That day marked the end of my life... And the start of my new story.

"Hm... I wonder what I should do..."

As I pondered about a piece of paper in my hand, a voice entered from my right ear with a hint of insult.

"Why don't you write whatever you want? Like becoming a Build Fighter or something."

My eyebrows twitched. The group of youths surrounding me laughed, and I almost crumpled the paper in my hands before glaring at the source of voice.

"Ha ha ha...! Do you want to see jigen-haoh-ryu ougi so much, Haru?"

It didn't take me a minute to throw out a straight right to him but the glasses nerd evaded with absolute rigor. Damn, he's getting more like that monstrosity from below the sink...!

"Wouldn't it be better if Tori-kun goes to university?" My softhearted friend Akashi asked.

"Nah, he's got no brain to even achieve average." And his longtime neighbor Fukaki shrugged her shoulders.

Aren't you being way too harsh!? I groaned while my childhood friends continued to shower me with insults. Even though we have been in the same class from elementary school... These guys really had nothing better to do!

"I will not go anywhere until Arika is independent, dumbass." I announced.

"You hopeless siscon - oops!"

"Shut up, Haru! I'm doing what is right!"

The guy with glasses and unkempt black hair exhaled, saying 'yeah, yeah' as if he had no sense of guilt. I clenched my hands tighter but Akashi and Fukaki prevented me from knocking this person out.

After a small banter,  the intersection entered our views with traffic lights glaring red at us. While waiting for the light to turn green, Haru leaned to a light post.

"Well, I will not work so I'll keep myself at home." He said.

"Right, like a shut-in you are," Fukaki smirked. "You're no different from a society trash, prodigy-kun."

"So what? We will not stay together for long anyway, so why not announcing here?"

...Haa. These people are always like this. Even though there were survey papers for our choices of future career, I had zero idea about what I will do once I graduated. When I looked at the paper, at the name box filled with 'Akamaru Toribe', I heaved a tired sigh.

"It's still one year from now so why must we worry about it...?" I asked to no one in particular.

"The school is trying to support us, Tori-kun. Isn't it a good chance for you to find something you can do for yourself?" Akashi questioned me.

Well... that might be so, but I want to do something else. For once, I like sweets and making them. Becoming a patisserie can work but I don't want others to find out my guilty pleasure.

Especially Haru. This bad friend of mine wouldn't want to leave me alone if he discovered this little secret. On top of being a freak-of-nature, he loved making people do his biddings. Such a perverted freak... and I'm his regular victim too.

For the third time, I heaved a deep sigh, and I looked forward.

"Or rather… what can I do other than beating up people above my weight class?" I gazed upward at the orange sky.

"How about becoming a boxer? Or a martial artist?" My friend suggested.

And then someone snorted. "Tori isn't someone who can stop smiling if he becomes one. He's a savage."

"Speak for yourself, Haru."

I snarled at the eccentric pervert. This crazy guy isn't someone I would want as an enemy. But no matter what he said, I… we understood how childish Haru could be, so he's no different than us in terms of being fellow savages.

Then again, it's all because Arika is a mischievous one to lure bloodthirsty villains to me. That Little Devil has never once felt guilty about sending people to the hospital...

Damn. Even though she was once a crybaby who liked to cling onto this Onii-chan's back. He's going to cry now. The moment the green light appeared, I nodded down and took a step forward.

"Well, I'm going this way, everyone." I said to my friends.

"Ah, shopping for dinner eh? You got it tough, big brother." Haru pushed his glasses up.

"See you tomorrow, Toori. Call us if there's a yakuza in front of your house again." Fukaki waved her hand.

"Yeah! See you again, Tori-kun!" Akashi shouted.

With a parting nod, I crossed the street and walked all in my lonesome. The sky was growing darker, the sun was sinking, and a faint star glowed diagonally above the sunset.

"Oh well. Better wrap things up and go home fast. Mom's going to scold me if the groceries don't appear on time."

I hurried to the supermarket and bought the things on the list to buy. Looks like we're going to eat curry rice tonight. Nice, though it's not my favorite. Once I ended the shopping, I took out my smartphone.

