— Hello!!! — I shouted, hoping someone would hear me. — Is anyone there?!
Once again enveloped by darkness. Ugh! It's a pain—I was just in that horrible place days ago, and now here I am again, trapped in this lonely, frightening darkness. Well, what can I do? I'll have to walk until I find a way out.
Wait, how am I shouting if I don't even know how to talk? I stopped walking, realizing too quickly what I was doing unconsciously.
Also, how am I walking if I haven't developed the strength or balance to even crawl?
Something's wrong here, but figuring out what is going to be hard in this situation, where I walk on a floor I can't see, and all around me is a complete foggy darkness.
And why foggy darkness? Simple. Even in the dark, I should be able to see at least a little, right? But… all I can see is a blurry blackness, or dark smudges—I can't tell.
Flaaaaaw
Her raar
Baaam
Suddenly I heard animal sounds—at least, I think they were animals—growling in rage and others groaning in pain.
I was surprised to finally find something here.
I threw myself forward and began to run toward the sounds I heard.
But I still didn't understand why I could run, though at times it felt like I'd lost the ability to speak. Of course, that's not a big deal.
In the middle of my sprint toward infinity and beyond, I passed something that reflected my appearance. I ran past it without noticing at first, but something nudged my mind and made me go back.
I thought maybe I could find out what I looked like—a child, a pimply teenager, or a bearded adult? My curiosity spiked instantly.
I looked, and looked again. I repeated it two or three more times to be sure. But the shell of this body seemed to be that of a teenager in his prime, full of physical strength and elegance.
Is the elegance from a pretty face? No. It's from the clothes. At least, according to my recently updated tastes.
Honestly, the face is completely blurred. I can't see any of it. The only visible thing on the head is the hair. The rest is clear from the neck down.
The hair is dark black, shaved on the sides and swept to the right on top.
A thick jacket made me warm instantly, but luckily I found something inside and pulled it down as if I knew it would open in the middle, letting in a chilling cold. The shirt underneath was a school uniform, based on what was written on it.
"How can I read if I haven't learned yet?"
I touched my chest—it was puffed out, with abs on my stomach. My arms also looked muscular. My pants were baggy, helping me move easily during action scenes. And my shoes… sneakers. Soft and comfortable sneakers.
Enough looking at a body that isn't mine. I just want to get out of here fast, I thought.
I started running again. But the sounds had stopped. I found it very strange. Actually, everything is weird in a place so inhospitable.
I looked everywhere I could—but nothing.
I quickly turned my head back. I was surprised by a zombified humanoid beast. A zombie skinwalker.
— It's hero time! — I shouted, hitting the monster with a… fire extinguisher? What is this? And… I didn't have this moments ago.
— Ah, screw it!
I hit the monster, and in the middle of this one-sided beating, out of horror and fear of the scene, I closed my eyes.
And when I opened them, I saw a sight that made me vomit. I felt the gastric acid rise in my stomach. I tasted the bile.
— Shit!
I recovered suddenly, as if there was no damage, and as if I hadn't just stained the ground. But I could feel that it happened. I could even smell the acidic, bitter scent of what I left on the ground.
Leaving that behind, I decided to move forward. My goal was to get out of here, recover my original body, and return to my family.
Thinking about my family made me feel lonely for a moment. But I quickly pulled myself together and thought about the warmth of the hugs I would receive when I got back.
My body stopped forcefully. It began to cry, as if nothing else mattered. I dropped to my knees. I screamed—a scream full of emotion. I didn't understand why my emotions were mixing with the body's. It was like the aching feeling in my heart was truly mine.
— But it's not! — I screamed internally.
After several minutes of crying, the body composed itself again as if nothing had happened. This brought many doubts. I was about to lose myself in that infinite, torturous, foggy darkness. But…
---
— Haah. Haah. Haah. — I woke up panting.
* — By the gods. Ryo, what happened? — * my father asked, half-asleep, waking up. * — Are you hungry? *
* — Of course not. Dear, he's not even crying. That's what you should pay attention to! — * my mother said.
They kept saying meaningless words. At least to me—since I couldn't understand a single thing.
And for no reason, the only thing I did was cry.
Both of them looked at me, surprised by my sudden crying. Despite being exhausted, they tried to calm me.
I cried for minutes. They held me in their arms, and after calming down, I closed my eyes and mouth, letting them sleep, and I went back to sleep too.
They sighed and lay down close to me, cuddling together, forming the shape of a heart. That made things warmer under the covers.
And that was pretty much it for that night.
I came to the conclusion that what happened to me was a nightmare. Probably related to before I was born in this world.
I don't have the concepts or vocabulary to describe my theory about all this. And I don't even have research or data to call it a theory. It'd be easier to label it with three words:
— "If," "I think," and "Probably."
There's no solid basis and nothing to help me. The only thing I can do now is focus on learning the language they speak, as well as how to write, read, and do math.
Waiting to grow up is a pain.
Haah! I sigh. I still remember that damned feeling of power that the old woman gave me with that blinding light inside my body.
I'd do anything to feel that again.
I was in the living room at that moment. My mom was cooking lunch in the kitchen. My dad was out working.
