Asami

It all happened so fast. Of course, I saw it coming. But I never stood a chance.

One moment, I was dodging my way in between buildings and blocks. Hiding out in alleyways, sneaking across the road whenever I thought I was in the clear. And for several minutes, it worked. I wasn’t encountering any trucks on the road. I didn’t see any of them. I very much knew the goddess was still keeping track of my every move, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. And unfortunately for me, she was soon about to act.

...

The bell above the doors chimed as I rushed into the bakery, dropping to my knees and panting. It was the nearest establishment my phone could find, and I was there to get the beautiful Asami a little something.

One of the employees rushed up to me, her eyes widened in terror, and asked me if everything was alright or if she needed to call the police. She thought maybe a psychotic serial killer was chasing after me—which wasn’t very far from the truth—but I told her everything was fine and all I needed was her recommendation on what type of cake to get for the cute girl waiting for me back at the office.

The girl blinked in confusion, but eventually helped me pick out a case of strawberry swirls—a box of mini cakes she promised Asami would love. I believed her, thanked her, and paid for the box of treats before I began leaving the store.

As I exited the building, I was already thinking of the best possible routes and corners I could use to hide from the goddess while I ran to the office. I was hell-bent on going on that lunch date with Asami, and nothing was going to stop me, come rain or high water. But then, my attention was suddenly divided as I caught sight of three things.

The first: a woman on the other side of the street yelling on her phone with her back facing the road.

The second: a lone baby stroller—most likely belonging to the woman—casually rolling onto the main road with, of course, a baby sleeping inside it.

And the third… Fuck my life.

The third was an out-of-control truck, speeding down the right side of the street, heading directly for the stroller. Instantly, the situation became obvious, and I became furious. Was she really stooping this low?

The so-called goddess was so shallow—was so shameless—she was ready to put the life of an innocent child on the line just so she could kill me. I was obviously not about to let a baby die. In front of me, no less. But it was blatantly clear what would happen even if I managed to save the kid. There was no way I was making it out of there in time myself. I was 100%, without a doubt, going to die. Flattened beneath the tires of the almighty Truck-Kun.

Despite that, I couldn’t stand there and do nothing. It was a baby, for crying out loud. I would be more of a monster than the goddess herself if I ran away instead. I needed to at least try. Maybe—just maybe—everything was going to work out in my favor.

Snapping back to attention, I ran headfirst into the middle of the road, my hand stretched out, ready to push the baby carriage out of the way. Time suddenly slowed. Every sound was drowned out by my anxious heart beating in my ears. Truck-Kun was mere inches away from hitting the both of us and, just as I successfully pushed the stroller out of the way, there was a loud noise as something connected with the right side of my body—and the world instantly went black.

...

I woke up sometime later with a throbbing headache. It was a migraine unlike any I had ever experienced. When my eyes adjusted, I found myself seated in some kind of heavenly office. That was honestly the only way I could describe it. The furniture appeared as if it were made of clouds, and every tool and accessory was either a shade of pink, gold, or white.

Situated in front of me was a desk. And on the other side of the table—sitting across from me and smiling, with her feet casually propped up on the desk while she was laid back in her chair, sipping something fizzy from a glass—was no doubt the devil herself who killed me.

Goddess Akra.

“Pffft!” She suddenly burst out laughing, spilling a little of her drink in the process. “You actually fell for it!” She was laughing so hard, her shoulders began shaking up and down. “I wasn’t going to kill the kid, you idiot!” she said. “I’m a goddess, not a monster. I was going to teleport the baby at the last second. But I guess Mr. Self-Righteous-Noble-Hero couldn’t stand idly by, huh? Hahaaa!”

“You are a sick person,” I said underneath my breath, fuming with rage but deciding to remain seated as the goddess slammed her palm on the table repeatedly while she continued laughing uncontrollably. There was no point in struggling. I was already dead.

“You are a sick, sick person. All I wanted was to go on a lunch date with a really cute girl.” My head was lowered, faced down at the desk in front of me as I spoke. My eyes were starting to pepper with tears, and droplets were starting to fall onto the table. “That’s all. I didn’t want the wish—I told you that. I already had everything I needed. Job, financial stability.” I paused a little, sniffled, then continued. “I was happy. But you still decided to trick me and kill me.”

