2 At the beginning, He...
Part 1
When I regained my consciousness I could not feel anything at all. Everything was dark.
For a moment I thought that perhaps everything that happened was a dream. But regardless if that was the truth, my current situation was still the same.
I can't tell how much time is happening while I am like this.
Suddenly, I recall how I was supposed to have been sent to a world where supernatural phenomena are commonly seen.
That thought makes me extremely excited, but it makes me wonder what kind of place is this?
I once used to read many fantastical stories from different books. At some point, I stumble upon the Asian culture, in particular Japanimation. I think that the fact that I could not afford to buy books was what led me to focus my efforts on the internet which led me to anime and manga. Although, in my childhood I had already seen several animes already, it was not until years later when I learned that they were called anime. After anime, I think it was manga, such a variety along with this new style to enjoy reading was rather impressive for me at that time.
Then it came, as I read whatever that interested me, I came to a point where I had nothing else to read. At that point, I finally started with light novels.
I read many kinds, but I still did not find it boring. I would spend days reading and reading.
Now that I recalled all that, I am even more excited at the prospect of using the so-called 'magic'. In many works, magic was depicted as a type of energy that can alter nature. There were others that explained that magic was nature itself.
Too bad, I have no way of knowing yet what kind of magic system will I experience.
Maybe I should try that... mainly in web novels, meditation was used as the common way to absorb or accumulate the so-called 'magic power'.
Since I have nothing to do, I might as well try.
Still...
I...
Suck at this.
I had never tried meditation before, and now that I tried it. I found it hard to keep my mind free of thoughts. They just kept popping up.
This might take some time.
I kept trying for a while more, but I suddenly started to feel asleep.
I can't even fight against it.
...
...
I finally woke up after who knows how long, but this time I am feeling my body.
Well, most of it.
After some time feeling my state, I can roughly guess that I am in a womb. Not some glass tube in some lab. And hopefully, It is a human one. I can't see at all but the feeling of my extremities feels like I am floating in some sort of liquid.
Briefly considering the possibility of artificial birth in fantasy worlds, I would like to stick with the idea that this is a womb. I can have peace of mind like that.
I still can't do anything though.
The worst thing is that I can't precisely say how much time has passed.
I guess I should just focus on meditation. I haven't been able to do it yet but... I got enough time to try.
Empty your mind...
Empty your mind...
Huh? Wait-
I think that doing it like this is slightly wrong.
I am not trying to meditate to gain illumination about life nor anything like it.
My apologies to all people that are trying that even now but... I want to use magic.
Yes, I not only need to clear my mind, but I must do it to start sensing any sign of magic.
Or at least that is what I can recall from what I read in light novels and web novels.
I think that the source of information that I am using as basic for my actions could be a little unreliable but... I am extremely bored in here.
I have read how in prisons they isolate inmates to punish them, and I can agree that it exasperating being like this.
Once again, empty your thoughts...
But now, try to feel around you.
Feel, don't think.
Feel... don't think.
I think I can feel something, it is faint but there is something in my surroundings... wait, my surroundings are just the womb I am currently in.
I still have my doubts about how human-like I will look. He(?) never specified until the end. So I have been trying to keep my common sense intact by not thinking about it until now.
Now that I started to feel this something I became self-conscious of my situation again.
I wonder what it is... It is slightly warm. I can't feel it clearly but I can tell that it means no harm.
That is no joking matter; I am in no condition to resist anything as I am now.
Still, the feeling it gives me is soothing... I am... feeling sleepy again... I wanted to... continue feeling this... for a long... time--
...
...
I am awake once again. I would like to think that it happened a good amount of time so that would mean that I could get out of here sooner. It is not a bad place to be since I feel comfortable but my curiosity for the outside world grows every moment I stay here.
I immediately tried to look for the feeling from before as soon as I woke up but I had no luck this time.
Not sure if the reason is that I stumbled upon it by chance, or maybe... my mother, the person I am currently in, was the cause.
Regardless, I can't give up. I already got an idea of what the feeling is like. Trying again is about the only thing I can do now anyway.
This time, I will be using the feeling from before as a reference. It was truly a unique situation, but I can only do my best to feel my surroundings.
Nevertheless, my senses are not developed enough to even think of using them.
Still, one can help but wish to have the things you don't have sometimes... particularly if those things are your five senses.
I can't even sigh like I used to.
Forget about that, focus on my meditation.
...
...
After who knows how long, I finally got the feeling again.
