Chapter 1 - The Past And The Present

 

I was living like any normal student in my previous life. But one day, I got into an accident.

While crossing a street, I noticed a motorcycle coming straight to me at top speed. The cyclist, who pressed the brakes as hard as he could, tried to stop his vehicle.

But unfortunately, it was already too late. I knew, I was about to die.

Scared of the pain to come, I closed my eyes for what I thought would be the final time.

But suddenly, the world became silent.

The high-pitched noise the motorcycle’s tires were making, as it tries to stop, the friction, burning away its rubber, it could no longer be heard.

And the loud honk the cyclist was making became mute.

‘Did time stop?’ I thought.

Such thoughts were abruptly stopped though. My surroundings became darker than I could ever describe and only a few moments later, I felt intense light shining upon me. My hands moved to cover my eyes as reflex. I slowly opened my eyes and saw what looked like a small palm covering my sight.

Confused, I looked around. Although it was blurry, I managed to make out the details around me.

There were 3 giants nearby, one woman, who’s carrying me with her arms, who, for some reason, was looking at me with a soft smile.

A man, who was making a grin bigger than what I thought was humanly possible as he stared at the woman and me.

And finally, another woman, who I thought was wearing a nurse cosplay, smiling gracefully at the three of us.

My hearing, which slowly came back, heard these shocking words.

“Congratulations! It was a successful delivery! It’s a healthy baby boy!”

There, I realised, I was reincarnated as a baby.

 

---

 

After realizing that I was reincarnated as a baby, I decided to act like one. Though without the crying and accidental leaks on the bottom part of my body.

I knew that a baby behaving like that would be weird, but my parents were... let’s just say, clueless. So they didn’t suspect anything and simply praised me. Patting my head and such.

At first I was a bit uncomfortable, but as time went on, it felt warming. I started to look forward to it; It gave me feelings I’ve never experienced before, even in my first life...

 

---

 

A few years have passed since then, and I am now 3. I still don’t have a lot of information about this world, but what I do know is that this word is very similar to my previous one in technology and culture.

During a typical dinner, I saw a map of the world once on our TV, and it looked identical to earth. The countries too, all countries I’ve heard about were the exact same as my previous life. The USA, Russia, The Philippines, and the country I’m currently living in, Japan.

Also, for some reason, I noticed that I feel like I’m de-aging mentally... is it because I’m being treated as a child which caused me to de-age? Does always relying on your parents for everything cause my mental age to decrease?

This is scary... Ever since I was born, my parents would always spoil me, and I’ve started to look forward to those times!

I... I need to learn how to be more independent!

 

---

 

Masato here, I just turned 4. And it’s at this age where I became curious about my previous life once again.

After a few months, I kinda forgot about my previous life. But now, I became curious again, what was my life as a kid back then?

I dove into my memories. For some reason, I could not remember my name, but this is where I found out why I’ve always looked forward to my parents spending time with me in this life.

In my previous life, my parents got divorced, and our family was broken. Even in my early life, my parents always argued, and eventually, 7 years after my birth, they divorced.

That’s why I’ve never experienced love from my parents as a child. After their divorce, I asked my grandmother, who was the only one I could truly trust at that point, when they became like this.

She then went on to explain that I... was an accident. I was born from a one-night stand and my father didn’t want to kill me before I was born.

Actually, at first, they were happy together, but after my birth, things changed.

Misunderstandings would always occur between the two, and they couldn’t communicate well in such moments. Their beliefs on parenting differed from one another, and they always argued.

Until one day, my mother had enough and asked for a divorce and filed for a restraining order. I was smarter than the average kid, so while I thought there was a good chance of the divorce going through, I did not expect the same for the restraining order. But by some sort of miracle imposed by the devil, both went through, and I was not able to meet my dad anymore.

My mother then pushed tons of things to me, trying to make me perfect. Books, piano, soccer, and much more. Eventually, I became popular among the neighborhood and tons of people praised me.

But, I was never truly happy. Because at the time, the only thing that mattered was pleasing my mother, not pleasing my own self.

Everything I did, it was all because and for her. However, no matter what I did, she was never satisfied. Always finding flaws with my actions. This continued on for a few years.

But during my graduation in middle school, the day I was getting the award for the highest grade in our year and the history of the school, my mother did not attend it.

She said she was too busy at work, But I knew it was actually just because of a man she’d met a few weeks ago.

I was humiliated on stage. The teachers tried to comfort me, but I have already accepted it, and after the ceremony, I started walking back home. But on my way to the school gate, I saw someone. Instead of my mother, I saw another person. I immediately figured out who this person was after he muttered these two words.

“I’m sorry.”

My father said with teary eyes.

It was at this day where I decided that I’d live on and for my own. I’d been thinking about it for a while now, but the meeting with my father solidified my decision.

I asked him if he’d like to eat lunch with me, which he said yes to.

We caught up with each other while we ate. My father, never smiling once during our lunch, only showing guilt in his face. I never asked him about his current familial circumstances, but I think he’s doing fine financially.

It was here that I told him that I wanted to become independent, which he supported. He asked if I needed some sort of allowance to live alone. I said no and asked if he knew a job I could get instead.

His face saddened a bit when he heard this, but he understood and told me about a high-end restaurant he knew the owner of.

Afterwards, he himself explained what happened to his life after the last time he met me. Apparently, he became quite successful after the divorce, but he still wasn’t satisfied with his life. There was something missing for him, and that something was me. I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t feel anything for a man that I haven’t met in years. Especially the one who left me with that woman. We could only stay silent until we finished our lunch, and I left.

