Chapter 1: Unexpected Accident and the Unstable Goddess

"Uhhh... my head..."

Fumoto slowly opened her eyes, she found herself in a white space.

"This is... it seems like this isn't my home."

While she was still wondering what was happening, a voice rang out behind her.

"Futomo Kigusaki, 16 years old, currently working at the pet shop that his mother left behind. Died from hitting his head hard on the ground."

The person who spoke those words was a tall woman with a well-proportioned body, the natural light still radiating from her body, making the surrounding space warm and bright. She wore a black suit with a few white stripes on it, the outfit was exquisitely tailored, fitting well, showing elegance and authority. The shirt inside was a light shiny silk, the golden color shimmering with jade, symbolizing the sunlight. Her hair was quite long, straight or slightly wavy, it was jet black, and a small silver sun-shaped hairpin was pinned to it. Her eyes were quite bright, amber mixed with gold, shining with gentleness but not hiding majesty. On those eyes were glasses that were not sunglasses.

"Who are you?"

Fumoto asked in a questioning tone, the person simply threw a card aside and stood up.

"I am Amaterasu, you must know my name."

"Amaterasu, yes, I know your name."

"But..."

"Why do you look so strange."

Amaterasu replied naturally.

"I just change with the times, it's 2021."

Fumoto looked around the infinite white space.

"Oh, what do you mean by saying that I'm dead?"

"Don't you remember?"

 Fumoto shook her head and Amaterasu just sighed and disappeared.

In a flash, she was standing in front of Fumoto and placed her hand on her head.

"Then let me remind you."

Before Fumoto could understand, a flood of memories invaded her brain.

Her name was Fumoto Kisugaki, she was born in 2008, a slender young girl with long chestnut hair always tied up neatly, deep brown eyes reflecting a strong love for the animal world. Since childhood, she grew up surrounded by shelves of stuffed animals, bird cages and colorful fish tanks left by her mother, an avid nature lover. The small pet shop was nestled on a quiet street, its warm yellow walls and large glass doors always filled with sunlight.

That morning, the dawn had just filtered through the foliage outside, shining on the neatly arranged snake cages. The air in the shop was cool, with a faint scent of banana peels, a favorite food of the small snakes she often took care of. Fumoto was bending down, gently opening the glass lid, her hands wearing thin rubber gloves to receive the shiny emerald green snake that was coiled around the curved wooden branch. She smiled as she remembered what her mother had taught her. "Be calm and respect its every little movement." 

Suddenly, from the shop door came the slow ringing of a bell like an invisible countdown. A dry leaf fell from outside and brushed past the window, a gentle breeze causing the door to slam shut. Fumoto was startled, her whole body lost balance. The snake in her hand shrank, forcing her to pull her hand back, slipping on the dirt left from the cleaning the day before. 

In a moment of uncertainty, she tried to cling to the edge of the wooden table, but her delicate nails were not enough to grip the slippery surface. Her whole body tilted, her heart pounding wildly for a moment of silence before her head slammed hard against the cold cement floor. A loud bang rang out, breaking the silence of the pet shop. Many small animals around her jumped, the sound of their cages breaking echoed throughout the space.

Fumoto lay motionless. Under the rising sunlight, her hair scattered on the ground, her delicate face now had a strange serenity. She could no longer hear the beating of her heart, only the sound of the doorbell and the wind blowing outside remained, it was like an invisible farewell. 

Customers and neighbors rushed in one after another when they saw the shop door open, their bewildered eyes following the little owner lying quietly. Her brother, who was rushing back from the market at the end of the alley, burst into tears when he saw his sister. That scene, no matter who witnessed it, could not forget a beautiful morning, laughter that had not yet sounded had turned into an immense sense of loss. 

The light suddenly went out and she returned to the present. 

Fumoto trembled as she looked down at her hands. 

 "I'm... dead..."

"My life is over..."

The goddess looked at Fumoto, who was trembling, her eyes showing a look of shock. The goddess sat down, with her height, even though she was sitting down, Amaterasu was still a head taller than Fumoto. She spoke to Fumoto in a comforting tone but mixed with a bit of seriousness inside.

"Don't be so pessimistic."

"You still have a chance to live."

Fumo stopped trembling a bit, her eyes still carrying a bit of sadness inside

"Wait a minute, what do you mean?"

"Do you know your mother?"

Fumoto's mother's name was Koyomi Kisugaki, she was a gentle but strong woman, with eyes that always shone with resilience even though life rarely smiled upon her. When she was young, Koyomi fell deeply in love with a man, believing that they would build a happy family together. But that happiness did not last long. When Fumoto was not yet two years old, her father abandoned them to pursue another woman. Without complaining or crying, Koyomi just silently held her two young children in her arms and continued to live. 

