A guy sits alone reading his favorite manga in a coffee shop on Christmas Eve while waiting for his coffee. He's wearing sweatpants, a shirt, and a hoodie.
“Here you go sir, your coffee!” said the waitress
The man looks up. “Thank you.” He says as he takes the coffee
The waitress leaves, and the man sips his coffee while looking at other people. “I hate Christmas," he whispered. The man's name is Kagutanda Okabo. He's twenty years old. The only thing he does now is work. He has no family to hang out with because when he was 17, he bought an apartment nearby his work. A year later, his parents died in a car crash caused by a drunk driver. The sight of all the kids in the café playing with their families reminded him of his childhood. “I remember when I did that with my parents.” He whispered. Two years ago he was a teen with loving parents, no worry about bills or life, just happy with life; now he lives alone in his apartment and at his boring office job.
He pays for his coffee and leaves. He thinks he's going to spend Christmas alone again, since his parents' deaths have made it difficult for him to make friends. He remembers that he needs to get some groceries, so he stops by a store to grab some. Thirty minutes later, he comes out with two brown paper bags with his groceries and starts walking home.
When he was walking, he noticed a teenager in front of him. She looked like one of the kids playing with her parents; she was wearing a jacket, headphones, and running shoes. She was engrossed in her phone, not caring for her surroundings. He saw the teen cross the road, with a truck coming. He yelled at the teen, “HEY, RUN!!!” The teen didn’t hear him due to her headphones. He started thinking that the people she knew would be devastated if she died. Her friend and parents were crying. Without thinking, he ran to her and pushed her out-of-the-way, saving her, but causing him to get hit by the truck.
After being hit by the truck, he landed on the sidewalk bloodied, blasted, and crying.
He's on the sidewalk on the verge of death. He heard a lot of people screaming and yelling. He couldn’t hear well, but it mostly sounded like somebody was calling 911. He knew it wouldn’t matter, but for once he smiled, glad that he had saved someone. It didn’t matter that he didn't know her. He's just glad she would be able to see her parents.
“Why is it so hot?” he whispered, blood coming out of my mouth. My body is burning hotter and hotter. He saw a light and a hand come down. Something is telling me to grab it, but what is it? His pain vanished when he took the hand, even though he was unable to move his arm. Everything was black, as if he had left his body.
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A light suddenly appeared around me.
"Oh, it's sad you died at the age of 20.” A calming voice said.
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“W-where am I?” I ask
“Between heaven and hell, little Kagu.” Said the calming voice
“H-how?!?”
"You died saving the girl from the truck.”
“But I don't remember?”
"Your soul just left your body. Please wait a minute for your memories to come back.” He explained calmly.
“My soul left my body!"
“Remember the hand that came down that you grabbed?” He said.
“Yes, but I couldn't grab it because my arm was broken?”
You must have moved your soul to grab it. It is impressive that you commanded your soul to move that way.” He responded
“Wait... Did the girl live?” I asked with worry in my voice
“Yes, she is alive because of you.” He responded.
I let out a sigh of relief… well as much as I could as I did not have lungs to sigh with.
“May I ask some questions?”
“Yes, you may.”
“Are you God?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Why can’t I feel anything?”
“You died from the truck hitting, which is how you lost your body.”
“No, not that. Like emotions, I’m not grieving that I died, I just feel empty.”
“That's normal, it's because you are just a soul. You have no senses or emotions.” He spoke.
I spent a couple of minutes thinking about everything. My death, meeting God, saving the girl, and the choice between heaven and hell.
I asked God, "What's your name?".
“Zakzakiel, god of reincarnation.”
“Now I will ask you a question, Kagu.”
“Okay.” I said with worry.
He spoke: "Kagutanda Okabo, I will ask you this once. Do you want to live again or ascend to heaven?"
"..." I said nothing. My thoughts are tangled in my mind.
“Please… give me a minute.” I managed to say.
“Yes, take all the time you need.” He responded.
After some time, I think there is no clock, so I can’t check. I thought about everything that happened. All I have are more questions.
“Why? Why me?” I asked. Why am I being reincarnated? I didn’t do anything, nothing wrong, but nothing right. The only right thing I did was safe that girl.
“Why? Well, I have some rules I follow.”
He says as he grabs a piece of paper, and starts reading out loud “If the person died and got reincarnated these are the rules. Rule 1: He must die saving a person. Rule 2: You must be a virgin. Rule 3: You must have a depressing backstory. Rule 4: A soul cannot reincarnate a second time." He finished reading the list.
What the hell… WHAT ARE THOSE STUPID RULES?!?! THERE SO STUPID! WHAT THE FUCK! WHY A VIRGIN? THOSE RULES MAKE NO SENSE AT ALL!
“Now make your choice of being reincarnated or living in heaven!”
"I... I want to reincarnate.”
Then everything turned black