Bec was put to sleep by his mother and strangely fell asleep faster then he normally would.
'Guess I must…Be more…Tired then…'
He opened his eyes to be in his old self in an unfamiliar chamber. He looked around and stood up in a panic.
"Hey! Where am I? Huh?"
His voice was also back to being his old self and he didn't know how to react. He heard steps come from behind him and turned around quickly to be greeted by a beautiful woman with red hair and yellow eyes.
"I am the goddess Yion and I have summoned you here as to finish our prior agreement."
"Huh?"
"You and I have met before but the meeting held before has been erased from your memories. Think of it as a safety measure."
"What are you talking about?! Where's my family?!"
"Don't worry, you're only seeing this as a dream, you haven't gone anywhere physically."
Hayate let out a sigh of relief and regained his composure.
"So what's this prior agreement?"
"The agreement to be a test subject of sorts, this is simply a check up."
"Huh?"
"It would be easier if I gave you your memories back then to explain it all so here you go!"
She snapped her fingers and he fell down while all the memories from his previous engagement with this person came back.
***************************************************
Hayate opened his eyes to be greeted by a woman sitting in a chair. She had long red hair and yellow eyes. She smiled softly as she stated something that terrified him.
"Hayate Kawasaki, you have unfortunately passed away. You are in the space between life and death, where the souls of the recently deceased lie. I am the goddess Yion and I will help you pass on."
"…..Huh?"
"You were pushed in front of a train killing you the second after the train hit you. The aftermath was not that pretty, your body was left mutilated, torn up between the track and train."
She showed imagery of the aftermath of his death, there was so much blood that he was about to throw up but couldn't.
"Your friend beat up the person who murdered you quite nicely, even broke the guy's arms. He was a good friend, being able to respond like that to a friend's death."
"Did I really die?"
"As I've said before, yes you have."
"Isn't this all a dream?"
"Unfortunately it is not."
"So you mean I can't see them? I can't talk to them? I can't ever be with my friends again?"
"That is the case."
Hayate began to let out tears and cried for a solid minute before the goddess began to talk again.
"You loved a good life, always being cheerful, loved by those who were close to you, never a complaint to be said…The only thing you never accomplished was a love confession, I'd say you loved your life quite fully, albeit it was short but you were able to accomplish much within that time frame."
"….I don't want that to be it…"
"Hm?"
"I want to go back…"
The goddess hesitated before saying anything and had a face of empathy.
"I'm break character for now as it seems you may need to have a normal conversation for a bit."
"Huh?"
"You and I are quite similar, we both were unable to accomplish what we wanted…Both of us were unable to confess."
Hayate was still letting out tears but with Yion no longer wearing the role of a goddess it comforted him just a bit. She sat down next to him and they began to have a strange but relaxed conversation.
"So you tried to confess? …What happened?"
"…I died and became a goddess, I was never able to confess to him and now I don't know where his soul rests. He could be living a new life with no memories of me but as long as he is happy I have no regrets…Your crush also wants the same thing."
"What do you mean?"
"She liked you too. She also said that she hopes your happy in your next life, even if you don't remember her."
"Haha…That definitely sounds like something she'd say…"
"Although I must say, after searching through all your memories you are quite like the one I fell for, but you are also quite different…You two had very similar personalities…"
"…I don't really know how to respond to that…"
"I know."
They sat without saying a word while they both remembered the ones they loved and continued their conversation shortly after.
"So I guess this is it for me…I won't have any memories after this…This is my last memory…"
"…Well…I've been pushing for an experiment alongside another god and I've been allowed to let someone be reborn with their memories…Would you like to be that test subject?"
"…What would you be testing me for?"
"We more or less just want to see how it affects people, normally people are reborn with no memories at all so you'd be the first person to be "Isekaid" as your world calls it."
"Is there any reason why I should accept?"
"No, it's your choice. I can only say that you'd get the chance to live out your life fully…It would be a new world, new family, new friends, practically new everything. But, with you having your memories intact you'd be able to continue to remember those you held dear in your past life. And who knows, maybe you'll find a way to see them again…I can't guarantee that unfortunately but the choice is yours to take."
"…."
"…I guess that's a no thank you then…It was worth a shot I thought you'd be per-"
"-I'll do it."
"Hm?"
"I said I'll do it…You said I may be able to see them again, that's all the reason I need…I understand I'd be someone completely unrecognizable but even if I get to say goodbye to them that lets me be at ease…That's all the reason I need."
Yion smiled and stood up to face Hayate who soon after stood up as well.
"In that case you have been chosen as our first and most likely only Isekai test subject! There's no guarantee that you'll be able to live comfortably so I hope you don't get mad if you live in the slums."
"Send me away."
"In that case the always cheerful Hayate Kawasaki will know be known as the always cheerful…Somebody, I don't know what your new name will be so just add that on once you get there, okay?"
"Yeah. Oh and will I have to learn the language on my own?"
"Part of the agreement for our reincarnation experiment was that we disable your ability to talk for at least a small while, after that you'll learn the language naturally. We can't implant something into someone's head unless they're summoned as a hero."
"Hero?"
