"Damn that hurt!"
I really didn't think my day would end, or should I say my life would end like this. But of all things, WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE TRUCK!? It's not like there aren't any other ways to die. I am not even Japanese or from Japan, nor was I there or have ever been there. So why a truck!?
Going back a bit as a form of introduction, just to be polite. My name is or was apparently Micheal Folster, above average in most things in my life: good family with some loving and supportive parents, the ever annoying sibling that as the elder I must never admit to actually loving and constantly protecting, good grades in school and active enough in physical activities. Aside from that, my hobbies and interest were pretty varied from literature to martial arts, with a little bit of the anime thrown in there I am unashamed to admit.
Though if I had something to admit is that I was a bit too much into online novels of a lot of genres. I read everything from some of the gritty anti-hero's and straight up villains to the fluffy romance ones with some drama thrown in to face slap some people. I was recently indoctrinated into the world of fanfics and I have to say it ate a lot of my time. Star Wars, Naruto, MHA, Bleach, but for some reason the ones that made me lose myself in the world they recreated over and over again were the Harry Potter ones. I just enjoy the characters and how some changes or points of views could change the way everything ends.
Now that you have a basic grasp of who I am, let's get back to how I died because it just made me curse at the cliché of it all.
I'd just finished high school with good enough grades to enroll into the university of my choice and with my parents supporting the path I was trying to follow in my life. I took a long time to really think about what I wanted to do in life and I come up with something no one envisions for themselves as a child; I wanted to teach.
On my way back from the University to fill out some of the last forms and get my student ID. I stopped to get some of my favorite snacks as a reward for everything going well. As I stepped outside and got to the corner of the street, I saw a young mother and her child crossing the street. (We know where this is going)
She looked like she twisted her ankle due to her heels and was hurting pretty badly so I stepped up to help.
I got to the kid who looked like she was almost about to cry and said "Hey there little one. My names Micheal, I'm going help your mommy get out of the street so can you go to the bench right there and wait for us?" As I pointed to bus stop at the corner.
The little girl nodded and ran over to stop, turned around and stared at her mother. "Thank you for the help, these are new shoes and I just misstepped." Said the young mother on the ground.
I extended my hand and replied "it's no problem at all. Let's just get you out of the street first."
I got her up, picked up her purse and started to make my way over to the sidewalk. And that's when I heard a loud honk. Then I saw a light coming towards our direction. Problem was that it was coming towards me and the hurt women, but swerving out of control towards the bus stop which just so happens to contain one frozen little girl.
"MILLIE!!" The mother yells in horror as she realizes where the truck is heading towards.
In that moment I don't know what came over me but I let go of the mother and sprinted towards the girl. As the truck got closer I jumped and pushed the girl out of the way. And it was just in time for me to get hit by truck and boy did that not feel great. Even if it was just for a short while, I don't think I can forget the sound of pretty much every part of me snapping and crunching at the impact.
I did see that the girl was out of danger the moment before I got hit, which is nice to know since I'm not getting up from this. I know this, everyone who saw this knows it and I honestly couldn't even feel much of anything at that point
Everything was simply getting darker and darker as my brain was shutting down, until I closed my eyes and just let myself go into the darkness.
That is until I realized I was still thinking. I couldn't feel my body so my first thought was that I lived but somehow ended up completely paralyzed. But after a few minutes I also noticed that I'm not breathing or feeling any sort of pain, which I assumed that being paralyzed doesn't stop from feeling pain.
This made me think of a lot of possibilities: one is that I'm a soul and I'm being judged right now, two is that this is that this is limbo, three is that this is the afterlife (which in all honesty sound frightening, I mean an eternity of nothing is just horrifying), and lastly that this is somehow a waiting room for something.
After what could be considered a few dozen minutes there was a sudden white light that engulfed me. A few seconds later I'm standing or floating or whatever I doing in front of two people: one is a man seemingly in nearing middle aged judging by his salt-pepper hair and neatly trimmed beard on his sharp face made him look like stern man, he had the red eyes which almost seemed to glow with how intense they were and was wearing almost blood red robes kinda similar to what Jedi's wear. The other was a woman: she had pitch black hair and eyes, looking like darkness itself, but her features were gentle like a mother waiting for you to fall asleep, wearing a similar robe to the man but black as her hair.
They were looking at me until finally the man opened his mouth to say "Micheal Folster... you are now dead."
"Well Fuck." I reply as that last bit of hope to still being alive just crashed.
