I remember.

My life before and after death.

I was driving to my mother's tea shop. She always had a passion for mixing them together to make something new and interesting, though our mutual favorites were coco-chai, golden oolong and earl grey.

The roads were covered in ice but most people had common sense and put on their winter tires. My brother had changed them for me a few weeks ago so I did not need to worry about it. The roads were pretty dark in this area so not many people drove through them. I guess I was unlucky because at the moment I came at a cross-road another car slammed into mine and sent it tumbling down a ditch with me as its passenger.

I felt my seat belt dig into my neck as glass cut into me. I couldn't hear anything, it was like a buzzing in my head. From here I could see two people. One looked like they were having an urgent phone call while the other was opening and closing his mouth towards me. I guess asking if I'm ok or something.

I was going to answer but my voice caught in my throat and I realized the world was spinning and soon my vision was consumed by darkness but...

I wasn't done living yet!

I haven't finished school, I haven't found the job of my dreams, I haven't found love yet, I haven't had kids, I wanted to make my mother proud, I wanted to attend my baby sister's graduation, I wanted to play video games with my brother again, I wanted to beat my dad in a fight...

I wanted to live.

I want to live!

OxoxoxoxO

I could hear soft voices, it was warm, and I would get more and more space to move every once in a while.

What happened next was fuzzy in my memory; it was cold, I was crying and everything was blurry. My memories were not very clear so I can only assume that my body was making sure that I could handle the strain of them little by little.

Finally I was 5 and I could remember my past with crystal clarity.

That was also around the time I realized I was an anime character...

I was an avid reader of fanfiction in my past life so I didn't discard the idea right away. Even if I was her I would still act like myself: I've come too far to start worrying over something stupid like that so I accepted it and moved on. If the time ever comes that I meet Oliver, then I'll decide for myself what I want to do.

I studied Japanese in my past life so much I was fluent in the language and I could write in hiragana and katakana, though I only knew the most basic kanji. Basically I was above pre-school level so I always bugged my mom for books. If she saw me reading them, I'll never know but I had a feeling she knew I was different.

If she noticed some of those were about parapsychology she didn't mention it. No way could Naru call me an idiot like in the series.

xoxoxoxoxo

One of the similarities between my old mom and my new mom, Kimiko, was their love of tea though in his case it was mostly Japanese teas such as sencha, matcha, konacha and hojicha. (Which are basically different types of green tea)

I made sure not to trouble her too much since she worked every day because she was the only one to support us financially. I went to the pre-school, read books and played tag with the other kids (I always loved working out). I basically helped the kids where I could and had fun like a kid should.

"Mai!" called Souta another pre-school kid "come play!"

"Sure! Be there in a minute!" I called back.

Today we were visiting an old shrine. One of the care takers grew up around there and decided it was the perfect place for a day out with the kids. It was also the first time I went to a traditional Japanese shrine in both my lives. When we walked towards it my skin tingled and foreign emotions of worship and appreciation came to the forefront of my mind and I knew what Masako meant in the show: this was sacred ground. I was just surprised that I could feel it. I hadn't thought of exploring my powers too much before my body matured a bit, if I even had any. This pretty much confirmed it for me. I was some sort of psychic. I felt a brilliant smile crawl onto my lips. I couldn't wait to test them out and see exactly what I could do. As Souta kept calling I finally got a move on and joined him. That day was so much fun and I hoped to do it again one day.

Before I knew it I was 7 years old and my mother's hospital visits had increased significantly in the last 3 months. I knew in the original series that Kimiko died when Mai was in junior high school so 12-13-14 year's old maximum, since you can be legally emancipated at 14 and the original Mai had stayed with a teacher for a bit. What I knew for certain was that when Mai was 15 she lived alone.

I wanted to spend as much time as I could with my mom before disease could take her from me.

xoxoxox

I skipped 2 years of elementary school so I was 10 when I stated junior high and I always had top marks on my tests so I was an honor student. It also came to my attention that I had made a mistake; mom was getting worst and yesterday she collapsed at work and was rushed to the hospital. They called and I took a taxi to the hospital feeling dread pool at the bottom of my stomach. A nurse guided me to an open office and I heard what the doctor said. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer and suddenly I couldn't breathe. When the doctor noticed me at the door my mother was already scooping me up in her arms comforting me when she was the one who should be comforted...She told me not to cry and I noticed the tears flowing down my face which I buried in her neck with a wail of anguish.

She had a year to live.

She immediately put her affairs in order and made sure no one could take my inheritance from me, she arranged a small funeral for herself and she was looking for somewhere I could stay until I could live on my own. A teacher of mine, Yukimura-sensei, heard of our dilemma and offered her home to me if I wanted it. My mother and I discussed it and we agreed. She was my favorite teacher, though our relationship was now more friend oriented than the former.

That year was filled with smiles and tears and grief.

At the end of it though she passed with a smile on her face and I saw her spirit walking towards the light. And I knew she was safe now.

So, Mai is 12 now when her mom died. She lived 1 year and 6 months so Mai's birthday was like 3 months after the diagnosis+1 year+3months and her mother passes away. Or something. I'm a little confused about the dates so I'll only put them later on.

I took razhel's advice and wrote a longer chapter than I would have.

Thank you for your support and review to give me some writing tips from now on please!?