Chapter 2: I Reincarnated in Modern... Japan?
A few days have passed since then.
And I'm convinced.
I know it's hard to believe, but I really have become a baby.
I have become a baby.
Of course, I've wanted to redo my life more than once or twice. In fact, I would do it all over again if I could. I used to love my boring stamp rally life, but I was never truly satisfied with it.
But normally, if you wanted to start your life over, wouldn't you start in middle school or high school? Why start from just being born?
I was drinking from my mother's breast, but I don't know what it tasted like. I think I read an article on the Internet once that babies can't distinguish tastes because they haven't developed a sense of taste yet.
My newborn tongue has not developed yet.
I hope it will grow soon. With this body, I have no other entertainment than sleeping.
My stomach is full, so I take my mouth off the breast.
She lifted me up and gently patted me on the back.
Can you burp?
If I were to say this to a grown man, it would be nothing more than encouragement, but a baby's body can't even burp by itself.
When a baby swallows milk, it takes in air with it, so its stomach fills up with air after eating.
I would cry because I would feel sick if I didn't burp.
"BURPP"
"That's great that you burp!"
I was praised for burping. I was so happy.
Moreover, burping made me feel more comfortable, and I couldn't help but smile and let out a squeal.
And my mother laughs when she sees it.
What a good life.
In my previous life, if I had burped in public, I would have been called a "creep," and if I had laughed without knowing what it meant, I would have been called a "creep."
But what do you think?
Here, you are praised for everything you do, and if you laugh without meaning, your mother will laugh along with you. What should I call this if not happiness? I am glad to have been reborn!
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I was about to be relieved, but then I remembered something my mother said to me and I almost started crying. I was so happy to hear her say, "Please pray that this baby will reach the age of three in one piece."
It is true that a baby's body is fragile.
If they get sick, their lives may be in danger.
But this is modern Japan. There is no doubt about that.
Whenever I think my mother is asleep, she is sometimes close by touching her phone, and I have heard TV-like noises from far away.
That's why I wonder.
I wonder why she is praying for me, saying things like 'be safe.'
Babies' bodies are weak and they are more likely to die compared to adults.
However, the mortality rate of babies in Japan is not high. It is rather low.
The reason I know this is that in my previous life I worked for a printing company, printing leaflets, advertisements, posters, etc. for local companies, and among them was a job from a hospital. The job was to create posters to alert the public to baby deaths.
I still remember it because it was a job I did fairly early in my career.
I wondered if maybe this body had a pre-existing condition or something, but if it was a baby and had a life-threatening illness, it would be in the hospital. I am not at home.
And what's more, if that prayer was just one time, I wouldn't be so worried about it either. My mother prays like that every time after she puts me to bed.
I feel uneasy when she does that, no matter how much I am a grown man inside.
And when I have a baby's body, I can't control my anxiety and cry. So, I would like her to quit such things as much as possible,
"Please... I wish Itsuki will make it past the age of three safely."
I was just finishing a breastfeed and was dozing off when she said that and I freaked out.
"Whew!"
My mother's face suddenly changed color when I let out a cry.
I thought that her anxious face was showing that she was worried about me, so I tried to hold back my tears.
Then, my mother gently patted my head,
She said, "You were able to hold back the tears. That's great!"
She praised me.
Ahhh... Life as a baby is not so bad.
I was happy to get praises no matter what I did.
"Let's go to bed."
"Ah!"
But it's not without its problems.
In this state, in this outfit, there is nothing to do.
In other words, I have nothing to do. Just nothing to do.
I thought that even a baby could at least watch TV, but I soon realized that I was wrong.
This house is apparently quite spacious, and I, the baby, have my own room, where there is no TV, no smartphone, and not even a tablet.
I guess they are very eager to educate me. As a modern person who has become accustomed to information overload, it is boring for me.
Of course, my mother reads me picture books and stories before I go to bed, but even if I listen to Cinderella, Snow White, or Hansel and Gretel, I'm still bored, right?
I know all of them, or rather, every time I hear them, I think, "Oh, I remember that one."
I want to hear new stories. I'd like to see anime if I could. But with my body, I wonder if the cartoons they show me are for toddlers. Like Anpanman?
I was about to go to sleep, thinking that if I could only manage to have some free time, my life would be great.
I was about to go to sleep when a thought occurred to me. Come to think of it, I haven't seen my father since I took on this form.
It's been a few days since I took on this form.
The only person I've encountered is my mother, and I haven't seen my father. Or rather, I hear voices other than my mother, but they are all female voices. I am the only man in this house.
It must be inconvenient for a woman to live alone in such a big house.
I've never raised a child before, but this is a big house for a woman.
I've never raised a child, but is it possible to live in such a big house and not even have the help of a grandfather or grandmother?
Hmmm. I don't know, I've never raised a child.
Not only have I never raised a child, I've never even had a girlfriend, so I really don't know what it's all about.
So I just stop thinking about it and go to bed.
It's a baby's prerogative to sleep as long as they want without worrying about the time.
Just as I was about to let go of my consciousness, I felt a severe fever coming on from my lower abdomen.
What is this abdominal pain?
The next moment after I thought of such a leisurely thought, an intense pain that seemed to echo in the pit of my stomach and an unbelievable fever hit my body.
"Waaah! Wah-wah!"
I involuntarily began to cry, unable to bear the pain and fever.
Then my mother, who was standing beside me, turned pale and took me in her arms.
"Itsuki, are you all right? Itsuki! Itsuki!"
It hurts! Ow, ow, ow!
What the hell! It hurts too much!
The pain and heat I felt when I died.
A pain no less intense than that assaulted my entire body.
My breathing stops. My vision is blurred.
Death.
The word came to my mind again.
It's okay. It's okay! I have my mother!
The fever is killing me, and in my spinning vision, I see my mother desperately holding me in her arms.
I don't want to die. I don't want to die.
I don't want to die. I don't want to die!
I thought I had escaped from that pain.
I thought I didn't have to die anymore!
"Ah! Why does this always happen when he is not here...!"
As I listened to my mother's words, I strained every part of my body to escape the pain.
It worked.
With a sickening sound, the heat that had been coursing through my entire body was released from my buttocks.
The next moment, the heat that had been in my body until a few moments ago seemed to have receded.
My vision was calm. It was as if I had been having a bad dream.
Deceased, right?
I let out a sigh of relief, and at the same time, my mother changed my diaper with a startled look on her face.
"You survived the 'demon-eaters.' Good for you. You really are a good boy, Itsuki."
Her mother burst into tears.
I was tilting my head at the word "demon-eaters," a word I'd never heard of before,
"Ugh."
I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of her shedding tears while looking at my poop.