At some point, the brightly dressed goddess had stopped laughing and was sitting up straight. I looked up, and she had this almost empathetic look in her eye, and I thought, for a moment, she was actually trying to relate with my situation. But then she flashed a sadistic grin.

“Oh, Aaron,” she said sweetly. “I don’t give a damn. Now.” She relaxed back into her seat, pulled out some files from her desk drawer, then tossed them over to me as she took another sip from her glass. “Mm. Go ahead and pick one real quick. Hurry up. I don't have all day.”

Surrendering myself to the madness, I picked up the files to browse my options.

Reincarnated as a trash can in a new world.

I was not surprised.

Reincarnated as a skater dude in a world filled with never-ending moving trains, pursued by a demonic security guard who never runs out of breath.

Nope.

Reincarnated as one of the Demon King’s horses.

That’s a new one, but I still wasn’t choosing it.

Reincarnated as a noblewoman’s panti—

I swept all of the files off the table in a fit of anger. They were all garbage options. Nothing even remotely matched my original wish.

I only wanted Asami. I only wanted Asami. I only wanted Asami.

“Hey!” the goddess suddenly piped up. “My supervisor could come in any minute to hand me my promotion, and I don’t want her to think I’m some kind of slob. So you better get to cleaning… Uh…”

The goddess was suddenly cut off when a shimmer of light materializing from a corner of the office caught her attention. I turned to see what was happening. The glowing light got even brighter, bigger, and expanded into the shape of a person before softening to reveal a beautiful woman with pink hair and gold jewelry.

Seeing this, Akra quickly took her feet off the table and stood up in a humble manner.

“My Lady Aries,” she said, almost in a childlike tone as she bowed her head. “I wasn’t expecting you so soon. Welcome. Please, what can I help you with? Hope there is no trouble.”

I just sat there, mouth open in shock, staring at the both of them. It was clear this woman was her senior. Could I use that to my advantage?

“Lady Akra,” the woman with pink hair said. “It has come to my attention the reincarnation numbers from your office have gone up significantly in the past hour alone. I have come to confirm these numbers.”

“Yes, my lady,” the smaller goddess Akra replied, even dipping her knees a little to curtsy. “I have been working very hard all morning to reach my quota.”

“I can see that,” the pink-haired woman replied, sounding a little surprised. Then she turned to face me. “I’m assuming he is your next client? Hello there, young man. How—”

I did not let the woman finish her sentence.

“Please help me,” I cried out, clasping my hands and dropping to the floor to crawl on my knees toward her. “Please,” I said to the prettier goddess, tugging at her dress and begging. Then I told her everything.

About the wish I made as a kid. About how I was threatened by the devil of a deity standing beside her despite renouncing the wish. About how I was hunted down by an army of trucks. And about how I was later murdered because of a promotion.

The senior goddess, Aries, had a shocked expression on her face by the end of my story. Then she turned to glare at Akra with such intensity, the junior goddess looked like she was going to break at the slightest touch. I wish I knew what came next—how the younger woman was going to be punished—but just as Akra went down to her knees and began begging for mercy, Aries turned toward me with a sweet smile, apologized for all that I had gone through, and wished me luck on my lunch date before she lifted a hand up and snapped her fingers.

...

When I came to, I found myself standing in front of the same bakery with a box of strawberry swirl mini cakes in my hands. It didn’t take me long to figure out what had happened. The kind and generous goddess, Aries, had somehow returned me back to my world. Realizing that, I did not waste another second. I immediately took off running to the company where I worked. People on the streets told me to be careful, and I apologized for almost hitting them, but I kept on running and didn’t stop until I finally reached my destination.

Surprisingly, Asami was standing right outside when I got there. Something about my phone number she got from Kenji not connecting, so she came outside to see if she could get better service. As usual, she was absolutely gorgeous. I quickly handed over the box of treats, and I could have sworn I saw her cheeks turn bright red as she collected them from me. Then she smiled, which, in turn, made me smile. We walked back into the building together, and five hours later, we went on our first lunch date.