I died.

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Yeah, not exactly the most specific sentence to explain everything. My name is Satou Izuna, I was 22 years old and was what you would call and Otaku.

I would spend entire days nonstop watching Anime and reading Mangas. I was also an extreme introvert. My old body was kinda chubby and thus, I was subjected to lots and lots of Bullying and immediately quitted school.

My parents, of course, were not pleased with my decision and tried to force me to re-enter high school once again. My "brilliant" solution? I left home at the age of 14.

….

I know I know; it wasn't the smartest choice in my life, granted. I won't even try to defend such stupid action, it was stupid, it was reckless and if I was born into a third-world country, I'm sure I would've been kidnapped or r#p3d.

Anyhow, thanks to Japan's somewhat nice price range, I managed to survive collecting trash from the streets, mainly metallic scraps, and exchanged them for money. It wasn't a lot, but it was better than dying from hunger.

Of course, I wouldn't and couldn't live like that any longer so, with the little money I had left, I decided to write a fantasy novel and earn money from it. Surprisingly, it was a huge hit and I managed to earn quite the sum each week.

While writing, I continued my studies in the public library, it was hard to study without proper guidance, but I managed to pull through it all. By this time, I began to feel sad about my parents and what were of them so, I decided to pay them a visit.

By that point, I was already 20 years old and already changed careers from writer to systems engineer.

I reached my old house and pressed the ringer, only to be received by a completely different person. Apparently, my parents died a few years back from a car accident, since the police didn't find me, they decided to do it themselves.

They fell asleep while driving and crashed into a building, both of them died immediately. I was shocked, I fell sick, I even got a panic attack and had to be hospitalized.

My parents were dead, and I was the sole responsible for that. They loved me, so much that they couldn't live with me, yet I've been living my own life without even thinking about them in the slightest.

I was- NO! I AM a shitty son; my parents would've been happier if they didn't have birthed me. I fell into despair, Money? Comfort? A Bright Future? WHO GIVES A DAMN ABOUT THAT!

What's the point of even having so much, if you can't share it with those you hold dear! I never had a friend! I was picked on all the time! My parents were the only ones keeping me company! Yet! Yet! Once a single obstacle was in my way, I decided to run away!

I fricking survive the streets and made a name for myself while enduring those harsh conditions, but couldn't even go to school because I was being bullied? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME!

I…I'm tired of this. I took a last look of my home and saw all my collections. My mangas, my novels, my certificates and trophies. I was sick of everything, what's the point of being this high if everyone I ever cared for is gone?

I looked at one manga that was out of place. Mairimashita Iruma-Kun! The manga was about…actually, now that I think about it, I never read it. I remember buying it back in 2017 but never really passed from the first page due to some work complications. This somewhat hurts my Otaku pride but I've already made the choice of forfeiting my life so….

As a sign of respect, I put the volume 1 in my trophy booth after throwing everything on the floor and prayed.

'Dear God, I know I don't deserve your compassion or anything but, please bless this manga so that it can bring happiness and entertainment to anyone who'll read it. Amen.'

I prayed and left my home.

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I made my way to the top of the Tokyo Tower. I won't enter into details on how I reached the top since I don't wanna damage the reputation of this place.

I took a last look at the city and took a step forwards.

I began to fall.

I'm conflicted. All those years enduring in the streets, making a name for myself just to throw everything into the trash.

*SIGH*

I find it funny. "The guy who couldn't handle a little bullying handled the rough life that living in the streets is."

HAHA! Maybe I took a hasty decision but, the pain of leaving my parents behind, the pain of indirectly causing their deaths, I…I…I… I really am worse than a demon.

*SPLAT*

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I opened my eyes once again. I was in a cage, I had chains all over my body. "Is this hell?" I thought.

The truth of the matter is a little more complicated than that. I inspected my body and found something shocking. I have scaled bat-like wings, a blue arrow-looking tail and two horns in my head pointing upwards.

I took what I believed was my feeding plate and, in its reflection, I saw myself. I have vermilion red hair and crimson red eyes, my horns are white, my wings orange and oddly enough, my tail is indigo blue with emerald green stripes.

I am a freak, a five-year-old freak.

Is this my punishment for all of my wrongdoings? I guess I'll have to own to it.

[One year later.]

This is worse than hell. Or maybe it's the right amount of hell? All I know is…I'M CRAVING DEATH ONCE AGAIN!

I've been subjected to all types of physical and emotional tortures. But before embarking in my year of pain and sorrow, allow me to explain some memories this body has.

I was sold by my parents to this circus the moment I was born, the owner put me into the freakshow section cause, wings, tail and whatnot. He barely gives me enough to live, beats the crap out of me whenever he's bored and forces me to do all sorts of dangerous activities for the entertainment of the masses.

I wanna die.

I REALLY WANNA DIE!

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Today is the day when we'll be moving from our usual place. Apparently, the owner plans to look for new audience, but what did I cared for? This is a punishment for my misdeeds in my past life.

My appearance, my fate, my life. Everything is to repent for my past transgressions for my oved ones.

[A few hours later]

The ride was…" bumpy" to say the least, I have no idea of where I'm going or what's going to happen but, I really couldn't care less for it.