Reflected on the dark screen, a black haired youth with sharp eyes glared back. I inherited a hint of feminine feature from my mother but my eyes resembled father's more. Overall, I have a balanced look if not a little mean-looking like the unfriendly guy next door.

"Yet I found myself put in a scheme everytime... I don't want to crossdress again."

I turned on the smartphone and realized there's little time left. So I decided to use shortcuts in a hurry.

"Hm...?" And I saw something on the other side of a street.

There was an elementary school girl crossing the road.

…well, she might be returning from her friend's house. Besides, someone who looked like her mother was waiting for her in the other side. The two have lots of resemblances...

When I resumed my little sprint, a faint screaming sound rang through the air. This sound is... tires of a car? This place is a residential area so it's not allowed for cars to go beyond a certain mph...

"Huh!?" I exasperated once a truck turned left from a corner. "No way! Vehicles aren't allowed to turn left-"

Eh!? The truck driver is sleeping! Oy, what the hell are you doing!? If you want to sleep then don't sleep while driving that big ass of a truck! More like, how did you drive and turning in high speed like that!?

Wait, that's not the point! What about - ah, the kid froze up right in the middle of the street! Why in this kind of timing!?

"D-damn! Anyone—"

When I looked around, people stared at the scene while taking out their cellphones. Bastards! At least do something! What should I do then!?

Call some help? Too late for it.

Notify the kid? Impossible. She's in a daze if not paralyzed with fear.

Save her? How? Why? Won't I die if not crippled?

Just as such question entered my mind, an image of a past memory flashed inside of me.

It didn't take me a fraction of a second to drop the grocery bags and dashed at breakneck pace. The world blurred and my heart throbbed like an orchestra drum.

"Waaaaaaaahhh!!" My feet kicked the ground and I put all of my strength to gain speed.

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Some said humans can exert strength beyond their limits. I of all people admitted it because I always fought with the wrong people for years. I do have a sibling who can attract trouble like a crawling chaos would but anyway.

I knew how to run faster better than my peers could ever do. I did various sports and I learned many examples from them. I knew how to fight because I must protect my little sister from harms. But the reason why I couldn't let the kid to die... was because I understood how it felt when someone close to me got hurt!

"UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

With a leapt, I caught the elementary school girl and held her in my arms. I floated in midair—

And a chill ran down my spine.

I turned my back to face the truck to shield the kid's small body. Even though I made it in time-the sound of tires screaming notified me... The truck changed direction in the last moment!?

*CRASH!* with tremendous impact, my body flew away. Before I processed everything, twilight sky crossed my sight and my body impacted the ground. Sounds soon died and pitch black darkness embraced me.

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...Eh? What's this...? Nothing other than darkness here...

"This is odd... Why am I here...?"

Didn't I… get myself killed…? So why am I not panicking…?

"Welcome to my waiting lounge, handsome."

Light burst out in front of me, blinding me for a moment. After the light faded away, though...

A silver-haired woman with radiant aqua blue eyes smiled at me. She's draped with cloth which seemed to be silk. It wrapped her hourglass figure tight, and she paced forward. Each time she strode while swaying her hips to the sides accelerated my heartrate, and I averted my eyes.

"Oh my, aren't you an energetic one, Akamaru Toribe?" She said.

"H-huh?! Japanese… No, wait. My name...? Did... Did we meet somewhere before...?" I questioned half in doubts, half in panic.

The woman chuckled. Her voice sounded like harp and it almost melted my reasoning. Unfortunately, the excitement vanished for unknown reason.

"Hm. Looks like your soul is adapting well. Though I can't say it's 'adapting,' but your will is strong enough to stay conscious on this realm."

"...uh... right...?"

"That is how it is," she beamed another dazzling smile with dreamy gaze.

Fuck, she's damn beautiful. I doubt Haru would leave her alone and even Fukaki would drool at her heavenly figure. I might be falling in love with her too. Aaaaaaahh! Isn't it far better to encounter her alive!?

"In any case, welcome to the dead spirits lounge. I am the goddess in service of this place, Freyja."

Freyja...? I tilted my head but nothing happened. My sense of balance didn't seem to work here and I didn't understand why. Hmm… Where did I hear her name again…?