I thought of my parents and even my little brother. My Friends. My dreams. Everything that I thought I could do in my life. Then two random thoughts came from the back of my mind; at least I saved that little girl and I'm glad I didn't die a virgin.
"Cough cough" I hear as I snap out of my thoughts.
"Now unfortunately what my husband said to you is true." I hear the black haired woman say as she shows an apologetic expression on her face. "But their is some good news. You preformed an incredibly good deed before your death and you've also led a good life, with the fact that you actually weren't meant to die yet. And so we've decided to give a second chance."
I froze.
Isn't the exact situation that anyone who's read some reincarnation stories dreams about? Isn't that what I've dreamed about at least a hundred times? It can actually happen?!
"Does that mean going to a different world like a fantasy one or sci-fi one?" I asked to confirm exactly what they were offering
"That's right." Said the the stern looking man.
"And do I get to chose where I go?" Asking for clarification.
"We will have to see if it's an appropriate world, but yes you do get a choice." Answered the almost motherly woman.
"And do i get some kind of cheat ability or skill to help me?" I asked in a hopeful manner.
"No." Answered the man basically crushing my hopes.
"Oh stop being so harsh and explain things properly dear." Said the woman in a slightly huffy manner. She looked back at me and said "You do get some bonuses as long as they aren't going too far, but do be warned that it will be up to the world to fulfill your desires, we will simply make it so they will be fulfilled but cannot do it directly as that would encroach on the domain of other gods and they would probably try to kill you and get us punished for it." Explaining how this would work.
"So I get wishes as long as they aren't too extreme and you don't have any control on how they would be granted?" I asked to confirm
Both simply nod at my question.
This makes me think for a while until I finally make up my mind. I mean this is something I've dreamed about for a long time so I did have things planned out in an imaginary manner.
"Can I go into the world of Harry Potter as a wizard?" I asked the couple.
"That is an acceptable world. Reasonable risk, no dimensional travel, no ascension possibility, you have knowledge about it, close to your own and with a lot of leeway to make your bonuses come true." Said the man with the most words I've heard out of him so far.
"Can I be born a few years before Harry Potter?" I'm asking in the hopes of getting closer to my ideal path
"Of course dear. As long as you don't ask to be put into any of the truly important people chosen by the worlds fate you're fine." Answered the woman in a gentle manner.
"That's great! And how many requests can I make to help me in my new life?" I asked excitedly.
"Depends on the requests." The man answered back in his short but to the point manner.
"I was think of being born with some kind of family legacy, like being the heir to a lost or noble family. Possessing an almost eidetic memory. Being a natural occlumen. Possessing an enormous amount a magic. Being able to communicate with animals and magical creatures. And finally adding an incredible will to improve myself and never giving up, and being handsome never hurt anyone." I said to the duo as I finished my ideal list of desires.
"The bloodline will be easy enough when inserting you in the requested time period. The Occlumency and Eidetic memory can be related hence will not pose any issue. The magical energy will be a bit trickier. We will have to work with how the world would make it possible, but making your body extremely adaptable and giving your new body the ability to absorb and manipulate magic with some practice should ready you for however it is done. Your looks certainly won't be an issue and giving the requested willpower and drive is simple enough. The last ability you requested will truly depend on if the world will allow this, we will not be able to help." The man answered all my requests in a direct and final manner, whilst also beating his previous record of words spoken.
"Yes I do believe that everything apart from that will not break the limits of the world. And do you worry your little head about anything, I'll handle your looks and make you perfect." The woman said with a look that almost made me see stars in her eyes.
"Then I will thank you in advance for everything." I said to convey my appreciation. "Ah. Will i keep my memories of my previous life?" I asked remembering cause I really want to remember.
They looked at each other for a moment before they nodded in response.
"That should be everything then." I said as I was thinking if I had missed anything.
"Then you should prepare yourself dear, we are going to send you down in a moment then." She said while looking at me with excited eyes.
"Prepare yourself, because your wishes will almost certainly require you to suffer quite a bit. But only for some time, and you shall attain your rewards." Said the man warning the about the dangers of the situation
"Thank you both, but before I leave I did want to ask who both of you are. It's kinda rude that I didn't do so before, but I do want to thank you properly for everything." I said slightly sheepishly while looking at them.
"We are Death." They answered in perfect unison. "And now it is your time to depart"
I blanked at the response.
"Then thank you for everything Mr. & Mrs. Death!" yelling as everything was fading away.
And that's how my second life began.