Really Kasumi should be sad right now, floating in the endless white void. But it was only to be expected.

Kasumi knew she died.

And most likely would not be mourned. Her family actually might be rejoicing. Would her body even be having a funeral for it? Probably not. The cheapskates would just pretend they didn’t have an older daughter and let the city handle the disposal and burial of her body. Did her city handle that kind of thing? She vaguely remembered maybe that they did, if relatives didn’t show up to claim the body. She didn’t know…Maybe they would to try and get insurance money possibly? Sue the apartment for allowing railings that allowed their ‘precious daughter’ to fall down so easily and die? Kasumi could see her family doing such a thing. Even in death, she would have no dignity.

Well, it didn’t matter anymore.

“Your life story is really so pathetic, what the hell?!”

This voice belonged to the only other being here with her soft mote of a soul. Kasumi had become nothing, but a ball of light currently. A representation of her soul. Or maybe it was because she had no real attachment to her old body. It had…become something no one should really need to look at. Frail and rail thin and just…not a pretty sight. Being formless seemed to be the better option right now. Effortless.

The other being was a gorgeous looking woman with golden hair and the palest blue eyes she’d ever seen. The kind she’d only seen by chance in a dubbed foreign movie her family was watching. She wore a white dress that had golden embellishments and a wreath of gold atop her lovely head.

And she looked decidedly mad.

“What the hell?! What the hell, what the hell, what the he—”

Truly, she was a beautiful and graceful looking being, so it kind of gave Kasumi whiplash seeing such an entity look so clearly disturbed on her behalf.

“Um, miss, if you could calm down, it’s not that big a deal…” Kasumi began, trying to calm the goddess-like being down.

The goddess-like being whipped around on Kasumi and poked at her mote of a sole with a finely manicured finger, shaking her head.

“Now you listen here, missy! I hate life stories like these the most. I. Absolutely. Hate. Them!” Every last word was punctuated with a jab of a finger right into Kasumi’s soul. It didn’t hurt, but it felt odd having her soul prodded. “You are allowed to be mad, you know?! If I lived a life like that I would be so pissed, people would be having their heads roll left and right.”

As nice a thought that was (Kasumi imagined her parents and their heads rolling and had a small, evil little chuckle), in modern Japan such actions would label her a violent serial killer and she’d be behind bars and where would such a life lead her?

“I get that,” Kasumi said, “but it’s already done and over with, right?”

“Oof, you’re much more forgiving than me, kid.”

“I’m 38….”

“Like I said, ‘kid’.”

The goddess-like being sighed and waved her hand dismissively, shaking her head, too, for good measure.

“Seriously,” the goddess-like being said, “whenever I hear such stories I get so mad. Like, what are the goddesses of fate doing?! How awful. Sadistic witches. Do they ever come up with something nice for once? What’s with these tragic circumstances? Makes my job super hard to deal with you know?”

Kasumi watched the entity pace now on an unseen floor, golden hair whipping behind her as she made sharp about faces as she walked back and forth rather irritably. Honestly, it made Kasumi feel a little sick watching her move so sharply and quickly as she rambled on and on about her oppressively depressing job. Kasumi could relate though; this job sounded as soul sucking as the ones she worked when she was alive.

Suddenly, the goddess-like being stopped, coming to a sudden realization. Her back straightened and she fixed her hair with a single run of her elegant fingers, flipping it back expertly before settling what resembled a benevolent expression towards Kasumi.

“Oh, forgive me, my child,” she began, changing her tone completely. From the ranting voice of someone who sounded like they worked a desk job at a black company, to the charming, otherworldly voice of a higher being, the change was quite jarring. “My name is Tulilith. I am the goddess of reincarnation, sister of the goddesses of fate.”

“I’m Hokusai Kasumi,” Kasumi responded automatically, giving a semblance of a bow a ball of soul could manage.

Tulilith laughed softly. “Oh, I know. Thanks to my sisters I am very much aware of who you are and your circumstances. You met with a very tragic fate, haven’t you?”

The goddess reached out, gently cupping Kasumi’s soul in her hands and looking down at her gently. “It must have been very rough and I’m so sorry your life ended so poorly. But we goddesses have judged you worthy of restarting anew.”

Kasumi was speechless. She’d heard of this sort of thing before in passing from coworkers who liked light novels and anime; the whole trope of being reborn into a new world. Although having to live through life again didn’t sound at all appealing to Kasumi – couldn’t she just die and pass on into the afterlife and rest?

“Do I really have to?” Kasumi asked. “Living seems like a lot of work.”

Tulilith chuckled. “Oh, I know, my dear child, but I promise things will be different this time. At the very least I can guarantee you that you won’t be offed the moment you appear in your new home!”

