Chapter 3: Reborn 3
After dinner I snuck out of my room and started wandering the corridors until I found my way to the garden.
'He should be around here'
My grandpa's favorite spot in the whole house was a large boulder under a wisteria tree. He would sit there at night, overlooking the garden and refuse to move unless it was something of importance.
'Maybe he's trying to achieve enlightenment, sitting there cross legged all the time'
Wandering around, I got lost in the vibrant purple hues of the wisteria trees lighting up the footpath. As though enchanted by the colors, I followed the trees until I was met with a large boulder at least 3 meters tall.
A figure of a man with long hair appeared at the top of the boulder. The soft lavender glow of the wisteria tree bounced off his long snow white hair that reached all the way down to his hips while sitting down.
"Whaddya want you brat" He said calmly, opening one eye and interrupting his meditation
"Im gonna cry" I said with a flat tone
"What and wake the whole house up just to disturb me?" the man said with a raised brow
"Precisely"
"Alright fine, come up here"
I struggled to get up the boulder, my grandfather offering me no help even though he clearly saw me struggling.
"So, what do you want" He asked impatiently
Actually, it had been him who taught me how to read and write. I'd sit on the boulder with him almost every night and he'd hammer into me basic rules of spelling and grammar. His teaching style was, harsh, but effective. I learned how to read most things within 2 years.
He was the only family member who knew that I wasn't just a 7 year old but something more, yet he never pressed me for answers, teaching me regardless of how much I creeped him out.
"I read the book you told me to read" I replied
"Yea? Got any questions?" He said while closing his eyes again
"Just one, why do you hate swordsmen, weren't you one yourself?"
His eyebrow twitched while he shifted around on the boulder.
"Why do you think I hate them?" he asked with poorly hidden malice
"Mom caught me reading the book and asked me not to tell you about it"
"I told you not to get caught reading that, its way too advanced for someone your age"
"Well I'm sorry, but someone forgot to teach me a word and I had to ask someone else"
"Always impatient, you could've asked me"
"I have another question" I meekly said
"I'll allow one more, but then you have to go back before someone finds you"
"Can you teach me to become a swordsman? It is terribly boring inside this mansion"
What I said was the truth, day in day out I would follow the exact same routine of doing absolutely nothing. It didn't help that this villa was in the middle of who knows where and I was not allowed outside, so the only people I could talk to were family members.
"Absolutely not. I will never pick up a sword again myself, much less teach someone else.
Also, I say this will all the love I can muster for my grandson, but I see that look in your eyes, you have no ambition and no drive. You simply look for a way to momentarily satisfy your desires. You do not have what it takes to learn the way of the sword.
But, if you want some halfwit to teach you how to abuse a sword, you could always ask your father. Just like that weakling Tatsuya."
"Suit yourself wrinkly old man" I hopped down the boulder and crashed my landing, ending up with my nose in the dirt.
My grandpa laughed heartily before I threw him the middle finger, a gesture which was lost on him.
'I'll have to look for another way to keep myself busy. God damnit I hate this, why couldn't I be reborn as a kid in the 21st century so I can at least have access to the internet and central heating. I'm freezing my ass off in this house, how does grandpa just sit there like that'
The climate in the region was agregious, and I hate the cold. Afterall, I died because of it
'Should I just die and hope for another chance at things. No, there's no guarantee ill be born again and even if there was, I don't wanna spend another year as a baby'
From that day on, I made the wise decision to spy on my grandfather every day to have a chance at deciphering what he's doing. This was of course all so I had something to do.
I considered having my father teach me swordplay, but after grandpa's words and seeing he already had a student, my brother, I decided to drop it.
I walked outside in the cold, wandering around until I found my grandpa. But I didn't find him. No matter how long I spent walking around I could not find him.
Until finally, guided by the magical wisteria trees, I found myself face to face with the boulder again. My grandpa sitting cross legged on top of it as always.
"What is it this time" he asked impatiently while raising a brow
"I thought I'd try observing you. But I couldn't find you" I decided to be honest as he always seems to knows when I'm lying
"Obviously you couldn't. You can't find me unless I will it. Its the same with everyone else" He said matter of factly
"So, what do you think you're gonna get from observing me, brat"
"How do you not get cold wearing no shirt all day"
"Its a special technique, not suited to brats like you, you'd probably die if you tried" He said with a smirk plastered on his face
"Look at you, you're so frail that youd think the wind could sweep you away"
He wasn't wrong, since I was reborn I never tried working out as I didn't see much use. I never had to do any labour or anything strenuous, I lived the life of a sheltered princess
"You might have a woman's name Yukiko, but you're a man ain't you? Put some muscle on then I'll give you a nugget of information
Until then you're welcome to observe me as much as you want. You'll never be able to so what I do"
Taking that as a challenge, every day for a month I'd go to the boulder, observing my grandpa. He sat cross legged with his hands palms up resting against his knees.
'Hes just meditating, is this it?'
I tried copying his form, but after an hour of sitting in the exact same way as him, but after an hour, I noticed nothing happened and left. I continued doing this for a month and still nothing happened.
'I can see results from mediating but nothing substantial, I'm still freezing my ass of every time I step foot in the garden'
I decided to get on the same boulder my grandpa was on to see if anything special happened. When nothing happened I wasn't surprised, just a little disappointed.
'Dammnit this is getting me nowhere, there has to bee something else'
I got closer, and studied him. After a few moments I could notice something different about his breathing. It was uneven, almost unnatural, he slowly inhaled and then sharply exhaled through his mouth.
I shifter back to my spot on the boulder and tried doing the same.
'Slow inhale, sharp exhale, slow inhalez sharp exhale'
Nothing
"Let the air fill every cell in your body on its way in, then exhale sharply but steadily" my grandpa said
"Right"
I did as instructed a few times with no result.
'Slow inhale, all the air coursing through my body, then exhale'
I felt pain like never before, all my muscles began spasming, it felt as though 1000 burning needles were plunged deep into my lungs all while I tried to claw at the ground to keep my very soul from escaping my body. A searing headache almost knocked me out until falling from the boulder actually did.
"I told you so"
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