"The whole idea for our reincarnation project stemmed from the Hero summoning that is gods perform, I alongside my friend thought that why can't a normal person be allowed to go to other worlds with their memories? The only difference being that yo have to restart from birth compared to going in your already made body."
"So if this experiment turns out well will others be sent away with their memories in tact?"
"You're pretty much being used to work out the kinks, it'll probably become more common with time, albeit it may not be likely."
Hayate smiled and wiped away his final tears as he held his arms away from his body.
"Let me go meet my new family."
"I'm sure they'll be wonderful. Also as a safety device you won't remember this conversation until we decide to call you here again."
"Well be sure to make me remember you, I definitely don't want this to be our goodbye."
"Same here. I'll see you sometime in the future…"
She held her hand out and the area around Hayate lit up. As he began to fade away Yion was waving gently to him and shortly after he disappeared he awoke as Bec Betas.
***************************************************
"Do you remember me now?"
"Yeah…So I went from the always cheerful Hayate Kawasaki to the always cheerful Bec Betas. I filled the name in."
"It's great that you remembered that too since that means I don't have to put up the strict stereotypical goddess act. Man that feels nice!"
She was stretching and smiled after she was finished.
"So I've been watching you every now and then and I must say you've lived interestingly so far…I'm sorry for letting you be reborn as a peasant!"
"Don't worry, I'm getting by just fine. Not all days are the best but a majority of them are fun and I'm sure more fun days are waiting to come."
She latched onto Bec and was crying.
"I was scared that you'd get mad at me! I'm so glad you aren't!"
"Is it cause I'm your first test subject?"
"N-Not exactly…You're the first mortal to leave this room with memories of me and I'd hate it if the first person to remember me didn't like me."
"I-I guess I can see where you're coming from…"
He scratched the back of his head and looked around no longer in a panic as he now knew where he was.
"Although to be honest I don't remember you acting this way before…"
"Eh? ….Ah! I just realized how I was acting! That's so embarrassing!"
"So you didn't realize it yourself…"
"Well there isn't a depressing atmosphere this time around so of course I'd be my normal cheery self!"
"So this is how you normally act?"
"…Maybe…"
"So is there a reason I was brought back here or…"
"Oh yes! I almost forgot! I need to ask you a few questions…Where did I put it?"
She put glasses on and a pen and paper.
"Question one, are you enjoying your new life?"
"I can absolutely say without a doubt that I'm enjoying it. Would be nice if I had friends though, but then again I'm the only year and a half old who can talk in perfect sentences so it's hard finding friends my age…"
"Noted. Question two, would you have wanted to start from a different age? If you had to choose what age would you like?"
"I mean I feel like it's been working out fine even if I started out as a baby…It does feel weird to suddenly be this tall though…"
"That's great to know! Question three, are you enjoying this world?"
"Yes I am, magic plays a big part in my liking to it. It's also a very beautiful land."
"That world was once my home world so I get what you mean, although I mostly grew up in the city…"
"You used to live in this world?"
"Yes I did! It was quite fun living there until I was no longer alive…"
"…"
"Anyway! Question four, did you have any trouble adjusting to your new family?"
"It was a little shocking at first especially since I had no idea why I was a baby. After awhile I got quite used to it."
"So you didn't face any big problems while transitioning families?"
"Not really no, I mean I sometimes think about what my original family is doing right now."
"Unfortunately it would be breaking the rules if I showed you anything from your original world."
"That's understandable. But are you able to answer a question?"
"Depends on the question."
"I thought about this after my mother told me about her being pregnant….Does my sister have a boyfriend?"
"Hmmm…I guess I could answer that just I can't give too many details. Yes she does, and yes she's been making him lunch."
"So she did find someone new to make lunch for…Good for her. Wish I could meet him to see if he's a nice guy or not…But I obviously can't do that either…Still! That's nice to know that she's still moving along with her life."
"I guess there's really nothing else I have to ask since the other questions I could tell from physical observation. So I guess that's all for today. Before you leave would you like some tea?"
"Would I still remember the taste when I wake up?"
"Yes why?"
"Well I can't really drink luxuries like that so I don't know…I'd probably be dying for more after a single sip, I've pretty much only had water throughout my life so far…With some milk mixed in…"
"You could always come by for a tea party if that's what you want. That way you don't have to ever die from wanting to have something other then water."
She had this high and mighty look as if she was saving a poor soul but Bec ignored that and decided that he would have some tea. The second the liquid hit his tongue he cried tears of joy as it was his first time drinking something other then water or the broth from his cheaply made soup. He drank a total of 5 cups before deciding to go back so he wouldn't overdose on tea and never be able to go back to water again.
"See you!"
Yion was waving him goodbye before remembering something and yelling it to him.
"I don't know when I'll be able to get you back here but I'm sure it'll be sometime soon!"
"Yeah! I'll be sure to come!"
Bec opened his eyes to be greeted by the morning and smiled softly before standing up and sitting outside. He now had some lost memories back and even though they weren't much, he still viewed the world differently from when he did before.
"Thanks Yion, I guess you're my first friend since coming to this world."