She is loved.
She had always been the type of person who drowns in her problems. Even if it didn't look like it, Uchiha Hatsu was never able to control her emotions. She didn't like to cry, she hated to feel weak, but sometimes it was impossible to keep everything in. Yet, she had never lost control like this—except for those days after Shis...—.
Now everything is...It's overwhelming. She shouldn't be feeling like this, these people aren't even her real parents, but...that's the point, they are her parents. Hatsu loves Hirayuki's worry over everything she feels. Hatsu loves Yua's strict and overprotective personality. Chieko loves her father's smile. Chieko loves her mother's voice. She loves them as much as she loved Itachi and Shisui. Of course, it's a different love—Itachi was her brother, while Shisui was her...best friend...—, but it's just as strong.
If they end up hating her for this...
Her thoughts are interrupted by a bone crushing hug.
“It's okay”
“Dad and mom are here for you”
“No matter what”
Yua is done trying to be careful. Carefulness wasn't bringing them anywhere.
Yes. It was partly...no, it is her fault Chieko is suffering like this. She shouldn’t have forced her to speak about something she clearly would prefer to forget, but...Would she have ever confronted reality if they left her to do whatever she wanted?
...
Dueling on it would bring them nowhere. It is time they stop being careful and act like parents. She crushes Chieko in a hug, ignoring the alarmed look Hirayuki is giving her, and all the rules saying one shouldn't touch someone who is in panic.
Part of her expects the worst. Part of her already sees Chieko starting to yell or simply shut down. None of those things happen. Her daughter tenses incredibly for a second, and then she relaxes.
“It's okay,” Yua makes her best effort to convey her quirk on each of her words. Hiroyuki sees that it is working and takes Chieko's hands between his own.
“Dad and mom are here for you. No matter what”
Although uncomfortable, they don't move from their position. Being close to them has always calmed her down. Eventually, she stops trembling and they let go of her.
“I'm sorry for making a scene, that was nothing like me at all...” Chieko's voice still sounds distant, and this time is Hiroyuki who takes charge.
“You know. We knew you were a reincarnation since before you were born,” Chieko pales, but following Yua's example, Hiroyuki continues talking. He tells her about the rare quirk passed on through some females in her grandmother's family, about other dimensions, and different times.
Chieko still seems sad and ashamed, so Yua decides to take action again.
“Don't you get it, sweetheart? We knew. We know. And we love you. No matter what. Your past life is an important part of you, and it is an extra experience you have, but we don't care about it. Not in the way you think”
“But I...I took the place of your baby...I...I stole...,” her voice starts breaking up.
“That's nonsense. Don't be stupid,” Yua is beginning to feel frustrated. She thinks their words aren't reaching her as they should. The harshness of her voice is reprimanded by her husband's glare.
A whole conversation goes on between the couple's eyes. Hiroyuki is nagging at her for being too harsh. Yua is nagging at him for being too soft. Then both agree to leave that for another day.
Hiroyuki knows better than Yua that their words are reaching Chieko. He feels it.
“What your mother meant was that you are our daughter,” Hiroyuki takes Chieko's head between his hands and forces her to look at him “We are your parents. You are our daughter. It is that simple,” then he smiles and kisses her forehead.
And it's the truth.
She is their daughter.
No matter what.
They are her parents.
No matter what.
They are family.
It is that simple.
She wants to stop this almost-crying-but-not-really weird reaction of her, but...She was blessed to be family with such wonderful people, and she is not being able to keep her emotions in check.
There is no way she can deny her parents' feelings and words now, not after what they told her. They love her even though she isn't really theirs...but she is, if they love her as such...Why is it so difficult to believe that they want her?
They love her. That's a fact—the voice in her head continues talking, whispering: they don't know everything. They don't know she was a killer in her past life, or that she let her family die. She fucking useless piece of..—... They love her. They love her.
She feels a smile start forming on her mouth. Her body overflowing with that warm feeling she needs to learn to accept: Happiness.
Somehow she manages to sit at the dining table again. Her mother takes the place beside her on the table while her father makes hot chocolate in the kitchen.
Chieko tries to calm herself. She closes her eyes and breaths slowly. She focuses on the delicious smell on the air, on the chakra flowing through her body, and on her parents’ presence. In a bold move driven by her need to relax, she lets her chakra envelop the house. Much like when she used it to track Shisui and Itachi— she can almost feel it, that cozy playful fire and that calm patient fire... —, she feels her parents. People here don’t really have chakra, but the energy that gives them their powers, the energy that fuels life...she senses it. For the first time she experiences their “chakra”. His father feels like energetic electricity, a bolt that doesn't harm her senses but makes her want to jump and laugh. Her mother feels like a cool river, water that doesn't drown her but makes her want to float on it forever. Their energies can't leave their bodies, yet they move as if they wanted to envelope her… to show that she belongs to them.
After 30 minutes, her father gives a cup of hot chocolate to each of them. Chieko's cup is her favorite, the one with a crow on it...Her father always takes notes on the smallest details...