It is flowing in the body of my future mother, and even inside me, although it is more subdued now than before.
I spent some time pondering about the reasons for that. But perhaps the best way to describe is that since it is not in use at the moment, it is calmly flowing through our bodies.
Well, even when I could think of all that, it does not mean that it is necessarily true. The assumption of someone who barely got to learn about this energy can't be very accurate.
My ideas come partly from works of fiction. Although I heard from He(?) that some of those works contain bits of information from other worlds or universes, I still can't take that at face value. Thinking that every idea I read about is the truth wouldn't be very smart. I can't deny that with imagination comes innovation though.
Ever since I became able to sense that feeling, or rather, I tried several times to see if I could interact with it. Nonetheless, my efforts were in vain because not even worth mentioning how I failed to interact with my future mother's one, even mine did not budge one bit.
I would like to think it is for the best now that I think about It because in my current state I can't be certain that one wrong move on my part at the moment of taking control of it and I could unknowingly cause irreversible damage.
I guess I got ahead of myself due to my inability to do something else, as soon as I got the opportunity to try something I jumped into action. Without considering the consequences, I should consider this as a fortunate situation.
I should focus on getting familiar with this energy for now. Maybe I can comprehend more about it just by perceiving it.
...
...
Sometimes, I wish I had a better sense of time. I remembered how bad I have been at paying attention to dates. When I was in high school I recall how sometimes I would wake up very early on Sundays because I thought that it was already Monday. There were also cases where I left my notebooks for the day at home because I have taken the ones from some other day, all because I confused the dates. That is one thing I will do my best to change, and now I got the chance.
I have been sleeping at random intervals, while at the same time I stay awake for who knows how long.
For some time now, I became able to feel things more clearly. To be honest, I became slightly scared of my future mother. Before, the feeling was faint, but with each time I learn to sense that energy more clearly, and I focus more on her. I notice how big it's the difference between my future mother and me, the amount is immense.
I accidentally focused too much on sensing her energy when I almost lost myself in it. The difference is too big for me to tell how much it was exactly, but I could tell something else from it, it felt invigorating. At that time, I was surely tired, but feeling that energy, I felt once again full of energy.
Instead of energy, I should perhaps consider giving it a more specific classification, like life energy. There is not much change, but that word explains a lot.
Just in case, I should think of the possible future where not only life energy but other kinds of energies are out there.
All this is just in case that it is like that, I could be wrong and this is how magic feels like. But, I just named it after the effect I felt.
...
...
Getting somewhat used to life here proves that a lot of time has transpired.
I can pretty much feel all my body. That means that the time I will be leaving here is near.
Other than that, I have been considering trying a few things.
The first thing I came up with was to try to copy my future mother in the method to gather the life energy. The process was somewhat difficult because I did not try to influence my life energy too much.
I came to understand that the process was similar to how a mother fed their child in their wombs, just, in this case, the thing being given to me was the life energy.
Because I was afraid that it could harm my future mother, I did not take too much even when that life energy would be once again filled by her.
Harming her is the least I want to do. Not to mention that what I wanted to try was an experiment that could fail due to several reasons, such as messing up the process, which I only know a part of.
The process itself did not seem too difficult, she somehow gathers the energy from outside and takes it inside her body. The problem starts there.
Where does it go? How does it get there?
Those two questions made this pretty hard.
Being stuck here for a while, you can guess that I was dying to have something to do. So when this opportunity presented itself. I did my best to think.
When I was 'Outside', I recall how He(?) told me that the reason that I could not see anything even after He(?) arranged some of his power inside me so that I could do it, had something to do with my origins. In my old world there were not exactly too many supernatural phenomena, or maybe not even one at all. My common sense still tries to use the logic of my old world.
To begin with, I did not touch the life energy with my hands, I don't even know if I had hands when I sensed it the first time.
Surely, I 'felt' it. Later, after much concentration in the act, I could somewhat interact with it. Even though it was my mother's and my own.
Those acts came from me, using my will to do it. Perhaps a strong will is the key. If that is how it is going to be. Meditation is often used to calm the mind and to strengthen it. Working on it will help me from now on.
Having found the answer for my second trouble, I still had the first one to solve.
With a change in perspective, the solution for the problem seemed easier than before.
...
...
Having enough free time, I spent my time thinking of a solution to my problem and sensing life energy.
Getting familiar with it, I began to learn that even emotions could be felt from it.
