36Prologue
You know what's worse than dying with a plant tub landing on your head? It's being completely aware of how you are born. And trust me, being born is not an experience I, or anyone for that matter, will want to repeat anytime soon.
One moment, I'm standing over my dead body in the form of a spirit unseen by everyone, the next moment I'm in some kind of abyss with a strange feeling of weightlessness. And right after that, I'm getting squeezed the fuck out of me like an orange. Of course, I started panicking, and struggled against the squeezing sensation, but sadly, I didn't have the strength to resist it more than a few seconds. So I gave up and let it do its thing, as something in the back of my mind was telling me to wait and simply rest.
I did, and it was almost as if something within me just clicked into place as the light once more filled my vision.
You know those Self-Insert stories where the shitty authors write down things like seeing their mother's face first thing after being born? They are wrong. You don't see your mother's face, no, what you see is blurs. Everything is blurry and your surroundings constantly shift, and you're unable to make sense of all the forms and different colors that you will see, only managing to confuse yourself even further.
That's what I had to go through and I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried. My eyes hurt, I was scared and lost, that wasn't anything unusual, no, being reborn is. It probably didn't help that the retarded doctor and nurses didn't bother covering my eyes from the light above me, and my hearing was off by a mile. Everything was muffled, every sound came as if I was underwater, my whole body was shaking as I desperately tried to make sense of what was happening and grasp at least a minimal sense of what was around me.
I don't know how long I was crying, but fortunately I managed to get a hold of myself and calm down after I felt a strange, comforting warmth around me. Instinctually I knew I was safe within this warmth and nothing was going to harm me, so I fell asleep to recover my strength.
It was a joyous occasion. One where you would be crying in joy, smiling and laughing in happiness as a new member was just added to your family. Yet, one Yukihira Hinode could not do any of them as he held on to his sleeping grandson, gently rocking the infant.
He stoically watched in silence as his daughter came out of the bathroom dressed in a business suit. It hasn't been an hour that his nameless grandson was born, yet here his daughter was, dressed in a business suit ready to head off for a meeting as if she didn't just give birth to her flesh and blood.
'Well, she is a Dragon, half or not…'
"I don't care what you name that thing in your arms." She coldly started fixing her tie ignoring the gasp that came from his Personal Attendant, who was a fellow mother like her. "I won't be returning anytime soon, so do as you wish with it." His blood boiled in rage hearing his flesh and blood say something like that toward her very own one, but he calmed down and just nodded. "Good. This is a farewell. The next time we'll be seeing each other will be when either of us will be dead. Take care." With that, his daughter opened a portal and walked through it not even once looking back at her son.
Yukihira silently stared at the spot where his daughter was mere seconds ago and couldn't help but sigh in a tired manner. Ever since his wife and or in his daughter's case, her mother, died, the girl hadn't been the same. Days passed by and his daughter closed herself off from everyone, barely talking anymore, always busy with school, studying Magic and part-time jobs that she had no need to take with the considerable amount of wealth he, and in extension she, had.
He had tried countless times to reconnect with her, but the girl was stubborn not moving an inch from her refusal to open up to him. And before he knew it, she was going abroad for higher education with a scholarship in hand. A couple of years pass by with no communications whatsoever and suddenly she shows up at his doors, very close to nine months of pregnancy, going into labor two days later.
And now, she's gone again, leaving behind her son to him, who was not even a living being in her eyes. And even though she said they will be seeing each other again when either of them had died, he knew she didn't mean it. If he died, she would outright ignore the calls that would go to her with the news of his death, and should she be the one to die before him, then no such news would reach him.
Well, she said he could name him whatever he wanted and do as he wished, no? Then he will do so.
"Yu-chan?"
He looked down at his side to meet the crimson eyes of his PA, Setsura Oikawa, the Yuki-Onna Youkai who had always been there for him since his youth.
He shook his head and softly smiled at the sleeping infant in his arms. "How does 'Haru Hinode' sound Sura-nee?"
His PA blinked and looked at his grandson, her frown giving way to a smile. "Spring Sunrise huh? Tsu-chan will love him."
"I'm glad." He kissed the small forehead of his grandson and held him close to his heart. He won't make any mistakes with him, not like he did with his daughter. He will make sure that his grandson will grow into a fine young man or rather…
…a Dragon.
My vision and hearing soon became better, I can make out things with perfect clarity within what I can assume to be just a day and hear everything with no issue even sooner.
Hearing and understanding however are not the same.
While the language that I can hear around me is familiar, I cannot understand it. I never studied Japanese Language in my previous life after all. Sure I watched loads of Anime, read Mangas and LNs, but that doesn't mean I learnt Japanese as the Animes were English subbed, the Mangas and LNs were English translated. So no, even as the crimson eyed woman with a unique mix of colors for hair is cooing at me, I do not understand what the woman's miniature version or the crimson eyed tall, tanned man with icy blue hair and goatee are talking about.
But I am sure about a few things. One, this woman is not my mother and neither is her miniature version my elder sister. Two, my parents are not for some reason involved in my life, and three, the tanned man with icy blue hair is my grandfather if my interpretation of 'Ojii-san' from the woman's mouth is correct.
'Awesome… not even two days have passed and I already know that I'll be lacking quite a few things in my new life. Subarashi…'
Oh, well, even if I will be lacking them, it doesn't mean I can't live a good life, at least, better than the previous one. Hopefully these people won't turn out to be an abusive bunch, I'll trust them for now, but one wrong move, and I'm outta here, leaving several dead bodies behind me.
'Fun…'