"Your childhood friend often talked about various things, including Norse Mythology."

Ah. If my body was still fine, I would have pumped a fist on my palm. But soon enough I realized what… or rather, who I'm talking with!

"A-are you... are you...! Are you that Freyja-sama!?"

"Of course I am. I can even use magic."

Uwah, so blinding! The light she emitted from her body was too bright for my eyes! What the heck!? Is this the famous Negi Fever!? Don't tell me the Thousand Blades got an insight of this skill from her!?

"Well, calm down for now. I'm going to be quick with this since you're actually not in my area jurisdiction."

"Eh? Why?"

"You are supposed to enter the Land of the Dead ruled by Izanami but she is still sulking since her husband left her."

...sounds troublesome. Though I still doubted her, but there was tremendous annoyance in her voice. Freyja-sama shrugged and she exhaled.

"It has been a bother for quite a while. Many dead souls not from my region entered the queue and I must work over my paytime. Even though Ragnarok will start a few years from now..."

H-haa...? Let's pretend I didn't listen to the last part. The world of gods seemed to be no different than Earth... I can't believe a goddess is complaining like an office worker too but she's still pretty. Yep, beautiful women older than me are in my strike zone.

"But since you helped a Candidate, I would like to thank you and grant you a chance, valiant hero." Freyja-sama said.

"For... For real!? What kind of chance... no. Don't tell me...!" I exasperated.

The silver haired woman in front of me nodded hard. Her long hair fluttered, her hips swayed and her rosebuds lips curved upward as she stood right in front of me.

"Indeed... You have gained another chance to live in a different world, Akamaru Toribe!"

The woman placed her hands on my cheeks and my consciousness darkened right after.

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Darkness. It felt as if my body was in deep water but it was warm. I had been in this state but the warmth reassured me so much I slept for many times. Not long after my latest awakening, I felt as if I was sliding down a slippery slope in a water boom. Light forced me to squint and it was too bright...

I heard some voices. I heard many different voices I knew nothing of. What are they talking about, anyway...? I tried to open my eyes but a blurry scene so blurry I couldn't make out anything greeted me.

Then there were two shadows. One was right above me, the other was a bit in the corner of my vision. What are they...?

"XX XXXXXX XXXXXX!"

"XXXX XXX..."

...uh... What? What's going on? I don't get it...! As much as I wanted to understand what happened, My body then lifted up and I remembered. I was once a person in Earth, and I died at the age of 17 years old...

If so, this place is... what happened to me next… Ah.

I... reincarnated...!

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Reincarnation. A new life. From what I remembered, reincarnation meant one was to live another life in a different form. Depending on the amount of deeds and karma, the next life might be enjoyable if not horrible.  I'm quite lucky to reincarnate...

As a human. That's no different from me gaining average scores in the final exam, oy!

Well, it's not like me to complain and it's better than living a life like an animal. At least raised by a human young lady with flaxen hair resembling Freyja-sama's is far better.

It had been three months ever since I was reborn here, counting with Earth calendar system. My current place was inside a Manor, in a room with large windows opened completely. Warm breeze entered the room and toyed with the white curtains.

I've been learning the environment and the foreign world around me. Like those main characters in Haru's books. Although I still wondered what the woman who seemed to be my mother said. Not to mention...

I yawned as my eyelids grew heavier. Ugh... this heavy drowsiness... Although I was still in infancy period, I couldn't stop myself from sleeping when this sensation struck me. It's odd that I wanted to sleep for more than three times a day and...

Weak. Is an infant this hopeless? My arms and legs didn't obey my commands at all. Well, there's no helping it if I were to shit myself or peed myself as a baby but... I'm helpless now.

I'm not sure. Sleepiness often attacked me and next time I woke up, the flaxen-haired lady was beside me as if protecting me. I don't get it. Even her cheeks were wet sometimes when she fell asleep next to me. What happened...?

...In any case. As a reincarnated person, I have one goal, and that is...

To live freely! Yes, I want to live by my own and without troubles! Arika might be sad after my death but my friends are all reliable bunches. A prodigy who likes eroge culture, a martial artist and a handsome host...