I'm still not sure if at that time I learned of the emotions because I got much better at it, or because of the sheer intensity, they had back then. At that time, I felt immense sadness coming from my mother's life energy. Meaning that something happened that made her very sad, I also felt rage and other negative emotions, but sadness was the main one. I had to stop focusing on it because the emotions were overwhelming me.
Thanks to it, I learned to be careful when I gather or get involved with other people's life energy. No matter how unprepared I was, the intensity almost overwhelmed me for a minute.
However, since then, it became easier to feel my mother's changes in mood.
Not sure what caused the emotions of that time, but quite a bit of time had passed and she was finally stable again, not showing an outburst like at that time.
I can't deny I was worried about her. Although I will never forget about my family from my world, I could not help but develop a certain attachment for the woman who will give birth to me.
I guess since she will become my family too, it was bound to happen.
...
...
I was continuously thinking of how to answer the problem of the location until an idea came to me.
It is something I have seen in works of fiction.
Inner word.
Since I am meditating, I had the idea.
I considered this after thinking how I could not physically sense where my mother keeps her life energy.
I consider the inner world here, something you create through meditation. It is located inside yourself, I was just not aware of it. I felt like a fool when I learned that. It took me too long to realize it.
If you think about it, it is normal that it exists. I had a flow of it inside me. Where did it go? The answer was clear now, there.
Well, not everything was a waste of time If I think about it. The location of the place is similar to the idea of an inner world. After knowing how to get there, I just started to send life energy I collected there.
By no means had I got my hands on it in large quantities, I only gathered what seemed to be lost in the natural process of gathering.
That made the process extremely slow, but I decided that the safety of my mother was worth it.
You might wonder how I found the place, but through meditation, you can also look into yourself pretty deeply. Not just emptying your mind, but self-evaluating yourself.
That is how I came to find it, a small ball of life energy, truly befitting my current state as a baby.
...
...
I had to come to an abrupt awakening this time.
I briefly wondered what happened, but noticing the different feelings coming from around me. That is when it came to me. There was no liquid anymore, it was time to be born.
What I had waited for so long... It was happening.
Part 2
The process was uncomfortable, but remembering how my mother decided to give birth naturally, I could not think of complaining given that it was more difficult for her.
As I felt the air around me, I with some effort opened my eyes for the first time.
However, before I could focus on my surroundings, I started to heard voices.
"Congratulations, you had a boy". I heard a somewhat polite and refined female voice saying. Just from her words, she does not seem to be my new mother.
I doubted my ears for a moment since the language was something I remembered. But that was absurd, I for once did not expect it, yet here I was hearing... Japanese.
There was an even more absurd thing, I was able to understand it perfectly. Even though I began learning it in my old world, I was not near this level.
Before I could make sense of what happened to me, I heard more people talking.
"The baby is not crying even though he is awake". This time, a male voice spoke.
Crap, I am supposed to cry at a time like this.
"Please let me see him". A somewhat tired female voice said. I could tell that it was a different woman from before. There was a slight longing I detected from her tone, and maybe a bit of anxiety.
I was carried near to that person, during the process... I saw someone that resulted somewhat familiar, something I found absurd. Still, that blonde-haired young woman with golden eyes smiled my way with a gentle expression as I was looking at her. I wonder why her face seemed familiar. Did my eyes play tricks on me or were those a pair of fluffy-looking fox ears?.
Before I could try to remember where I saw that person, I was handed to someone else.
This time, it was a young-looking woman with a slightly tired look. I could see the sweat running down her face. A gentle expression adorned her face beautiful face, with hip-length black hair that has bangs hanging on the right side with two ahoges, green eyes, a mole under her left eye, and droopy cat ears that were begging for some petting. This person, the feeling she gives is familiar... she is my mother. Wait, cat ears?
"Hey, little guy. Come on, you are my baby. I know that you can do it. Cry, Can you cry for me?" The black-haired woman, my mother, said sounding somewhat anxious.
Mother or considering how she speaks Japanese, should I call her Okaa-san? Asking your newborn baby to cry sounds kind of wrong. No, something is bugging me... Are those real?
Still, considering how anxious she looked, her worry must be serious.
While I was internally debating how hard should I cry-
"Saya-chan, calm down. He looks healthy enough. You have helped numerous people with childbirth before, there were surely cases where situations like this happened. Why don't you think about how you managed at those times?". The young-looking blonde-haired woman said as she came closer.
