and rectangular. I tumbled forward and bumped into an old dusty book buried under antiques.
A book titled:
*"Arkanium Manuscript: Fundamental Magic Theory."*
A magic book.
My tiny toddler brain froze.
*Magic…? Magic!?*
My heartbeat spiked.
What kind of weird family keeps THIS in the attic?
I turned away quickly, pretending I didn't see anything. My instincts screamed danger. Books like this never came without consequences.
But curiosity ignited inside me like fireworks.
Bright. Loud. Impossible to ignore.
And then something outside caught my eye.
Through the attic window.
My father, *Mihatu*, swinging a sword in perfect form.
Each motion was clean. Sharp. Controlled. His blade cut the air with purpose, like the sword itself obeyed him.
My mother, *Yare*, stood nearby, calm and elegant, manipulating water in the air to water her plants. Real floating streams, curling like ribbons, shimmering in the sunlight.
My breath stopped.
"Old man…" I whispered in my head.
"You seriously threw me into a magical world?!"
My heart raced so fast I thought it might burst out of my tiny chest.
Without thinking, I scramble-crawled out of the attic.
*The book. I need the book. I NEED THE BOOK.*
But instead of freedom, I was intercepted by my greatest obstacle:
Nina.
"Hikaru! You're dirty again."
Before I could escape, she lifted me like a sack of rice. "No attic for you!"
I flailed uselessly.
I spent the next ten minutes being wiped, washed, dried, powdered, and fluffed like a freshly cleaned puppy.
Dignity: completely erased.
Once freed, I toddled toward the dining room…
…and Mom was waiting at the door, smiling.
"Hikaru, time to eat."
We sat at the table. I stared at my parents, my mind racing, my curiosity screaming to be unleashed.
"Mother, Father… what were you doing outside?"
They exchanged looks.
"Your father was doing his chores," Mother said. "As was I."
That was definitely a lie.
"But… the magic you used, Mother… can I do that too?"
Mother froze.
Then SHRIEKED with joy, lifting me above her head like a prized trophy.
"My son wants to learn magic! I knew it!"
Father groaned. "He's two. He wants to be a swordsman like me. Right, Hikaru?"
I turned away slowly, pretending the ceiling was very interesting.
"Hikaru…" Father muttered in pain.
Mother laughed. "When you turn six, we'll take you to the Church of Blessings. Then you'll receive your gift."
*Six? SIX?! I want to learn NOW!*
My inner adult self screamed.
After dinner, as soon as the adults went out and the maids left for groceries
I bolted.
Straight to the attic.
I grabbed the magic book and sneaked outside into the backyard, where nobody could see me.
The grass brushed against my feet. The air felt alive. My heart pounded like a drum of rebellion.
Most pages were strange runes and diagrams…
But one stood out a small paragraph written in Japanese.
My old-world language.
My chest tightened.
It wasn't a chant.
Not a spell phrase.
Just one simple instruction:
"Gather the flow of water within your inner core. Shape it with intent. Release it with purpose."
Below it, handwritten in faint ink, was the spell's name:
*待ち望まれた爆発 — Water Blast Invasion*
My heart hammered.
I focused.
Closed my eyes.
Visualized water forming inside my tiny body like pulling moisture from the air and shaping it into a sphere of pressure.
It was terrifying…
But incredibly thrilling.
I raised my hand at the sky and whispered:
"Water… Blast."
At first, nothing happened.
The silence stretched.
Then
A deafening *WHOOSH!* exploded from my palm.
A massive jet of pressurized water blasted upward like a miniature geyser, shaking the ground beneath me. The air rippled violently.
The recoil shot through my entire body.
"W–WOAH!"
I was thrown backward, landing flat on my back.
Pain surged.
My vision blurred.
My arms shook violently.
My mana drained so fast it felt like my soul was leaking out.
"I… can't… handle…"
The world darkened around me.
And just like that, I passed out in the backyard
surrounded by scattered droplets, smoke…
and the sky still rippling from the Water Blast I unleashed.
---