Chapter Text
When I first woke up, I thought I was still dreaming.
I was aware of everything and nothing. I could see only blurs, and sound was there but made no sense. Sensation and senses bombarded me all of a sudden, but everything was so alien that I couldn’t possibly be awake.
I was like this for a long time. Adrift. Slowly things came back. First it was my touch, blurs started to join and make shapes. Over time details became more clear. My hearing was the quickest to return and I could start to recognise sounds-breathing, screaming, rustling paper. I could hear people mumbling, but I couldn’t recognise what they were saying. After a few weeks I realised they were talking clearly, but in a language I could not recognise.
It was only then I realised I was awake the whole time. That my senses returning were actually senses developing. That my lack of movement was lack of motor skills. That I was reborn.
I had a developed mind in a child. I could not pinpoint specific memories, but I knew that the world I was in right now felt very wrong. Even despite my status as a baby, things felt different. Everything prickled around me, and I could feel people in the same way you can smell the air and know rain is coming. The language was foreign, but that could easily be rectified...but new senses were unexplainable.
Once I was aware of the situation, I decided to rectify my communication issues as soon as possible. Despite my self awareness, I must have still had the adaptable mind of a child, as I picked up an understanding quickly. Trying to talk back was another story.
I had only just been able to sit up, and my mother had placed me in a fortress of blankets to protect me while she pottered around the kitchen. She was a kind woman, short with black hair. From watching interactions with my father-a slightly taller and rigid man-she had a quick wit and was very house proud. He would frequently come home dirty and covered in mud, and would always try and greet me before changing. She would always beat him away-afraid of getting me dirty and sick- in a jovial manner with him chortling behind. It soon became apparent this was a game.
I watched her in the kitchen as she continually babbled to me about nothing and everything. She had started to make dinner for them, and I listened intently, watching her graceful movements. The week prior I had started to attempt to play with sounds, but never getting anything more than strange garbles. I realised I needed to listen for specific pitches and then develop, but it was frustrating. I was not cut out to be a mute.
“Look at you little Erena! You always watch your Okaa-san so carefully. I worry for the day you find your feet! I fear it will be soon!”
“Ka-sn!” I garbled, upset with my lack of success, again. I had decided that my first words around my parents would be ‘mother’ and ‘father’...wasn’t that tradition?
She blinked as she looked at me strangely. “Did you just try and say ‘okaa-san’?”
“Aka-sn!” I tried again, still failing. She blinked and kneeled on the floor.
“Can you say ‘Oh’?” She asked. I responded with an immediate ‘Oh’ sound. I was a baby, of course I could manage that.
She regarded me again, blinking several times. There was the slightest vestige of shock on her face, but her smile was blinding.
“And say ‘Ka’?”
“Ka!”
“And put them together- and say ‘O-Kaa’?”
“Oh-kaah-sn!”
“Almost! Try saying ‘Sah’!”
“Sah!”
“Now, ‘Sah’ but end it with the ‘n’”
“Sah-N...saan... San! Sansansan!”
“And put it together?” She looked at me intently, a grin on her face.
“O-kaa-san!”
“Yes!” She clapped excitedly. “And who is Okaa-san?”
I blinked. Was this a trick question? “Okaa-san! You!” And raised a pudgy arm towards her, toppling to the ground, off balance, in the process.
She quickly caught me before my head reached the ground in sat me back up.
“Oh wow.” She whispered. “I think we have a little prodigy on our hands.” She looked dumbfounded, if not slightly worried. I was an overly developed child, but was this something to be of concern? I could not think of the negative aspects of intelligence. Before I let my thoughts run away, I noticed something behind my mother.
“Okaasan!” She snapped out of her reverie and looked at me immediately. Oh, I was going to use this to my advantage so very much. But first.
“Okaasan, nnn!” and attempted to point behind her-my verbal vocabulary was still limited.
“Oh my god! It’s burning!” She leapt up to the smoking frying pan and quickly dumped it in the sink, before pouring water on it. The room immediately filled with smoke and I started coughing, eyes watering. She bundled me up and fled to the smokeless bedroom, before lowering me to the bed.
“Are you okay? I’m so sorry, you distracted me. Your Otou-san will be home soon, and he can deal with the mess then. And get take out.” She sighed, sounding exasperated and ran her fingers through her hair. “And now, my little genius, we need to figure out what to do with you? I’ve never understood cousins overuse of the word ‘troublesome’, but I think I’m about to! You are going to be a little menace, aren’t you?” She laughed, tickling my stomach. I giggled in return.
We spent the next hour practicing sounds and putting them together. It was a difficult start, but I managed some simple words, although my speech was slow. I knew then my mother was special- not only had she taken my communication leap in her stride, but she quickly realised my problem with pronunciation and sought to help.
“Yui! Erena! Why does it smell like a bonfire? Are you alright?” The bedroom door smashed open, to the worried face of my father. His face softened as she checked us over, no doubt for injuries.
“Otou-san!” I exclaimed, showing off my new skill. My mother grinned at me.
“What the f-!” My father shouted, before my mum smacked him over the head.
“No bad words! I will strangle you if she says a swear before she’s one!”
I giggled. This was going to be fun.