"Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It is the transition that's troublesome."

—Isaac Asimov, author and professor of biochemistry.

This story begins with my previous life. The life of Tanakawa Ichirō.

I was born into a middle-class family. I had one younger sister and no brothers. My father was a philosophical man and usually used to tell me quotes from time to time then he used to ask me what they meant, of course, I couldn't answer them as my father wanted me to as I was only three years old at the time but I did have some understanding of it so I just used to say whatever came to my head. My father would usually explain it in his own words regardless of whether I was right or wrong.

My mother was a kind and heartwarming person. She used to read a lot of novels and then after she read them she used to read them to me and when my sister was born she read them to both of us.

Even from the time I went to elementary to the time I went to university, I didn't have any struggles academically. My intelligence was far superior to my friends' however I didn't let it go to my head and treated them like normal human beings. I had always treated everyone the same regardless of their status or their past.

I found my fiancé in college and we dated for three years before I proposed. By the time I was in college, I already had started a business and when I proposed to my fiancé, my business was becoming successful and soon I had to delay the wedding because of it.

One day I was coming home from the office. It was raining heavily, fortunately, I had my raincoat so I had no choice but to put it on. My office and my house isn't too far apart so it was possible to walk to my house.

My whole family and all of my friends were waiting for me as it was my birthday. My fiancé had told me that she had planned a surprise party and although I wasn't at the age for one, I couldn't tell her that I didn't want one when she went through all of this just for me.

I couldn't run because I would easily slip and who knows what would happen next so I briskly walked. I could feel a pull in my hamstrings but I still kept going. I kept going faster and faster and soon I couldn't see what was in front of me so I slowed down. I saw yellow light flashing towards me. I looked to see it was a truck so I ran off the road however just then something fell from the roof of a building and landed exactly where I had stood on the road. The truck turned to the side but because the road was slippery, the truck was slowly drifting through the road and then, before I could react, it hit me.

The impact sent me into the wall behind me and I then lost consciousness.

All I could see after that was complete darkness. I couldn't move my body no matter how much I tried. I heard voices shouting but I couldn't understand what they said. I soon felt cold fingers on my neck and then after a couple of minutes, I heard sirens. Usually, the sirens would be loud but this time it was quiet. I felt extremely cold but I couldn't do anything.

My vision started to clear up and I could now see my family. They all had worried and scared expressions on their faces. I tried to talk to them but nothing came out of my mouth. We were going through a large white hallway. I identified it as a hospital meaning there could be some hope that I could survive.

My vision went blurry and soon it went completely dark. I felt sharp piercing pains in my body. It felt like something was being burned onto me. I couldn't describe the pain I felt because my mind went blank every time I felt it.

Everything then went silent. I couldn't hear anything. I soon found that I could move my body so I got up. I sat on what felt like hard ground however when I touched it felt like water. I stood up and explored my surroundings. I couldn't find anything because either it was dark or I couldn't see.

I explored for what felt like hours until I found some light. There was light at the end of the darkness however it was extremely small. From where I stood it seemed like a single dot but I could still somehow see it.

I walked towards the light and soon the light grew larger and larger. Soon everything my eyes could see was the light. I walked further and further into the light before I was absorbed in it.