Suddenly.

*CRACK, CRACK, BOOM*

A lighting fell from the sky and destroyed the caravan. I was pushed back by the expansive force and everything went black once again.

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I opened my eyes, only to see the starred sky. I couldn't feel anything under my waist, and I quickly realized why…I have a big boulder squashing my waist down.

It hurts.

It really freaking hurts but, I guess it's better than receiving a beating, right?

*DRIP…DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, DRIP*

Ah, it began to rain.

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Curious, the day my parents died was also a rainy day, it really didn't rain, but my house casually had a leak and it almost flood all over.

Looking back, it all feels like a dream. My life's been tough, but in reality, it wasn't even made to BE tough. I had loving parents, a nice home, I was loved, educated and respected.

Yet I threw everything out and only spat in their faces. Man, I'm really a piece of shit, so why? Why am I crying for this?!

I deserve this! I don't deserve anything else but pain and suffering! Everything I've been through was just for this! To feel the pain they felt, isn't that right, GOD?!

My vision begins to get blurry and a simple smirk appears on my face.

No, this has been an excuse all along. I couldn't live with the pain of losing my parents and I killed myself, and someone or something was kind enough to give me this second chance, and I waste it again.

I'm just a coward looking for excuses to never own to my mistakes. My only regret is…nah. A guy like me has nothing to regret over.

*RUMBLE, RUMBLE*

I hear some movement behind the bushes nearby.

'It must be an animal or something like that.' I thought.

From the bushes comes out…a little kid.

'Wow, didn't expected that.'

The kid has blue hair and Egyptian blue eyes. He's carrying a big bag that I see it's filled to the brim with…grass?

"AH!" They boy yelled as he rushed over to my side.

"Are you okay?! Ah, no. you're not okay! Let me help you!" The boy spoke as he tried to push the boulder and failed miserably.

"Kid…just leave me. I don't…want to live anymore." I spoke.

"Ah, why?!" The kid asked panicked.

"I…did some things that are unforgivable, I deserve this pain and death. Besides, I'm a freak, no one will accept me in this world so, why bother in the first place?" I answered while the kid looked at me with teary eyes.

The little kid began to cry.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"What you've said is sad. I don't know what you did but, no one should feel that way." The kid answered.

"So what? There are some things that you cannot change. So, let me here to die." I answered to him while closing my eyes.

*SCRUB, SCRUB, SCRUB*

I heard some weird sounds and opened my eyes again. I saw the little kid using his hands to dig through the dirt.

"Hey! What are you doing I said—" The kid interrupted me.

"You said that you wanted to die, right? Well, I want to save you!" The kid answered.

"Who the hell do you think you are?! A hero?!" I asked him.

"No! It's just that, if I had leave you like you were, I would've felt bad. I felt disgusted and sad. I'm doing this for myself, just like you want to die for yourself." The kid answered.

I looked at the kid with awe. What has this kid been through to hold life so dear, he doesn't look older than 5 so, how can he say things like this.

Should I give up? A kid, a REAL kid (since I'm technically a kid) is trying so hard to save a complete stranger. Why?

In all my introspective thinking, I remember a conversation between my parents. I was playing with a rock and accidentally hit a kid with it, I didn't want to apologize and my parents grounded me for that and made me apologize, once we reached home, we talked.

"Why should I apologize, it was that kid's fault for being in the wrong place."

"Izu-kun, you were the one in the wrong, that kid got quite the big bump in his head for that hit." Mom.

"But, but I didn't do it wanting, so it's not my fault!" Me.

"Izu-kun." Mom.

"Listen Izuna, sometimes people make mistakes and there'll be no way to fix them. That's why you shouldn't pay more attention to them than you need to." Dad.

"See? Even dad says I'm right."

"However, there are some that DO have a solution, so, whenever you got the chance to solve it, do it. after all, Izu-kun is a kind kid." Dad.

I look back in my actions and saw the kid crying while touching his injury.

"Am I really kind? I…I didn't want to apologize…kind kids apologize." I sniffed a little.

"Of course, you are! Even kind kids make mistakes, the thing is how to fix them." Mom.

I began to cry and hugged them.

(flashback end)

I looked at the kid and saw that his hands were getting damaged by the soil. I don't know what this is, maybe I've been Isekai'd, maybe this is a punishment, or maybe this is a second chance.

But I don't care! I'm tired of running from my problems all the time! And I'm even more tired of others having to pay the price for my actions!

I felt a burning sensation in my body as I begin to push the rock to my side. The kid stops digging and begins to push the rock as well. We both keep pushing and pushing. I felt my arms were about to snap and I could see that the kid didn't have more juice either so, I used all my strength left and managed to push the boulder to the side, freeing my waist and below.

The kid falls tired on the floor next to me and I continue to breathe heavily.

"Hehe, you…are okay…right?" The kid asked me with a smile.

"Yeah…just tired…" I answered him with a smile.

"I'm Iruma. And you?" The kid, now known as Iruma asked me.

"Me? Call me Izuna." I answered.

The rain has stopped falling and the starred sky was shining even brighter.