As a child, I always thought. Of another world, parallel to mine. I was once a teenage boy from Indonesia, who is obsessed with such things as well as the detective themes in fiction. However, who could've known, that I would live that life…
BANG
…In a parallel world. I was shot during an armed bank robbery during my trip home from the library after borrowing some detective novels. I saw the masked man holding a girl of my age, wearing the uniform of the school where I studied at. I jumped on the man from the side, trying to wrestle away his gun, a .32 break-action revolver to be exact. However, he found an opening, using his itchy trigger finger to land a fatal shot to my gut. I fell down to the pavement as the pain spreads throughout my body, and the last thing I saw is the girl screaming for help as sirens wailed and the man had run away from the scene. At least I saved someone, in my last moments in my world.
***
After everything faded to black, I spent a moment covered in darkness. It was then after what felt like minutes, that a bright light fills the dark void, so bright that I used my hand to cover my eyes. When the bright light dimmed enough, I moved my hand away as I saw her.
A black-haired woman with fair skin, wearing a kimono which I recognized is from Japan, sitting down on her throne and watching over me, as I walked towards her, and bowed before her in proper Japanese way.
"Greetings, Fallen One. I am the Goddess Kanzeon, and I apologize deeply as you fell to such fate, as what befell you is the most unexpected, done out of kindness." The woman greeted.
"My death… Was unexpected?"
She nodded, as she then covered the lower half of her face with a white fan, before closing it, revealing it again.
"And as such, it is my duty to show compassion towards a kind soul whom has suffered such fate. Thou shall be reincarnated, albeit in a world that you never knew."
I looked up at her, with a willing look on my face before I bowed again before her.
"T…Thank you, Goddess Kanzeon. I will surely accept this offer of being reincarnated."
She gave me a small smile, before everything fell back into darkness.
***
I heard the screams of agony, as I was pulled out of a watery, fleshy area. I saw a bright light that caused me to close my eyes, and the only thing that I can take out of my mouth, are cries. The light dimmed a bit, as I see a silhouette standing in front of me, and looking down towards me.
"It's a boy! A boy! We've gotten a son, Ina! A handsome, little, baby boy!"
"Oh, Hiro… We did it! A son… Our handsome son…"
Afterwards, I felt my father, Hiro, carrying me as I moved my arms slowly. He gave me a warm hug that lasted for a few seconds, before pulling away to speak to my mother, Ina.
"What shall we name her, dear?"
"Takumi."
And from then on, I would live in this world as Takumi Keiji.
***
The New world that I find myself growing up in is reminiscent of my world during the early to middle 20th century, with creatures that was thought to be fantasy in my world, in other words there are not only humans in here. There are elves, dwarves, hobbits, and even more. I was born and raised in a city named San Francisca, located in a continent known to many as "The New World", named Ameria… Which is basically this world's version of America, and the city I lived in, based on the view of the harbor, with a long, grand suspension bridge coated in gold crossing the wide gap of seawater below it to another county in the other side… Yeah, this is totally San Francisco. And the nation's name? You guessed it. The United Republics of Ameria.
I spent my childhood rather normally, although befriending others became a difficulty, as my lineage from the Kyokuto Empire, a nation in the far east of the world that is pretty much similar to the Japan in the previous world that I lived in. My family is neither poor nor rich so life at home is not too difficult despite the lack of the modern information-age technology in my previous life. My Father Hiro worked as a policeman, while my Mother Ina is your everyday housewife. I made it pass high school just fine, and managed to graduate with a good rank.
…But right afterwards is when my life changed. The Empire has declared war on us, and I was conscripted into the army to be sent there. I fought on the nation where my family lineage originally came from, and I saw many deaths. So much blood, gunfire and screams tainted my mind, as I followed orders given by my superior officers, as we fight to push the Empire's army to concede.
During one of our attacks on a small island right across the coast of the mainland, we witnessed one of the Imperial Army's forced labor camps where people of the lower caste whether if they're human or not, worked to the bone. As the rest of my squad battled the soldiers in the open, I breached one of the worker homes, where I met a girl. An Oni Girl who seems to be of my age, with short blue hair that barely reached her shoulders, looking at me with an expressionless face. I approached her, only to be jumped by an imperial soldier wielding a katana, that he must've got from his fallen officer, and I was pinned down. He managed to plunge the blade into my abdomen inviting a painful squeal from me. Luckily before the cut is deep, I managed to kick him off, and pulled the trigger of my carbine. The bullet hits the soldier in the head, killing him. Afterwards, I looked at the girl as she went closer to me in a panic. I see her ripping off the sleeves of her tattered shirt, and covered my wounds until the other soldiers arrived after a night.
The wounds are already enough to send me out of commission, and they sent me out early, but not without a commendation for being the sole survivor of the assault for the entire night. As it turns out, my squad was wiped out during the attack and only I survived. The Imperial soldiers, instead of finding me, or raze the camp to the ground just fled. I felt guilt, as my superiors put the medal around my neck and it didn't go away even after hearing the applause from many other soldiers, as well as my "friends" and family back home.
Months after I got home, the war is over, our troops reached the central, main island of the Empire and breached the capital city named after the nation itself. It is then, when the emperor finally surrendered before the Republican army can move into the city in full force. Although a sense of relief washed over me knowing that the conflict is over, I begin to wonder what happened to the Oni that I saved? Deep inside, I know that I will someday meet her again.