Summary

What do you do when your reborn in a family of silk merchants, with the air practically clogged with blood? She already knew that her second life was doomed from the very start.

Prologue

She had refused to knock on the wood of an old birch tree, after stating that today would be the death of her. Superstitions had no place in her mind, and would never in her entire lifetime. Her friends had cried out in mock fear, "you're going to regret this, fate will not spare you!", but she had waved them off without any doubt planted in her mind. "Superstition is a dead myth," The girl had answered as they cried for her safety. Eventually, she got up and left, due to the obnoxious weeping and begging. The only facts present in her mind were scientific ones, with an abundance of information supporting them. Those types of things, she could believe. Other thoughts were banished in her mental limbo. At this time, the girl strongly believed in her logic and scientific appliances.

Oh how wrong she was.

Scarlet flames spiraled towards the night sky as smoke and ash rained down on those below. A quaint little house burned painfully slow, it's walls peeling off and roof crumbling into pieces. The cause of this catastrophe was undetermined, but the girl blamed it one fate. Her soot-covered figure stumbled towards the front door, legs wobbling and eyes stinging from the contaminated air. The smoke momentarily cleared, revealing her raggedy visage, covered in blood and ash. She staggered outside of the burning home and collapsed onto the charred ground around the site. Violent burns decorated her body and leaked blood from the ruined flesh. Tears streaming down her face, the girl twisted around to look back at the devastation. The flames had grown even higher now, pillars of crimson, orange, and molten gold flicking at the clouds above. The house was barely standing at this point: only a support beam and a few bricks were still holding ground against the fire. The rest had given up and lay burnt and melted below. The girl sobbed, her eyes screwed shut in pain as she hiccuped and cried out in raw emotion.

"M-mom...where are you?" She whimpered, curling into herself as she lay limply on the ground. Her mother was nowhere in sight. She could only assume that she hadn't made it out alive. The very thought made the girl cry even harder, ignoring the stinging pain from her burns. Karma was such a pain to deal with. She wanted to rip out the heart of its physical form.

"P-please, d-don't leave me…." Her plea was left unanswered as the world blackened slowly and a numbing feeling washed over her form. In dreary relief, the girl let her limbs go limp, like a puppet with no strings. Her eyes drooped, stinging from smoke and tears. Silently, the little flare of life residing in her spluttered desperately, than extinguished forever. Her spirit cursed herself for not knocking on wood. Apparently, superstitions did exist. Too bad it was already too late for her.

She was drifting, body weightless and numb. Pain seared her skin, but quickly subsided into nothingness. Darkness wrapped around her senses, like a deathly blanket. The air around her felt cold, but not cold. Was it? She couldn't tell. Death had already wrapped its pale fingers around her. Yet among these feelings, bliss planted its roots in her heart and reached above. She sighed in content acceptance and relaxed, wanting to float around forever in this peaceful abyss.

Until light shattered its defenses and flooded inside, streaming like rivers of molten gold. The girl flinched away, scared of the new presence. But the light gently lifted her in its hand pulled her out of the pitch. Her senses were awakened from their comatose state, and began rebooting her awareness. She now felt warm, like a newly born baby fresh from the womb of her loving mother.

Wait, newly born?

The girl denied the statement, repeating over and over mantras that condemned the theory to hell. It wasn't until her eyes focused on the outside world did she know

She had been reborn. Where? Who knows. Definitely not her. Science had absolutely failed her, and she was wary of utilizing it again. So she relied on her fickle senses.

The first thing the baby girl noticed was the gentle embrace that supported her fragile body. Craning her neck, she looked curiously at the figure, which appeared to be a woman with long brown hair wrapped in a neat bun, pinned by a bejeweled needle. Her skin tone was that of a moon goddess, with it being pale and rosy, translucent veins slightly visible. The woman's eyes were deep gold, like an ingot of gold yet to be polished. Lacking in brightness, but not in lustre. The baby girl had to admit, the woman, presumably her mother, was lovely. In her old world, she could have easily qualified as a model for fashion or others. The girl had never looked this beautiful in her previous life, and a tiny bit of childish envy writhed in her heart. She quickly squashed it down, feeling slightly embarrassed to be jealous. Her new mother smiled and brushed the baby's forehead lovingly.

"Welcome to the world, Hattori Aiya."