With the little money she had from her days working in town, she opened a small pet shop in the corner of the village. The shop was not big, nor did it have many customers, but every penny she earned was used to raise her brother Fumoto and herself. On cold winter nights, she diligently knitted wool to sell, and even on hot summer days, she still tried to go to work to earn money to raise her two children. 

However, life never spared those who had suffered too much bitterness. When Fumoto was 12 and her brother was 15, Koyomi discovered she had lung cancer. The news was like a cold knife, but she refused to let herself fall. She was afraid that if she was weak, her two children would lose their only support. So she decided to hide her illness, still smiling, still working as if nothing had happened, trying her best to do everything one more time for her children. 

Her last day came on a gloomy morning. Koyomi was cleaning the bird cage when she suddenly coughed violently. She covered her mouth with her hand, but dark red blood had already flowed out, staining her thin palm. There was enough blood to fill a plastic cup. The villagers, horrified by her collapse, immediately rushed her to the nearest hospital. But all efforts were too late. The disease had been eating away at her body in silence for too long.

Koyomi Kisugaki, a single mother who only thought of her children all her life, passed away not long after, leaving behind a small pet shop and two children who were bewildered in the midst of a storm of grief. Her passing was a wound that would never heal in Fumoto's heart, the pet shop her mother left behind was the only thing she could remember her beloved mother.

Fumoto immediately grabbed Amaterasu's fox collar and shouted at the goddess.

"You know my mother!"

Amaterasu grabbed her two arms and pulled them out of her shirt. "Of course I know."

"After she died, she went to heaven and met me while I was playing around in the clouds."

"I knew she was a good person so I granted her a wish."

"...so...what was that wish?"

 "She asked about your future, life is so unfair when your brother's life is the light of a red thread, and your life is as dark as the author's life."

"So the reason I died is because..."

"Because you're unlucky."

She collapsed.

"When I was 10 years old, I went from being a good student to an average student."

"Then suddenly when I was in 9th grade, I failed 10th grade, and then I was transferred to a school full of older siblings, and there were gangsters too!"

Fumoto cried there, Amaterasu also sat down there to comfort her.

"Huh, but is that all?"

"No, after seeing how bad your life was, she decided to exchange her most precious thing and in return, I would grant her a second wish."

"What do you mean?" 

"What was that second wish?"

"It was simple."

"She wanted you not to die."

"But that was impossible."

"The gears of fate will continue to turn, no living thing can destroy fate, and nothing can bend fate."

"So... how did she feel?"

Amaterasu looked up at the sky.

"She was very sad, I understand that."

"No mother could feel normal when she heard that her child would live a tragic life."

"That's why she traded her soul and begged me to give you another life."

Fumoto felt... heartbroken when she heard that.

Her mother had sacrificed her entire life just to raise the two of them. She didn't want her mother to have to make any more sacrifices.

She wanted to say something to Amaterasu, but the Sun God brought his finger close to her lips.

"Fumoto Kisugaki, I understand how you feel, I know what you want to tell me."

"But I'm sorry, I can't go against what was decided before."

Fumoto shed a tear, followed by more, and she cried.

Amaterasu raised her hand to wipe away her tears.

"Listen, your mother wants you to live a peaceful life in another world, she doesn't need you to do anything, as long as you live a happy life, your mother is happy enough."

A non-existent portal was created behind Fumoto.

"Think about it, Fumoto."

Fumoto looked towards the portal and looked back at the goddess.

"Go."

She didn't say anything more and just silently walked through the space portal.

"Fumoto Kisugaki, I will give you two skills to help you survive in the world you will go to, plus you won't be reincarnated into a human body, you can only be reincarnated into the body of another creature."

"Good luck."

The portal closed and left Amaterasu standing there alone.

 "Hmm... this is really the second time I've broken the rules of heaven and earth."

"But since when were you allowed to enter my space?"

Amaterasu turned her gaze to the distance.

From within the void light, a sword pierced through space and slashed down, a man stepped through that space gate and stood opposite Amaterasu.

It was a tall, strong man, with a somewhat wild appearance. His long hair was like waves, dark black or dark blue, symbolizing water and storms. His eyes were sharp, fierce like a storm. He wore a wide cloak, navy blue, silver gray mixed with a few black symbols, sometimes bordered with white clouds or waves.

"Since when were you allowed to use Kusanagi no Tsurugi, Susano."

 "Hey, hey, calm down, sister, you know it used to belong to me, right, hehehe."

Amaterasu sighed, Susano happily walked closer.

"So you did it?"

"Are you sure what you did was right?"

Amaterasu didn't say anything, Susano didn't care much either.

"Anyway, I came here to return this sword to my beloved sister."

Susano threw the sword to Amaterasu and she caught it.

"Well, see you later, ahahahaha."

He walked through the non-reality gate and disappeared.

"Tsk... sometimes I don't understand what my beloved little brother is thinking."

End of chapter 1.