Saya-chan? To use the suffix -chan attached to my mother's name. They must be close. I see... she is called Saya. Still... the ears-
"You are right, Yasaka-sama, I need to calm down... at times like this... a little pinch should be enough to make a baby cry". My mother, Saya said.
I was about to think of how reckless the idea that was but I froze. Yasaka-sama? Forget about the -sama. Yasaka-sama? A blonde-haired woman, with eyes of the same color. Another look and I notice how long her hair was, short eyebrows as a sign of nobility. Putting aside her different attire from my memories, she looks like... no, since this is another world, she could be the real deal.
A powerful youkai, a nine-tailed fox able to change into human or non-human form, in the world of Highschool DxD, Yasaka, the leader of the youkais residing in Kyoto, Japan.
At this moment, I felt my mother's promised pinch.
The pain raised an almost unstoppable urge to cry.
But, I... I... have to hold on.
Certain memory is coming back to me, I must not allow myself to distract myself.
Even when my mother pinched harder, I kept thinking.
But for now, yeah... The memory was just before I left 'Outside', He (?) seemed to have smiled with his newly formed mouth, and that thumbs up... that thumbs up... Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
At that moment, the frustration I felt made it impossible to hold my cry back any longer.
I felt like yelling at that guy (?). However, a baby can't talk that easily... I had to settle for the urge to cry.
"UWAAAAAA UWAA UWAAAAAA" I cried with all my heart, but if someone read my mind at that time. They would've understood that my cry meant to say... 'I KNEW IT, THAT GUY WAS UNRELIABLE!!'.
I guess that it was a good thing that no one read my mind, there would have been too many questions if they had done it.
Part 3
3er Person POV
In a completely different location, far away from the cries of a certain baby.
Two individuals were having a meeting.
However, the purpose of that meeting did not seem to be anything good, considering the location being an abandoned factory located far from any sign of civilization. The other sign that pointed at that could be said to be their attire, being clothed with a black robe and brown robe respectively, covering like that most of their features.
After scanning around with their methods to check if they were truly alone, they finally faced one another.
The black-robed man started the conversation.
"You called me here again, Is it a new job or perhaps you are finally joining our cause?" The black-robed person said in a tone lacking any indication of gender, neither male nor female.
Not minding the other individual voice, perhaps used to it, the brown-robed person snorted before saying his piece.
"I told you before that I have no interest in that little cult of yours. But enough of that, you did not even complete the last job so you can't expect me to consider asking for another one". The brown-robed person exclaimed in a voice that if our recently reincarnated friend heard it, then he would say 'I think I heard that voice just a moment ago, this smell like trouble. Damn, I was just born and trouble is on its way'.
The black-robed person remained silent for a moment.
"What do you mean? We completed your request. We provided the 'cursed seed', directly from our Esteemed God, even when it seemed excessive, as you asked". The black-robed replied.
"Is this some kind of joke? The baby was born perfectly healthy, if you don't count the fact he did not cry as soon he left that woman's womb, he was perfectly fine. A truly healthy boy. This is not what you told me would happen. The child was supposed to die while releasing a curse that would kill the woman from the inside". The brown-robed person complained.
The irritation could easily be distinguished from his tone.
"That is not possible; we confirmed the seed before we handed it to you. There was no mistake on my part. Are you sure that those 'devils' from that pathetic group of misfits did not screw up on their end?" The black-robed person said in response to the intent of the other party plans to blame him.
While it was only apparent between both present parties, the brown-robed person narrowed his eyes at the explanation given by the other party.
"So you say, but when I contacted them, they insisted that the job was flawlessly completed on their end, claiming that the seed in question was a failed product. I truly confirmed that they pretty much did their part of the deal, wounding that woman during an ambush. That went smoothly since I was there at that time playing like the good-natured-but-hurt-and-unable-to-help disciple. They even prepared a wonderful stage where they kidnapped her husband, and while she followed a clue of his whereabouts that I 'casually' found. They attacked, 'wounding' me in the first strike so I could not help her. The idea was to use that seed so that she would die later... then no one would suspect me. Even though everything was done splendidly
... The child was born perfectly fine. Do tell me why I would not doubt your performance". The brown-robed person explained calmly even though the words coming from his mouth mentioned betrayal for his master, his tone did not change like this was just your daily life conversation for him.
The other party just frowned a bit after hearing all this. The fact that it was not because the black-robed person found that strange proved two things. One, they know each other characters well enough. Two, they both have wicked-beyond-repair personalities.
