So I’m a Fish, So What?

Hello hi bonjour, Tomoko here.

Right now, I’m at a police station!

Now, a nine-year-old being questioned by the cops is weird, right?

Normally, a child would be involved in some situation, rescued by the heroic policewoman, then sent here to wait for the parents to arrive and take the poor hapless child home.

But I’m the one being questioned right now; This is incredibly vexing for my little mind!

Apparently, my self-defense was “too excessive”, so they are lecturing me and need to speak to my parents...?

I assure you, officer, I held back as much as I could! He's still alive anyways!!

Ah, you probably don’t understand what happened so let’s go back in time to the afternoon, the last school period.

 

A few hours earlier,

It’s been three years since my first-grade entrance ceremony.

I’ve just recently celebrated my ninth birthday!

As for gifts, I got a laptop from dad, a smartphone from mom, and a plane ticket for a trip I’ll be going on with Theo in the upcoming school vacation.

Now, such gifts are okay for college students, not elementary schoolers, but I had expressed the desire for them using my unreliable puppy eyes combined with the excuse of being smarter than normal kids.

Surprisingly, it worked!

This led me to start a very intense period of learning using online platforms.

I also received some presents from my friends!

Yes, you heard that right, FRIENDS not FRIEND.

During my time in school, I made some new friends, future cast only though.

First off, I became friends with Ooshima-kun after repeated interactions in class, his position behind me facilitated that, it’s like fate is pushing us to enter each other’s lives.

At first, I thought it was Alkreya doing something again, but then I remembered her mentioning that I’ll be on my own until my ascendance.

Her interference should only be limited to my direct environment after being reborn and no one was affected except for my family.

Chucking it all up to some trick of fate, I stop thinking about it.

It’s not like someone is influencing my life from another dimension, right... right?

Ah well, back to my new friends, Ooshima is an incredibly cheerful guy who likes helping and sharing his hobbies with others.

Believe me, having a child let you use their Gameboy is something I’d never expected to experience.

They mostly cry if you get near their stuff.

He’s also a clever kid, compared to other children anyways.

His present was a brand-new Gameboy, they are still popular among kids in this time period.

Aiko-chan just recorded herself singing with a tape recorder and gave me a new cassette player with the tapes, she’s utilizing the convenience of her talent to the limit, huh?

I only made one other friend, or rather it was Aiko who made a friend and then later introduced her to us.

Touko Segawa, a future reincarnation captured in the elf village.

She, like Aiko, is someone I don’t have much information about.

There’s actually not much in common between her and Aiko, she’s just the kind of person who can fit right in with no striking negative personality traits.

The downside is that she’s more of a mob character who is easily forgotten, so my relationship with her wasn't deep at the beginning.

Her gift was some sweets her mother helped her bake, this made my favorability value for her skyrocket.

If this was an otome game, she may have witnessed an Affection +9000 text appearing above my head while I was eating.

There is only one other gift from Shishou.

Actually, he gave me two gifts, and both were weapons.

The first was a set of dual swords from his collection, and I have to say they looked magnificent.

My parents confiscated them though, can’t have a child playing with real weaponry, I’ll be getting them back on my sixteenth birthday.

The second gift was another set of swords, but this time they were wooden training ones.

They were made of high-quality wood and polished thoroughly, like a piece of art.

Nevertheless, they can be used as real blunt weapons due to their high durability.

I had started training in normal Kendo a while ago to practice self-control, our normal spars were bloodthirsty ones where I did not need to keep my hand from in fear of injuring Shishou after all.

This led to incredible strength and technique but no control.

I took the swords with me everywhere and having Kendo lessons after school was a good enough excuse for the strict principal-san.

The school bell's ringing awakens me from my reminiscence.

“We’ll stop here for today. Please solve the workbook questions on today’s topic for today’s homework.”

Hiroko-sensei snaps her notebook shut while putting away her belongings.