Wait. Those aren't ordinary people at all. Won't that make the matter worse? Ugh... Let's put some faith in them even if they looked unreliable on the first glance.

Well... the reason I wanted to live without troubles were because troubles chased me everywhere in my previous life. After all, Arika was the one who pulled the strings every time.

She's a hazardous danger equal to A-class disaster. She brought forth misfortune depending on her mood, talked with the wrong kind of people and she set me up. And what I mean is... She set me up to deal with every single problem she caused.

Because of that... I fought, destroyed things, increased my debts and I got sent into the hospital like a nutjob. My average record was twelve times a month with medium injuries, by the way.

"Charlotte~ It's bath time~!" Said by a young lady who entered the room I was in.

Err... I know that this won't be something I can look forward to. I mean... it's not like I wouldn't mind bathing together with this lady who's my mother but... I don't believe it was me she called out.

Why 'Charlotte'? Isn't that a girl's name…? Even if my nationality changed, I think going for a more masculine name like 'Charles' or 'Char' was better. Heck, I'd even vote if I got the Red Comet's name! He's a cool man no matter how villainous he was!

Although…

It's true that I was learning the language but I could only understand basic things. There were some terms I couldn't recognize so they must be something original in this world. What's more, the lady who brought a basin with steams rising from it...

Hm. Waist-length flaxen hair, skyblue eyes, slim waistline and a beautiful smile like a scenery of thousand sunflowers blooming. Though falling a little short behind Freyja-sama, she's the second most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Usually, I would've had my heart beating fast but for some reasons...

I felt nothing. Hm... It's true that I never got excited despite seeing Arika and mom bathing together. I got hit by a glass case for soap at that time so I wasn't sure if I deluded myself. But anyway...

Guess family members aren't in my strike zone. It could be due to our bonds bound by blood and I'm most grateful for I don't want to get near with some incest relationship. After being undressed by mother, she dipped me into the wooden basin filled with warm water up to half of my body.

Uhyaa... this feels like a hot spring. I feel reinvigorated~

Mother curved her lips upward as her downcast gaze became so gentle it shimmered. Hoh... she's beautiful. So this is the charm of a mother. Although I wasn't excited for the least bit, but my father must be a lucky a man to marry someone like her.

Oh, right. This must be my first time bathed by my mother. After all, I smelled a different scent of flower every time I woke up. The sensation of the clothes I was wearing differed too which meant I was bathed when I slept.

Umm... It's embarrassing if you gazed at me like that, mother. MILF isn't good so even if you're staring at my gun, I can't accept your invitation. I'm a gentleman who knows his place.

Setting aside the stupid monologue, mother dipped a piece of cloth into the warm water and cleaned my body with it. Ah, even the fabric seemed so soft... is this made of silk? I wondered but her touches tickled me at some parts like my neck.

...looks like my weak spot is still there. I hope none will notice it this time... I had enough of Arika and Fukaki teasing me without end at that location.

But, as mother moved her hand below my belly, I started to panic. This is bad! This is bad! You can't go there, lady! It's not a region women should touch!

No no no no...! This-is-bad—

...Eh? My eyes widened and my jaw dropped down. What... what did I just feel...? No, no... It can't be... it can't be...!

I exasperated the moment mother touched me there. Why? Even though it was something she shouldn't do. After all... it's a divine territory once disturbed, will rise up and standing tall against the heaven!

Yet...! I... I felt NOTHING! I felt NOTHING AT ALL!

Why?! What's the meaning of this all!? Even if she's my mother, as if I couldn't feel it! Did i become impotent!? No, there's no way that is true when touched by an older woman like her! Then... then...!

My most honorable weapon... the magnum caliber gun I prided upon... is...! It is...!

"Gufu!"

Spitting out blood, I fainted as realization dawned upon me.

I—Akamaru Toribe... In my second life... I was reborn as a girl.

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In a certain place at a certain time in a certain realm familiar to a certain being...

"Ufufufufuh~! I wonder if Vainticel likes my gift… but he's indeed interesting. It is unfortunate as the Hag likes to tease someone like him. Hope he can live off his life without having his chastity depraved due to having the Goddess of Temptation as his patron god!"