"Although we would not like to believe that our seed was the problem, we can't deny the possibility. We are somewhat curious about this 'boy' you mentioned, to be honest. But do tell us if you want us to take care of both the mother and the child. We will act by ourselves and finish them off, to further our 'service', we could even pretend to be the same as that last bunch. After all, we can't have an unsatisfied customer". The black-clothed person muttered after collecting his thought for a bit.
The answer was already decided.
"I would like to request that then... is what I would like to say. But for now, I doubt that she will leave her house, she doesn't let me inside that place so I can't do much. However, I am a patient man, I don't wish to make the same mistake. I need to take care of them together, if one of them dies while the other remains alive then it would complicate my plans or even worse, completely ruin them". The brown-robed person replied.
"It is your choice; we will investigate on my end to confirm whether or not our product was the one that failed to complete its job". The black-robed person spoke before leaving.
Not waiting for any other word, the black-robed person banished after activating a magic circle for teleportation, leaving his conversation partner alone.
Now on his own, the brown-robed person did not leave immediately but seemed to think for a moment.
"Not sure what kind of luck saved you this time, but that will not happen again. You should enjoy your time for now, because this is not over". The brown-robed person spoke to no one in particular before teleporting in the same fashion as the other person from before.
Part 4
MC's POV
I can't recall very well what happened after my outburst, but I must've fallen asleep at some point.
Now I am current on a bed, lying beside me is the woman who gave birth to me just some time ago, if what I heard was true, then she is called 'Saya'. I wonder how should I refer to her now, Saya-chan is not possible, an interesting choice but not possible. Let's stick simply to Kaa-san, I think that she will like that more. Not like I can talk right now though.
My mother in my previous world always lamented how I called her by her name since an early age, saying that she liked to be called Mom more. But I felt shy calling her like that as I grew up. So I think I should be more considerate this time around.
Back to Kaa-san. I have kept my eyes on her for a while, to be accurate on a certain pair of things that would make many people turn their heads if they were to see such a thing in my previous world. You surely know what I am talking about, right? Yes, they are so close... those cat ears, no longer droopy as before. I didn't imagine seeing them before, that along with the absurd resembling of that blonde young woman from before to a certain individual, even having the same name. I can only accept the facts. Not like I have a choice in the matter, but I am at least not in panic here. He (?) chose this world from all places.
While gazing at those and resisting the urge to touch them, one thought came to me after I considered a certain possibility. I had not thought of this because of the initial surprise, but now... well, if my moth- Kaa-san, I am still not used to using that term, has those... and then you combine that with the fact that I am her child... that means that I got them too, right?. Damn, I have become a cat... even though I was fonder of dogs.
Raising my tiny extremities known as arms to my head to confirm my thoughts... yeah, they were there. A couple of soft, very soft cat ears, probably due to me being young. I also lowered my hands and directed them to my back, with an un-surprising high difficulty, to feel if I got one of those too, a tail. Hmm, it is there too. When I woke up I wondered if there was something below me making me uncomfortable on my back, but it was my tail all along, mystery solved. Maybe not, although I have not confirmed by seeing Kaa-san's... I do have an idea what exactly we are.
Nekomata, the cat-eared youkai, well, sort of.
After hearing the name Yasaka, a certain memory could not help but to cross my head. It involved a certain work of fiction, published under a certain format of novels, a light novel. This light novel was... well, in an easy-to-understand term, an action-fantasy-shounen-harem-ecchi. Easy right? Only one term can explain it. Jokes aside, it is a story about a young man becoming a devil after dying... who after gaining another chance to live, he continued to pursue his dreams. That sounds normal, but you should be aware of one thing, the main character was perverted, like... a lot, his dream is to have a harem.
Although I can't deny that it sounds bad... the lad at least is honest about it all the time. Now, that itself does not sound bad right? The lad just wants a harem so everything is cool... yeah, no, not in one million years. That particular light novel, as you can conclude with the fact that there are devils... you can also find different kinds of supernatural beings such as angels, fallen angels... even youkai or gods. Truly a fantasy world, a very dangerous one at that.
You can even find different gods from different mythologies walking happily around, or just drinking in a normal bar. That also does not sound bad... if you don't include the 'bad guys' from those mythologies. Beings that make plans to destroy humanity walking around freely between normal humans, that can be something very terrifying.
Now, I am in such a place. All this being his(?) fault, He(?) mentioned reading my memories at some point... Why didn't He(?) send me to a more peaceful place?. I don't want to die(again) because I caught the attention of some old-pervert-with-a-twisted-sense-of-humor or become collateral damage from the fights of creatures that can break mountains with their fists.