“Heyyy, Ooshima-kun, are you leaving with us after school?”

Turning back, I see Ooshima zipping up his backpack and standing up.

“Yep, I have permission to come, Ito-san.”

We had decided to stop by a fast-food restaurant and then head to my home for a group study session.

They just study while I read books beside them and help them if they encounter difficulties, I am the genius girl in class hehe.

We also chat and watch some shows on TV while waiting for their parents to pick them up afterwards.

Checking my drawer one last time, I follow Ooshima out of class.

As we near the gates, I spot Aiko and Segawa standing by the guard shack.

“Aiko-chan, Segawa-chan! Ooshima-kun’s coming, let’s goo!”

We head to a burger franchise branch that was opened just a year ago.

It has a clean environment and quick excellent service which made it my regular go-to for grabbing a quick bite.

“No Kendo training today, Tomoko-chan?”

“Yep, I asked Shishou for a day off!”

“You rarely miss sessions though, I might laze around and if I'm in your place yet you're always excited to go.”

“Well, I love Kendo, and Shishou’s teaching methods are amazing.”

We make some small talk while waiting for our order, each one of us is serious when it comes to our hobbies.

Me with Kendo, Aiko with singing, Ooshima with gaming, and Segawa with baking.

How such a group with diverse interests was formed is a mystery to me.

“Customer number 127, your order is ready, please receive it at the counter.”

“I’ll go.”

Ooshima volunteers to get it, receiving nods from us in response.

{Analysis succeeded: “Telepathy” ability obtained}

Great! Telepathy was delayed an entire year because I enlisted Manager-san’s help in swordsmanship training, but now I can finally move on to something else.

I had thought about deciphering electronic languages and hacking into secret research institutions that would have the latest information about what I’d need but ultimately gave up on it.

Discoveries are made every day, so what's common sense today might be outdated information tomorrow.

This applies to all scientific fields, so I decided to analyze a very handy ability instead.

It would not only help me obtain information faster in the future but also help me after reincarnation.

{Analyzing “Thought Acceleration” ability. Estimated time till completion: 5 years}

An ability with an incredible range of applications.

For me, however, this ability is crucial for survival and adaptation.

Not only can it slow down my own time when needed, but it also can exponentially increase my and Manager-san’s processing speed.

It changes everything, from the amount of information learned here to the speed of analyzing other creatures and magics in the other world, a true all-rounder.

However, it is fundamentally different from the passive skill obtained by Kumoko, that one just boosts mental processing speed.

The one I’m analyzing though works by using my soul power to stimulate my brain and build a protective membrane around its different sections.

It is an extremely delicate and precise process where a small error could lead to the brain exploding, Manager-san requires five years with her computer-like precision while a normal person would need at least ten times that amount of time to succeed!

 

An hour later, we’re done eating and are on our way to my house when I suddenly sense a malicious gaze directed at us.

It reminds me of the kidnappers I encountered before, so I instantly use my sphere and sift through everyone around us until I find the source, I also check on my secret bodyguard.

I’m glad to find that he’s still around without slacking off, the source of the gaze turns out to be a couple of young adults in their late twenties.

These guys don’t look anything like kidnappers...? I still increase my vigilance though, one of them is carrying a baseball bat on him.

As we’re walking, they shove us into an alleyway, but it goes unnoticed as they had us surrounded us in a way that blocks pedestrians’ vision.

My secret bodyguard still notices something’s up and accelerates towards the alleyway anyways.

“Hey, watch out!”

Ooshima shouts but is greeted by a sneer from the group.

“You better shut up if you don’t want some broken bones, boy.”

His tone coupled with the sneers and the oppressive atmosphere scares Ooshima and the girls into shutting up.

I can take on all of these guys with my wooden swords and the bodyguard is close by, so I’m still calm.

“What do you want? I’ll have you know that messing with us will result in retaliation from our families, even your close ones would be affected.”

