1 Chapter 1: Rebirth

The bell tolled, signaling the start of class. It had been a mundanely normal day, as are most, but I think it's kind of nice having a mostly peaceful life like this.

"Stand"

The classroom representative began the regular class routines, and the teacher addressed the students, and began the lessons. As class progressed I began to feel the hair on my arms sticking up, and felt that something was off. I couldn't think of any better way to describe the way I felt other than a pure feeling of 'something very bad is about to happen'.

The bell rang, and the students stood up and began moving to the exit. It was the moment the door opened that it happened. My instincts screamed at me telling me I needed to get the hell out of here, but at this point it was too late. It was like time and space imploded before my eyes.

As everything warped around me, I heard the distorted laugh of a woman that sounded like it was coming from underwater. The laughter got fainter and fainter until everything was plunged into total darkness. That's it, I guess I'm dead now. I have a lot of regrets. I wish I hadn't pushed away my childhood friend back then and hurt her feelings as badly as I did. In the end she moved away and I never saw her again.

I wish I hadn't given up on so many of the things I had wanted to do halfway through them. I'm sure I would have felt much more satisfied if I saw it through to the end, even if it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. I wish I had treated my family better, and been a more respectable older brother to my little sister.

I wish I had properly said what I wanted to say to my friends instead of being afraid of them reacting negatively and pushing me away, and taken more of the opportunities I had to make lasting connections...

… Aren't these lingering thoughts lasting a little too long? Shouldn't I, like, pass on to the next life or whatever happens while recalling my regrets? For some reason, though, I still exist. Whether I'm alive or not is a whole different story, though.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of heavy metal music. Wait, no, that's not heavy metal, that sounds like something roaring. My vision is still completely black… I can feel something hard around me, so It seems I'm inside of something. After slamming myself into the hard object a few times, it cracked, and began to shatter.

It turns out, what I had thought to be heavy metal music, was actually just the roaring of two dragons. Good to know. Next inquiry, what the fuck is going on here? What kind of bullshit have I gotten myself into?

I'm surrounded by dragons. Looking down, it seems that I've become a dragon myself, although a baby one, and to top it all off, the two dragons, which I assume are my parents, are currently fighting. That doesn't seem like a healthy relationship!

I should probably try to get used to this new body and start moving around. Legs, check. Neck, check. Wings, a little weird but with time I'll get used to it. Lets see, can I move my fingers? Ah, I see, claws. Yes, indeed, this is perfectly normal.

Although I probably should have seen that coming it still startled me to see such sharp claws come out of my own, uh, hands? Paws? Either way, I was thoroughly surprised.

After practicing with my wings for a bit I managed to make lift-off, although I didn't stay in flight for long. While I was trying to get the hang of my wings I saw two dragons that were fighting flying towards me.

Hm? That's strange… Rather than their figures getting bigger the closer they get, they seem to be getting smaller? They turned into humanoid creatures with wings, horns, and a tail.

"So what should we name her, darling?"

Wait just a moment. She just said something I can't ignore…

"Ryuu?"

"What are you, 12 years old and creatively bankrupt?"

A wonderful tsukkomi.

"It's because she's a dragon, you know?"

"Yeah, no, I got that much. Denied. Hmm…"

She seemed to think it over for a bit before speaking up again.

"How about Latrea?"

"That sounds good! I like it!"

It seems my mother is the one wearing the pants in this relationship. Wait, that's not the issue here. The issue is that she said "her". I had felt that something was off for a while now, but I never would have thought it was because my 'son' was missing.

"As for her male name, what do you think we should name him?"

Huh?

"What about Ryuu?"

"Get in the corner and think about your actions, Seven"

"Yes, dear…"

Father… Do your best…

My mother thought it over for a while, and then turned to me, and with a gentle smile appearing on her face, she spoke to me.

"I'll give you the names Latrea and Aertal."

"That means you'll be Latrea Aertal Ludecke,"

After giving me my name, my Mother picked me up, spread her wings, and started flying towards a house near the top of the mountain, with my father following close behind her. My mother started rocking me back and forth slowly while we flew, and I felt a drowsiness rush over me, as I drifted into slumber.