When high school started, I told my mom that I’d be moving away. She thought I was joking, but I didn’t care and left the next morning.

With all my baggage packed, I left for the apartment I started renting. I also stole the important documents I’d need for the future.

During my departure, my mom told me that I was crazy, and that I’d never be able to live alone.

I ignored her and left without saying a word.

During my high school days, I kept up the facade I’d always use. The cheerful and reliable guy, though I didn’t act overly cheerful, acting like a full on normie would kill me.

It was in middle school where I began my otaku hobbies too, but my mom would always be angry with it so I read manga and novels in secret while I watched anime late at night. I’d learn to use a bit of makeup to hide the bags formed under my eyes after sleepless nights of watching anime.

But now i’m in high school and am living alone, I was free. I did whatever I wanted. Slowly, the meetings with my father became more frequent, and for once, I was actually enjoying life.

Even though I was working on the side, this trade was well worth it, as I now looked forward to each day, which I never did before. It was what I would consider heaven.

But everything ended only a few months after I gained my freedom.

And that was how the story of my previous life ended.

This is when I realized why I was so happy whenever my parents would spoil me. It’s because I longed for parental love, as I never felt a hint of it in my previous life’s childhood. I became addicted to it in this one.

Starting this year, I began to appreciate the second chance I’ve been given, and I told myself that I’d live my life to the fullest.

However, this would change only 2 years later, after I meet a girl.

Her name is Fujiwara Misaki, a girl with similar experiences from my previous life and someone from a manga I read in my previous life.

I remember her vividly since she was the character I liked the most. Her past was reduced to a few pages of descriptions, but I analyzed it and managed to figure out a lot.

Her mother is raising her alone, unlike my previous life however, it is because Misaki’s dad died after she turned 4. And while the husband was kind, the same cannot be said about his family.

They laughed at Misaki and her mom. Angry about this, Misaki’s mom resolved herself to make Misaki the perfect girl. When that happens, surely they won’t be able to laugh at them anymore, right? Considering what happens in the manga, I’d say she succeeded. Although be it with Misaki herself being very unhappy.

Misaki’s mom didn’t hate her child like my mom did in my previous life. She truly cared for her, but her way of caring for her daughter is horrible.

Like my mom in the previous life, she’d force her to study and be elegant. Pushing lessons on her every day until she burns out.

Misaki, who has seen her mom’s gentle side before her father’s death, wanted to restore her smile by doing all she can. But this would become the reason for Misaki’s decline in mental health.

Why does she matter so much to me, you ask? Well, it’s because in the manga, she had a childhood friend. And that childhood friend... is me.

For some reason, I cannot remember any details about “my” childhood In the manga. But I do know that he acted cheerfully in high school and was a total normie.

His name too.. I can’t remember it. But now that I’ve been given a second chance on a beautiful life, I can’t afford to miss it.

Just to be sure that the world won’t get destroyed or something, I resolved myself to follow the events of the manga, ensuring that no real changes to the timeline be made until the story ends.

Since I didn’t know how this body acted in the manga before the story begins in high school, I decided to just act like myself, of course, still making sure I don’t make any significant changes to the events that occur in the story.

And so, during the first day of elementary school, I met the girl named Misaki and introduced myself as I normally would at lunch, a few hours after our introductions.

“Good afternoon, Fujiwara-san. May I sit with you for lunch?”

“Ah? Well of course... err...”

“The name is Matsushita Masato.”

“I see, then, good afternoon to you too, Matsuhita-kun. You may sit with me for lunch.”

“Thank you very much.”

After hearing our introductions, no one dared to talk to us. Because of course they wouldn’t. The dignified aura between Misaki and I could not be matched by anyone else and they can’t stand it.

I began acting like what I was from my previous life, just to match Misaki and try to befriend her. The aura between the two of us cannot be considered that of a child, so the other students could only watch the two of us, unable to approach us.

This resulted in us two being friends. But of course, I also tried getting along with the other kids by acting more casual.

Later on, Misaki commented about my “normie” mode.

“Why can’t you act like that around me? Hmph.”

“Ahahaha...”

I just avoided answering her question. Hearing her say that really felt out of character, though...

 

---

 

It’s now our second year in elementary school and her mother has become even more busy. After our parents found out that we were actually neighbours, Misaki’s mom often asked my parents if she could stay over because she has work.

Giving requests like “Please discipline my daughter like your son.”

My mother would just respond carefree with “Of course~”

...I wonder if I should even be happy with my parents being airheads. I don’t think they realise that something is wrong about the relationship of Misaki and her mom...

Because of that, Misaki and I started hanging out even more, more than ever, have we spent more time together. It even went so far to taking baths together and sleeping together.

Throughout these days, I never really felt anything romantic about her, most likely it I because I was looking at her only as a kid, which is what she is right now, and I am not some sick psycho who’d feel something different for kids.

Starting in 4th grade, she showed me a side nobody else saw. She began relying more on me and she talks about her problems with her family to me extensively. Of course I wanted to help her, but this is reality. There’s only so much a kid of another parent can do. Fixing the relationships of others is impossible for me, so I can only listen to Misaki’s problems and comfort her for now.

A few years passed and we became middle schoolers where she met Yuichi. Once again, I only watched in the sidelines, being close yet being so far, I couldn’t actively do anything yet in fear of the consequences i would have to bear.

Some distance formed between the two after the first year and they slowly drifted apart from each other.

And finally, it came. High school. Where the story begins and where I saw the end of this tunnel in sight. The tunnel being the length I’ve set to follow rules I’ve made for myself. Soon, I will reach freedom. Acting however I want and helping the girl I admire very much.