And my brother was taking care of me. I found out his name recently. Damian—that's my brother's name. I haven't found out our parents' names. They just call each other "dear" or "honey." Damian refers to them more traditionally as "mom and dad."
So I'll have to wait until someone calls them by name. Just like Damian.
After a while, I found out my name through my brother.
They gave me the nickname Ryo, short for Ryoumi. Because my full name was too long and complicated for them to shout when they needed to tell me something important.
Now, I'm still in the living room, but in Damian's lap. He looks at me with a cheerful face, not mocking, but full of joy. His eyes sparkled like stars.
He clenched his fists into the air out of nowhere and said something.
* — I'm going to be a great big brother. *
Well, as long as he doesn't take advantage of me just because I'm small and helpless, I'd appreciate it if he doesn't hurt me out of meanness.
---
Time didn't take long to pass. I turned one year old. It didn't feel fast.
Damian is six now—five years older than me. I found out at his sixth birthday.
Apparently, in this world, kids start school at age six.
Damian comes home from school in the afternoon. When he arrives, he goes out to play with his friends.
And today, just like any other day, everything was normal. Damian had been home for a while. Some of his friends showed up to call him out to play. He shouted: * — I'm going to play with my friends, mom! *
* — Damian, take Ryo with you. I won't have time to watch him now. *
* — Okay! *
Damian and Mom exchanged words.
Damian rushed over, grabbed the handles of my stroller, and took me outside.
We passed through several grassy areas. Dust rose with every step Damian and his friends took.
Looks like we live in a rural area, since the ground is all sand.
Houses and cows in pastures were the next things we saw.
After a short while, we arrived at a large space with trimmed grass and two white-painted curved metal posts on each side.
The grass was also marked with white paint.
There were benches on the sides for people to sit.
Damian's friends went to the center of the field where there were more boys.
Damian walked to the benches and left my stroller on the left side of the field.
He positioned it so I could see the field.
* — Ryo, stay here and watch your brother play. *
After saying that, Damian ran to the field and joined the other boys.
They split into teams of eleven. Ten on the field for each side and one in the goalposts.
There was a ball in the center of the field, marked by the white lines.
The game seemed to begin.
One boy kicked the ball backward. A boy in a blue shirt stopped it with his foot.
He then passed it to another boy. Damian dashed toward the boy with the ball and stole it.
He passed it to a shirtless boy.
'Ah, I get it. They're split into two teams. One without shirts to tell them apart,' I thought.
Damian was on the shirtless team.
The same boy Damian passed to ran with the ball, taking it to the area where the boy between the goalposts stood.
He kicked it high. Damian suddenly appeared, jumped, and did a flip.
The ball hit the net.
G-goooal!
Goal? What's that word? Ah, forget it.
The boys on Damian's team screamed and ran to hug him.
Suddenly, a voice filled my tiny ears.
A girl with long red hair. Her hair flowed over her shoulders and down to her large chest.
* — Heh. Damian is so handsome and hardworking.*
She sighed and said.
She had both hands on her chin. Her face showed innocent passion. Her eyes drooped and were fixed on Damian, and only sighs came from her lips.
She looked over, noticing me. She smiled and started playing with me.
* — So cute. What's such a beautiful little baby doing here? *
Looking at her more closely, from the front, she was very beautiful. A real beauty.
* — Hey!? *
Damian shouted at the girl.
* — Hm? *
* — Oh, it's you, Ellen. *
* — Y-yes. Is he your brother? *
* — He is. Isn't he adorable? *
She laughed and said: * — He is. Must take after his brother. *
Damian's face turned as red as a strawberry, and Ellen's did too.
They seemed to be the same age and apparently knew each other.
* — Did you come here to watch us play? — * Damian stammered.
* — Almost right. I came to see you. *
She said something firmly. I didn't know what she said, but it made Damian turn even redder.
Do they like each other or something? They should just admit it.
A gentle breeze blew, making Ellen's long hair fly back.
A dry leaf fell on my nose, and I sneezed while looking away.
Damian took his shirt from his shoulder and wiped my snotty nose.
He turned to Ellen, hand on his neck in embarrassment.
* — Ellen, I'm sorry, but can I ask a favor? Can you take care of Ryo? *
* — Of course. *
* — Thanks. *
One of the boys hit Damian on the head with the ball, knocking him forward. He hit his head against Ellen's, making her fall with him.
Damian has an exemplary physique—perfect muscles on his slim body.
He spun with his legs and got under Ellen. As a result, Ellen fell on top of him.
Their lips touched briefly. Realizing it, they both jumped up.
Both embarrassed and blushing. Damian broke the silence: "Are you okay?"
* — I'm fine, thanks to you. *
They didn't say anything else to each other—just smiled shyly, after their brief kiss. Their faces showed their desire for more.
* — Get a room! *
One of the boys yelled.
Another, from Damian's team, shouted:
* — Damian, are you gonna keep making out or come play?! *
The not-yet-official couple jumped in surprise (lost in love) and said goodbye to each other.
Ellen kept watching Damian playing with his friends.
She went back to her dreamy sighs like a girl in love.
The sky started to darken. Time passed.
Damian said goodbye to his friends, grabbed my stroller, and we began our way home.
Ellen joined us and walked with us to our house.
Damian left me with Mom and apparently went to walk Ellen home.