Nagisa Kiyotaka was beginning to understand her situation.
She was no longer Chen Lu.
That was difficult to accept.
For several days, she had tried to convince herself that this was temporary.
Maybe the reincarnation process had gone wrong.
Maybe her body would change.
Maybe Bai Yuexian would suddenly appear and explain everything.
None of those things happened.
Instead, Nagisa remained a tiny fox cub.
And the more time passed, the more she realized something else.
She was a girl.
Nagisa stared at her reflection in a small polished mirror.
A tiny fox stared back.
Soft fur.
Small ears.
A little nose.
A fluffy tail.
She raised one paw.
The reflection did the same.
She lowered it.
The reflection followed.
Nagisa sighed.
At least, she tried to sigh.
What came out was a tiny squeak.
She stared at herself again.
I’m really a girl.
The thought still felt strange.
For most of her previous existence, she had been Chen Lu.
A man.
She remembered her old body.
Her voice.
Her face.
Her life.
Now all of that was gone.
She had been given another chance at life, but that life had come with a completely different body.
At first, Nagisa had resisted it.
She kept thinking of herself as Chen.
But every day, that became harder.
Her mother called her Nagisa.
Her father called her his daughter.
The people around her treated her like a little girl.
And eventually, she realized something.
She didn’t need to keep fighting reality.
This was her life now.
Nagisa looked at herself in the mirror again.
She was still uncomfortable with it.
But she wasn’t angry anymore.
Fine.
She turned away from the mirror.
I’m Nagisa.
Then she smiled.
And I’m a girl.
It still felt strange.
But this time, she didn’t reject it.
Her family made accepting her new life considerably easier.
Her mother, Celeste, was almost always nearby.
She had long blue hair and a gentle personality, though Nagisa had already discovered that her mother could become surprisingly terrifying whenever someone threatened the family.
Her father was quieter.
He didn’t talk as much, but whenever he entered the room, Nagisa could see the affection in his eyes.
Then there were her siblings.
Nagisa was the firstborn.
That meant she was officially the oldest sister.
Unfortunately, being the oldest didn’t give her any useful abilities.
She couldn’t walk properly.
She couldn’t talk.
She couldn’t even reach the food placed in front of her without help.
So much for seniority.
Her younger siblings were growing alongside her.
Sato was the first one she became particularly familiar with.
He was energetic and constantly moving.
Nagisa noticed something unusual about him whenever he was near water.
The water seemed to respond to him.
Hirata was different.
Lightning occasionally crackled around him when he became excited.
Ren was always warm.
Sometimes suspiciously warm.
And Airi…
Nagisa wasn’t entirely sure what to think about Airi yet.
There was something unusual about her.
Something connected to blood.
Nagisa couldn’t understand it yet, but she knew that each of her siblings possessed a different elemental affinity.
Water.
Lightning.
Fire.
Blood.
And she?
She had no idea.
For now, she was simply a tiny fox cub trying to learn how to walk.
One morning, Nagisa attempted to leave her bed.
She placed one paw on the floor.
Then another.
She stood.
Her legs shook.
Easy.
She took one step.
Then another.
Her tail wobbled behind her.
Nagisa smiled.
I’m doing it.
She took another step.
Then her front paw caught the edge of the blanket.
Nagisa tumbled forward.
She landed on the floor with a soft thump.
There was a brief silence.
Then laughter came from the doorway.
Nagisa looked up.
Her siblings were watching her.
Sato was the first to laugh.
Hirata joined him.
Ren started laughing too.
Even Airi smiled.
Nagisa’s ears flattened.
Very funny.
She pushed herself upright.
Her siblings laughed harder.
Nagisa glared at them.
She wanted to yell.
Instead, she produced another tiny squeak.
The laughter became even louder.
Nagisa’s face heated.
I’m going to remember this.
Her mother entered the room moments later.
She looked at the children and immediately understood what had happened.
“Are you teasing your big sister again?”
The siblings became quiet.
Nagisa looked toward Celeste.
Big sister.
The words felt surprisingly nice.
She was the oldest.
She had responsibilities now.
At least, she would once she could walk.
Celeste picked Nagisa up and gently placed her back on the bed.
“You’ll get the hang of it.”
Nagisa looked at her mother.
Then at her siblings.
For the first time, she didn’t think about Chen Lu.
She didn’t think about the Celestial Realm.
She didn’t think about the four thousand years she had spent waiting for this life.
She simply looked at the family surrounding her.
This was her home now.
These were her parents.
These were her siblings.
And she was their daughter.
Nagisa smiled.
Maybe being reborn wasn’t about continuing the life she’d lost.
Maybe it was about building something completely new.
She curled up against her mother’s arm.
For the first time since her reincarnation, she stopped thinking about who she used to be.
She simply enjoyed being Nagisa.
Her new life had officially begun.
Sorry everyone, if you notice the plot is off tell me, and I’m not that good at family plots, because it may confuse me, but I’ll try.