When I woke up, I was being rocked back and forth by my father.

"Oh, good morning little buddy! Well, afternoon now, but let's not mind the details."

I just noticed it but… They've definitely been speaking Japanese this entire time. It should have struck me as odd sooner, seeing as how I completely understood everything they had been saying.

"Anyway, time to give you the ol' "Dragon 101" lesson."

Alright, I'm listening, Father! Teach me everything there is to know about experiencing dragonhood!

"First! We are very strong creatures, but our strength is meant for one thing and one thing alone! What might that be, my Daughter?"

Uh, Father! I'm only a day or two old, sir! I can't speak yet!

"The answer is for protecting the ones we care about!"

Oh! Father is so cool!

"Second! The method for changing into humanoid form as well as how to switch between your male and female form!"

Oh! Just what I've been wanting to know!

"Hmm, how do I explain this. It's kind of just, like, you, you kind of, you feel it build up here, and then bam! It kinda switches!"

Eh? F-Father? I have so many questions I don't even know where to begin. I'm just gonna assume it's some kinda instinctual thing? Alright, let me try it real quick. Feel it!

"There you go! You're getting it!"

I-I am? Oh, I'm getting taller! My son! My son has returned! Welcome home!

"Good job, Aertal! I'm proud of you! You learned it way faster than I did!"

A few days have passed since then, and I've been using all my time to teach myself as much I can with the books I found in the house. Recently Mother seems to be worried about something.

"Look at him Honey, already spending his days with his nose in the books."

"Yeah, and he seems to stay in male form all the time. I'd heard from Zoe that babies preferred to remain in their female form most of the time. He hasn't even shown any signs of being hungry yet! That coupled with that he doesn't laugh or cry has me kind of worried."

Now that I think about it, I haven't felt hungry at all in the last few days.

"That's true, but I'm sure it's just a matter of different babies having different personalities. Besides, isn't it easier to take care of him this way? Zoe said that babies don't start to get hungry for a few days, though, so that much is normal."

"Well, I suppose so… I just worry, that's all."

Mother seems to be worried about me. Come to think of it, I have been too focused on trying to learn to relax myself. Maybe I should take a break. Should I try behaving like an infant would?

"Mama?" I said, while tilting my head slightly to the left.

Her face lit up upon doing so.

"D-Darling! H-He said 'Mama'! Did you hear that! He called for me! That's right, baby, it's me! Mama!"

She picked me up and cradled me in her arms. Suddenly, my stomach made a growling noise. Upon hearing this, my mother began pulling down one side of her tank top, and removed half of her bra.

"M-Mama?"

W-What is she doing?!

"Go on, Aertal, drink up!"

Ah, yes, I-I'm a baby. This is perfectly normal! It's just breastfeeding! Perfectly normal!

"I-Is something the matter sweetie?"

I-I can see the tip of mount fuji! No, I must not falter! I can't have her worrying about me any more than necessary!

That day, I drank from the forbidden fruit at the peak of Mount Fuji…

It's been a year since I was reborn in this world. I've learned how to switch to my humanoid form, as well as how to swap between male and female easily. For some reason it's all been fairly easy for me to learn. Is this the power of instincts? My Mother and Father are also teaching me the human language, as well as various other languages from this world. The human language sounds kind of familiar. Some of the words are the same as Japanese ones, just pronounced a bit differently.

Since the day I was born in this world I've been trying to learn as much as I can. I found some books in one of the unused rooms in the house, and managed to learn a lot from those. I found a map that had detailed descriptions of all the Kingdoms and Empires in the world. It seems the closest large civilization to us is the Eckhardt Empire. I'm noticing a pattern of German names. My Father, Seven. My Mother, Mars. The Eckhardt Empire is the most german sounding one yet. I get a weird feeling when I look at this map…

My Father has been training me in Swordplay since I was around 5 months old on my request. He was surprised, but he also seemed happy with my enthusiasm. According to him I'm incredibly talented, and I've learned a lot. He says with my current strength I'd be able to beat the average human adult, but I'm sure it's just a father doting on his kid. Aside from that, I've been living a pretty normal life, sleeping a lot, eating a lot, and learning things during the daytime, then being doted on by my parents.