I am not even sure where to begin the list of possible death flags... whatever. I will put that on the back of my mind for now.
Just thinking about it tired me a lot, or not. This is probably a natural reaction to my earlier movements, I thought that it was quite difficult to move, and it looks like it tired me more than I considered.
Having the body of a baby is not something I am used to, it feels really heavy, the movement is difficult to coordinate too. Hopefully it because of my newborn status.
There is still much to consider, yet I am getting sleepy again.
Like for example me being a youkai. This is pretty important.
Not to mention that I have found out if this is truly the world of the light novel of Highschool DxD as I read. That comment from He(?) about different worlds and how knowledge gets transmitted to other worlds still weighs on my mind.
Oh... Sleepy...
Good n...ight...
Part 5
A new day always means a new beginning, really what a beautiful day this is.
I need to think about this to escape reality after the earlier situation.
Just waking up I was really hungry, and for obvious reasons, I could not ask for food with words. Although I cannot expect to have Kaa-san watching me 24/7, I felt slightly frustrated because I could only blab some nonsense... but that was not enough to be called a 'call'. In the end, I cried again. The effect was immediate; Kaa-san came in a jiffy with a worried look.
Kaa-san is a rather slender and tall young woman with a voluptuous figure and large breast, her height almost reaching 180 cm. Her shoulder-length black hair and black cat ears made her green eyes more apparent.
Despite the situation, I could not help but want to confirm one thing that made me curious. That being... how many tails she had. The surprise was big because she had four of them. Damn, my cries came to an abrupt end due to how surprised I got.
Without knowing about my internal surprise she came to check on me.
"Oh, what happened? Let me have a look at you, little guy". Kaa-san said as she picked me up.
Patting me all over she seemed to wonder why I was crying-
"Are you not feeling well? I didn't feel anything wrong just know. Treating people successfully all the time but failing to find the problem my child might have. What a bad mother". She said that with a troubled expression.
Treating people? As some kind of doctor? Kaa-san seems to be someone pretty amazing, I doubt that youkais can simply become doctors just like that.
Kaa-san... You are not a bad mother. I am not sick so you won't find anything wrong with me. I intended to say that but what came out was.
"BabuUwaBabawawauuuuuWabugaaawu". I tried to say that with all seriousness, but my words did not make sense.
"Ohhhh, Are you trying to tell me something? Ummm, I can't tell what you mean... What do I do know...? Ah, I know. This might work". She seemed troubled again but later smiled as she thought of something.
Maintaining her smile and bringing her hand to my face... it started glowing. Wow, that startled me. I think I felt this before. It is soothing... and I feel full of energy. This is the same feeling I got when I was inside the womb. Instead of life energy, given Kaa-san's race, it should be called differently. I recall reading in the light novel that youkais were adepts at the use of Chi or Ki, I guess it is true. I think they also had something called Youjutsu and Senjutsu. Then, I should start to refer to the life energy that way?. You know what they say... When in Roma, do as Romans do.
The glow on her hand continued for a while until Kaa-san removed her hand.
"I wonder if this is enough? He seems healthy though?" Kaa-san said while she pondered about the reason for my cry.
I guess I should help her a little since she seems clueless. It makes me think that she can be a bit of an airhead. It could also be just the lack of experience.
I try to call her attention moving my hands near her face, hands which she grasps with a smile.
No, please let them go. How am I supposed to use my hands to make signs if you start playing with them?
After seeing that I was not amused, her smile seemed to fade. Urgh, I feel guilty. But I have to harden my heart.
Once again, doing my best to point at my mouth, I make signs continuously.
Kaa-san just kept staring at me with an amused look. Yeah, yeah, you must think I look adorable, right? Babies have that impact most of the time. But I am not trying to act adorable. Kaa-san, I am starving here.
Despite my efforts, I failed to deliver the message. And as I was despairing at that... a voice that I almost confused with an angel's due to being almost godsend was heard.
"Have you tried breastfeeding him?" The voice was the same I heard not too long ago. It belonged to a certain voluptuous blonde youkai. Yasaka, the fox youkai and the faction leader of Kyoto's youkais.
Kaa-san got startled again and hurriedly turned around carrying me in her hands. Easy there, I am fragile right now. I hope that changes quickly.