“I believe the first thing we should do is apologize. We didn't tell you before because we were worried about your reaction, and when we finally decided to speak we...we ruined it. I'm sorry Chieko. Sweetie. This bad moment is on us” her mother agrees with her father's words by putting her hand on top of his.
“That's not true. I...” her parents' ashamed faces stop her from saying anything. It will be better for everyone if she just accepts their apologies.
There is a moment of silence. No one knows exactly what to say until her mother talks with an uncharacteristically faltering voice.
“I believe we should address what we started this conversation with…” her father seems uncomfortable, but Chieko smiles to calm them both. She won't react like that again. At least, she hopes so.
“Since it's weird I know so many things and act so mature, I was thinking of making my quirk be my intelligence, but I don't know if that will be beneficial for my future” they know, so might as well ask for their opinions.
“Don't you want your quirk to be recognized as reincarnation?” curiosity fills her father's voice while Yua just listens attentively.
“Reincarnation is a quirk with precedent. I don't know how much research has been done on it, but I'm almost sure it is already known that reincarnation not only transfers you knowledge but your abilities as well...It all depends on where you come from…This is all only based on my assumptions, but I want to take the safest path. If I were to use intelligence as my quirk, it would hide everything else, yet if I had the need to use my chakra it would be as if I had multiple quirks and that could make me a target for villains who can steal or copy quirks. Since I'm not sure what they would copy in case they tried, I must be careful. Additionally, if I admit to having a powerful quirk not only I could be a target, but you too. Enemies usually like to use the child's parents to manipulate...” the look on her parents' faces makes her stop. Their faces almost look like that pikachu meme she saw on the internet. She replays the conversation in her head and notices what happened. They know she is a reincarnation, but there was no way they knew about her abilities. Besides, this is the first time she talks so much with such an adult mindset.
She pales at the thought of them finally regretting having her as their daughter.
“Chieko! We are surprised, but that doesn't mean we don't want you anymore” says Hiroyuki with worry and takes her hands in between his.
“Maybe you could explain to us a little bit of all of this…?” hearing her mother be so careful is starting to be weird...Anyway, Yua is right she should tell them a little about her—not everything because she is a monster and they won't want her if they know—.
“Right. Well. In my dimension there was an energy called chakra. Everyone had it, but not everyone could control it. We used chakra to…” kill people and go to war “control the elements, enhance our bodies, cure, and other things more specific to certain individuals”
Hiroyuki and Yua seem amazed. Now, even her mother has the curiosity written all over her face. Chieko feels the desire to laugh, but she holds on.
“So you come from another dimension? I noticed you were amazed by technology, but I thought that maybe you were from another time...”
And so it starts.
Hiroyuki listens to his daughter attentively. He listens to her worries about dangerous villains and people like All Might walking the streets ( “All Might is a hero”, “That doesn't make him invincible or immune to mind control” ). She tells them about seemingly crazy events like a villain kidnaping her or kidnaping them. A theory that doesn't seem so crazy after she tells them all her abilities. Transformation, cloning, illusions, tracking, hand-to-hand combat, camouflage skills, some level of fire release and others on a less powerful scale(“ I can't control other elements as easily because my affinity is fire. Still, I plan to train more this life, so I can become stronger and protect you ” Protect them...from what?).
Chieko's speech changes throughout the conversation from an informal tone to a formal one. She sits straighter and the only emotion perceived on her voice is a little of worry. The change in her behavior seems to help her organize her emotions and thoughts. Hiroyuki feels her more comfortable and that's a good thing, but...there is also another part of her that hates this. It's not that she doesn't want to talk but that she doesn't want to talk like this. As if this was just her programmed response to questions. Just like a soldier giving a report.
But that's…
...to jump to the conclusion that she was a soldier…
That's insane...but is it really? They don't know anything about her past life besides her abilities, which include fighting skills.
“I believe the best course of action is to have the possibility to use my abilities without people knowing what I can do. That will give me an advantage in case something happens” but what does she think could happen?
Chieko is five years old. Her cheeks are really chubby, and her hands are tiny. She still has her baby teeth. She is their baby, but now more than ever Hiroyuki realizes she is an adult.
Part of him thinks it's cute to see their child acting as an adult. The other part of him is really confused. Sometimes she acts like a child. Other times she acts like a teenager. And now she is acting like an adult. She doesn't like it more than he does, he feels it, but somehow this is natural for her.
He wants to ask. He should know Chieko in the way a father should know a daughter. He wants to know why she is so careful about this, what happened to her, where did she come from, why is she comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time, what age was she when she d̶i̶e̶d̶...
“I see. And what is your solution, Chieko?” Yua asks with a smile. Hiroyuki feels Yua's confusion and worry, but over everything else he feels her desire to help their daughter.
The realization hits him so suddenly that he almost snorts. Yua is doing the right thing. It is confusing, but they just need to support Chieko and help her. After all, she is just as new to this as they are.
They will need to know her past to be able to help her completely, but after they pass this point, they should give her time. Now that she knows they are aware she is a reincarnation, they will wait for her to move at her own pace.