Well, only my family is strong enough to do so, and my dad also has a history of doing it.

He flinches, but then a smirk creeps back up his face.

“We have our own methods, little girl, now shut up or the boy gets it.”

Sighing, I stop talking while secretly tightening my grip on the swords behind my back.

The bodyguard is getting closer though, so there should be no problem, he seems to be an ex-military while those guys are nothing but wimps.

They start taking out... cameras? And their faces morph into disgusting expressions.

I try not to comment, as I don’t want the bodyguard’s approach to be discovered and have us taken as hostages.

But then they start nearing Aiko and one of them reaches out for her.

This is when I realize what kind of people these guys are.

Child predators... That’s the last thought I register as anger clouds my mind and my emotions are numbed.

I don’t care about the bodyguard anymore, I take my swords out and swing them at the guy near Aiko.

My first sword precisely hits his elbow joint while the other lands on his knee a moment later making him kneel.

Then I use the leftover momentum in my first sword to land a sideswipe towards his face and before he could register anything, he’s already knocked out.

One down, four to go.

Manager-san stops her analysis and starts feeding me the information shown through my sphere while letting me focus on fighting.

Two of the guys start coming towards me while the guy with the baseball bat and the remaining one move towards the girls.

Ooshima tries to stop them but is promptly kicked away by the unarmed one.

No time to waste, I ask Manager-san to numb my pain receptors and slide from in between the two guys trying to grab me, I feel something stab into my thigh, but I pay it no heed.

Standing up, I rush towards the armed one who tries to swing his bat at me.

Dodging, I land a swift hit on his wrist making him let go of the bat, then I counter his swing by using my leg as a pivot and spin while using my entire body momentum to land a strike onto his neck.

Probably won’t wake up for a while and his vision might decline in the future. Two down.

I promptly turn around and knock out the other guy using the same method I did with the first one, albeit with an increase in force when I hit his knee, a sickening crunch was heard as the strike landed.

Shouldn’t have hit Ooshima, freak. Three down.

Although my physical strength is too weak to beat an adult, I recorded the anatomy of the entire human body of all age groups in my archives, striking the weaker parts of a bone with speed and precision can reduce the required strength needed.

Turning around I find the other two closing the distance between us while shouting something.

I crouch, dodging a grab, and lunge diagonally forward, reaching a position where one of them would act as a meat shield blocking the other for me.

An upwards diagonal strike to his thigh from my lower position followed by a quick stab to his heart position from the other sword does the job.

Although he’s not knocked out, he’s incapacitated. Four down.

Using his falling body as a cover I slide down into the last one’s blind spot and land both swords onto his neck at the same time. All down.

My anger isn’t going away though...

I move towards the one who tried to touch Aiko.

Shortly after, screams are heard from the alleyway as I rain down attacks on his arms, making sure to crush them in a way that would permanently damage him making sure he will develop a psychological shadow in the future.

That's what you deserve for touching my Aiko.

I feel someone grabbing me, but since there’s no malice detected, I just ignore them and continue.

Finally, Aiko’s voice, police sirens, ambulance sirens, and Manager-san restarting my pain receptors snap me out of this state.

Feeling sharp pain, I look down and see a sharp stone embedded in my thighs and a lot of blood seeping out of the wound.

The bodyguard arrived sometime earlier with disinfectant and bandages.

Ah, so he was the one who tried to grab me before.

Looking at Ooshima and the girls, I see they are all okay except for a limp in Ooshima’s steps.

I only see the worry in their eyes, no fear of what I did.

Ahh, I’m glad...

The police finally arrive on the scene and take us to the station after bodyguard-san had bandaged my wound, he even asks to ride with me, what a responsible person.

 

And this is how I ended up at the station.

Japan’s logic about hurting others is really weird, you know? I’m getting lectured for hurting a child predator in self-defense...

Sigh, I hope time could pass faster so that I can leave as soon as possible.