"Yasaka-sama, you surprised me. Why did you come while hiding your aura? I did not notice you until you talked". Kaa-san grumbled.
"You know you can talk to me informally when there is no official business. Call me like when we were children, Yasaka-chan. And I was trying to prank you for a little bit. You are much better at Senjutsu than me so I did not expect to get this far". Yasaka-sama answered.
They must get along if Yasaka-sama asked her to say that. There is also what she said about Kaa-san being good a Senjutsu. I wonder how good at it she is.
On a different note, they both have beautiful voices. What is with this? Is this because this is the HSDxD world? Everyone won't happen to be this exaggerated right?. Not just their looks, but their voices too. I can only wish that I don't keep my previous life looks. I was not even handsome... if I have the same look when I grow up... a paper bag won't be enough. Damn, I hope I am like Kaa-san.
Filled with nonsensical thoughts, I kept thinking about other things, since I was going to experience breastfeeding. It is a strange feeling having a beautiful woman like Kaa-san do it. I might be a newborn in body, but in mind, I already hit my twenties. I will try to put my mind in another place for now. But as expected of the HSDxD world... they were big. Thanks for the food, no, itadakimasu.
…
…
…
I am full. I guess that eating was truly what I needed.
While I kept distracting myself with nonsense, the two young women chatted for a while. The topics were numerous; sometimes I failed to understand what they meant. Not because I did not get their words but... I truly knew nothing of the topic itself. Making me think once again of my apparent ability to understand Japanese completely, something I did not fully have before dying. I believe that it is something I should be grateful to him (?).
Finally, a topic I had to focus my attention too came up.
"Have you decided the name already? You did not give him one before because at the birth things happened. But enough time should've gone by now". Yasaka-san suddenly said. I will refer to her like this in mind since Kaa-san and she seem to get along.
A name huh. Now that she mentions it. I don't think I was called by my name so far.
I wonder if I will get a cool name.
"I thought of calling him Kuroko". Kaa-san answered to Yasaka-san's question.
No, oh please no. I feel that the name of extremely similar to certain Nekomata. Come on Kaa-san. Anything but that. I did my best to express my unwillingness by shaking my head with all my heart into it.
Perhaps curious about the name, Yasaka-san asked.
"Saya-chan, Why did you choose that name?" Yasaka-san inquired, on a closer look she is trying to look composed but... Is that a sweat drop?
Kaa-san seemed to ignore completely all of my intents to communicate my dislike for that name as she looked to another way. Hearing Yasaka-san, she turned to explain the reason why. Maybe she got a good reason...
"It's just... look, he has such a black tail and ears. They are all black, so Kuroko suits him". Kaa-san replied with a proud look and a satisfied grin.
Or not. I think Kaa-san is amazing in a completely different meaning from before.
Even Yasaka-san seemed speechless for a moment. A new sweat drop formed on her face, her composed face is about to break.
"Ehhh, Are you sure you want to decide his name just from that?" Yasaka-san commented.
You tell her Yasaka-san, please.
"Is there something wrong with the name? I thought it fits perfectly. But maybe you are right... I had in mind another name. I had my doubt with this one, but you stopping just now must be some kind of signal". Kaa-san said, accepting Yasaka-san's advice.
*Sigh*
A sigh could be heard from Yasaka-san, relieved that Kaa-san reconsidered, I also sighed but only internally, this body of mine can't seem to follow my orders well enough... even a sigh is difficult to accomplish. Thinking about it, the name was not bad, it's just... the reason it was chosen left much to be said.
I wonder what name Kaa-san considered... It can't be that bad.
"Indeed, his name has to be 'Nora', this is the one that suits him the best. I must've been blind before". Kaa-san declared.
I take my words back. I think it got worse by too much. It feels like plain harassment, to call your child 'Nora'(Stray)... I think Kaa-san should not be left with the responsibility of naming me.
Yasaka-san seemed to think the same as me because although she had a composed smile, it was slightly twitching. The barely noticeable sweat drops were now clearly showing.
"Thanks to you, I was able to make the right choice. Thank you, Yasaka-chan". Kaa-san once again said. Having one of the brightest smiles I have seen.
No good, that smile does not look like it could be beaten. One look at Yasaka-san and she seemed resigned. Please, don't give up.
This is no joke, a cat on top of being called Nora (stray).
Nevertheless, my pleas were not answered. At my desperate intent to ask for help, Yasaka-san only looks my way and... made an apologetic look by clapping her hands together and muttering what I think was a short 'sorry'. No good, my liking for mature women makes me want to forgive her. Urgh, no.
