Kido's mind swirled in confusion as he tried to open his eyes. Everything was dark, and a suffocating sense of disorientation gripped him. His limbs felt strange—heavy and unresponsive, as if they weren't quite his own. He tried to move, but his body wouldn't obey.
What... What is happening? Kido thought, his mind racing.
It was as though every sense he had was malfunctioning. His body ached with a sharp, piercing pain that seemed to radiate from every nerve, and he couldn't make sense of his surroundings. He tried to call out, but no sound escaped his lips—there was only the faint sound of crying.
Wait, that's not my voice, Kido thought, alarm rising in his chest. The cry was high-pitched and unfamiliar, echoing in his ears like a distant wail. It took a moment for his foggy mind to process, but when it did, realization struck him like a bolt of lightning.
I'm a baby?
His breath caught in his throat as the confusion deepened. The sensation of being cradled, the warmth of the body holding him—it was all so foreign. His sight was weak, blurring the outlines of everything around him, and his mind struggled to make sense of the disorienting jumble of sensations.
Another wave of sharp pain coursed through his body, and before he could process it, tears welled up in his eyes. He couldn't stop himself from crying out. The sound that came from him was raw and infantile—there was no denying it. He was truly a baby now. But how?
Kido Katsuo, he thought, his mind trying to hold on to the identity that once felt so secure. I was on the train... I was reading the final chapter...
But now, the reality around him was impossible to ignore. His vision cleared a little, and he saw blurry figures, faint outlines of people moving near him. The warmth of human contact surrounded him, and there was a soft, soothing voice, sweet and gentle, that made his racing heart slow down a little. The words were indecipherable to him, but there was no malice in them—only a calming tone that washed over him.
It felt so reassuring, so comforting. His body relaxed instinctively into the warmth, and despite the confusion, a sense of peace began to settle over him. The strange feeling of sleep overtook him. His eyelids fluttered, heavy with exhaustion, and before he could grasp onto his thoughts, the pull of slumber overtook him.
It had been more than a week since Kido first woke up in this strange new world, and though the sense of confusion still lingered, he had slowly begun to accept his new reality. He was a baby now. How it had happened, or why, was still a mystery that gnawed at him, but there was no one to answer his questions.
What happened to me? Where am I? The questions buzzed in his mind, but every time he tried to make sense of it all, the answers seemed out of reach.
With his vision still blurry and his senses weak, Kido had little to rely on but his instinct and the faint observations he could make. He was in a house, he realized, though it wasn't particularly large or small. The room he spent most of his time in felt lived-in, but old—he could make out the vague shape of wooden furniture and faded curtains. The objects surrounding him were simple and worn, the kind of things you'd expect in a humble household, not one of wealth.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been here, or how he'd come to be in this place, but something about the atmosphere felt distant from his previous life. Nothing about this world felt familiar, yet everything about it felt oddly... grounded.
Where am I?
The thought lingered in his mind before he was distracted by an unpleasant sensation. A strange, unfamiliar smell filled the air, and as Kido's body reacted instinctively, he realized with sudden horror that his diaper needed changing. The realization was mortifying.
No... no way... this is... His face flushed, though it didn't matter. He was just a baby now, with no control over such things. But the embarrassment still bubbled inside him, and before he could stop it, his cries echoed in the room.
He didn't know how long it took, but eventually, he heard footsteps approach. A soft, comforting presence entered the room, and Kido's eyes struggled to focus on the blurry figure standing over him. He heard the voice, sweet and familiar, though he couldn't understand the words. It was his mother's voice, soothing and gentle, like a lullaby.
She picked him up with practiced ease, her hands warm and reassuring. There was no judgment in her actions, just a quiet, loving calm. She didn't need to say anything for Kido to understand that everything would be okay. She changed his diaper, her hands moving with care, and then settled him back down into the soft blankets of the cradle.
Afterward, she cradled him gently, feeding him a warm bottle, the nourishment comforting him in ways words could not explain. The warmth of her embrace, the gentle rhythm of her voice—everything around him was a cocoon of safety, lulling him into a peaceful state.
Before he knew it, his body felt heavy again, the exhaustion from the past few days weighing on him. His eyes fluttered shut, and Kido drifted into a deep, undisturbed sleep.
Tomorrow, he thought, as sleep took over him, I'll figure this out... somehow.