And so, this day ended with three different parties having different reactions to the new name.
Part 6
-Time skip, 1 year.
Some time has happened since my whole naming incident happened.
My name ended up being Nora at long last. I could not avoid that fate. I also learned that I got a surname that is at least normal in comparison. My full name ended up as Nora (Stray) Shiki (Four Seasons). You can call me Shiki-kun from now on. Although in Kaa-san's case, that is not possible, she even calls me Nora-chan. Not sure how to feel about that.
Putting aside those old complaints, I learned a couple of things over the year.
One of them being how I am a Nekomata, even the rare kind, a Nekoshou. Quite the rare character I've become. Besides being a rarely seen male Nekomata, I am Nekoshou too. I am a damn SRR character it seems. Although not all it's good news.
There was a particular topic I started to consider over the year. That being the timeline I am currently in. Is this before the canon? Perhaps after the canon? I kept wondering since I don't recall reading anywhere in the Canon about Kaa-san. She had four tails so her strength should be at least ultimate-class (just a guess on my ). That made me ponder over the possible fate of her character in the Canon depending on the timeline.
I have considered the possibility that this world got many differences according to the explanation of He (?). But I don't want to be too optimistic regarding her safety. Nonetheless, there is hardly anything I can do with the body of a one-year-old baby.
...
...
There was a certain thing I have been working hard to accomplish so far... to be able to talk. Kaa-san is… well, Kaa-san. I have some bitter memories due to her airhead, and her attribute 'klutz'. Particularly that one time on the bath... I have to be thankful that even as a baby I could somewhat keep my body afloat. That episode came simply by her desire for me to learn how to swim at a young age. However, you would normally wait for the child to be at least awake. Since then, I have always kept my guard up even while sleeping. I can't even get angry at her since she doesn't do it with any kind of malice. And her anxious expression when she learns that she did something wrong makes it impossible for me to complain.
This brings me to the last and perhaps the most exciting change over the year(since I have yet to be able to talk, although I am almost there).
I've kept doing my meditations all this time, to get familiar with my surroundings.
We must have a good amount of nature around the house where we live since it was quite easy to get a feel of the outside 'Ki'. Still, I did not dare to venture too far in my practices, since I recalled how difficult it is to maintain control in case that impurities were to be found in the Ki. So I just focused on gathering small bits that I was certain that would not cause any problem inside me. That said, I felt like I was being too cautious. Well, I was doing this process on my own so I had my reservations. I was not some crazy guy with a blessed protagonist halo, I also did not thirst for strength that much to the point of putting my safety at risk. For now and until got familiar with Ki, I was going to take my time.
Well, doing this process on my own and expecting that no one finds out is absurd. Even though I kept the changes to the minimum, Kaa-san sometimes stares at me for really but reaally long amounts of time, she later mutters in an almost inaudible tone of voice 'Did I imagine it?'. If it wasn't because my pretty useful cat ears worked much better than my previous human ones, I wouldn't have heard that. I must admit that I almost broke into a cold sweat at that time. It taught me that Kaa-san is pretty good at sensing Ki. The only reason why she dropped the subject is perhaps that she saw no harm in my actions... or her air headedness was what made her truly think she was seeing things.
She seems to be strong, but I really can't sense her Ki reserves at all. The idea I came up with was that she is purposely hiding her aura, although I am not sure if it's because it could be bad for me or because she is used to hiding it in her everyday life. I am inclined to believe in the second possibility since the only person (youkai) that comes by to visit is Yasaka-san.
Yasaka-san is truly a good friend of Kaa-san since she sometimes spends whole afternoons chatting with her. There were even opportunities where Kaa-san left me with her while she had to go out. In the beginning, it made me slightly nervous since I was not used to be left alone. But Yasaka-san took care of me gently, and in the chances that I got carried by her, I learned certain wonders. I won't say more about that... or perhaps... Yeah, I will only say how I won't forget about it. I think Kunou-chan will be in good hands in the future. A truly blessed child.
Talking about that little Kitsune, I don't think I saw her nor I heard about her during Kaa-san's chats with Yasaka-san. It makes me inclined to believe that the timeline is somewhat in the past, before the Canon. I was still not sure how long. I do wonder sometimes if I want to be in the same timeline where all that fighting happens. But the past does not mean that I will live in peace either. In that regard, in the Canon at least the differential mythologies will come to peace talks, a complicated topic.