The words were spoken so cheerfully that Kasumi couldn’t help questioning the validity of that statement. For one, why was such a statement even needed in the first place?!

Sensing Kasumi’s unease, Tulilith waved her hand, summoning what seemed to be some kind of image, though everything moved and shifted into different scenes.

An endless plain, a bustling town, a vast ocean and imposing mountain…

“Your new home will be much different from your old one, but very similar in many ways. And I promise that yes, it will be hard at first, but your life will be much different from the one you had before,” Tulilith explained, holding Kasumi’s soul to the portal-like imagery playing before her of the new world ahead. “We goddesses of life, death and fate watch the people of Earth very diligently before passing them on to the next world and from there to the next and so forth, until they find the right world and living the life meant for them. We absolutely do not admit anyone to the afterlife unless they lived a wonderful life filled with experiences and a sense of contentment. Consider it something of a service guarantee from a business.”

That sort of makes some weird sense, Kasumi thought. If she thought of it from a business standpoint, it was like selecting a company to fix a broken pipe and their work was faulty. Most honest organizations would do their best to compensate for the shoddy work. And if her life came with a happiness guarantee, then she did have the right to earn herself compensation.

Yes, if she truly put her mind into such a mindset, with the life she led she deserved proper and due compensation!

If there was one thing her mother taught her that truly helped her in life and stuck with her, it was that if someone wronged you, you must follow through and grab what’s yours.

And that meant haggling negotiating.

“Sounds fair, so…does that mean I can make a request or two?” Kasumi inquired, sounding hopeful. “After all, thanks to you goddesses, it seems I lived a life much more miserable than should have been intended, right?”

“Oh, well…yes?” Tulilith looked a bit confused about the sudden outspokenness of Kasumi, but continued to listen.

“Then I can have some perks when going into the new world, right?”

“Oh, I don’t see why not…” The goddess-like being seemed more indulgent and amused rather than offended Kasumi would be making demands. Perhaps, even a little relieved? “It’s fine to ask for things once in a while, isn’t it?”

That struck a nerve in Kasumi for a second, silencing her. Though Tulilith’s words were benign and most likely meant to be kind, it brought up a sharp moment in Kasumi’s life back on Earth before she died.

“It’s fine to ask for things once in a while, isn’t it?” Kasumi heard her sister’s voice echo in her mind. The little girl that had once been a precious being sounded so bratty and entitled to her as an adult, who never had to lift a finger for anything. Once again, demanding something her older sister got for herself after scrimping and saving what meagre leftovers she got from her own paycheck after handing it over to their parents.

Four years of saving for a brand new dress that she could wear to work in order to look fresher. A beautiful light blue number that Kasumi had wanted for years. Nothing overtly fancy or frilly, but it was meant for her.

“Just give it to me Kasumi, I don’t know why you’re making such a fuss. A pretty dress like that would be wasted on you. I’ve got a date tonight and nothing to wear.”

A lie, she had a closet full of dresses and other outfits. Some of them even stored in Kasumi’s room since her sister barely had enough room to keep all of her own things. She remembered the resentment she had as she handed it over, knowing it wasn’t worth fighting over it. Her father would just yell at her for treating the family baby so badly and her mother would look at her coldly.

Kasumi had looked forward to it so much…

She shook herself out of the memory. Well, that was in the past now. It was a weirdly freeing thought, knowing she didn’t have to deal with them anymore.

“I’d like…” It was almost hard to push the words out. Despite having no physical form at the moment, Kasumi felt her throat close up. Damn, old habits died hard. She had forced herself for so long to go without, to never dare ask for anything, because there was no one to rely upon.

A hand patted the top of her ‘head’.

“There, there Kasumi. It’s all right. Go ahead and say what you want to say,” Tulilith crooned gently. If Kasumi could cry, she would have. “What do you want?”

What did she want? Now that she was here, with a new lease at life it was startlingly hard to choose. What did she really want out of life, now that she can negotiate the life she could have?

If there was one thing she really wanted…

“I want to do art,” Kasumi said, feeling stupid the moment she mentioned it. Tulilith didn’t laugh or scorn her choice, though, merely smiled.

“Is that really what you want?” the goddess asked, to be sure.

Kasumi made an affirmative noise.

“That’s not a problem,” Tulilith replied, “we can certainly make it a guarantee that you will be able to do all the art you like.”

Hearing this Kasumi’s soul perked up.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“All the art I want?”

“Until you grow sick of it, my child. Now…”

Tulilith held Kasumi’s soul above her head, gathering light and pushing it into the mote, slowly giving it a physical form once more.

“If there is anything else you’d like to say or do before I send you off, now would be the time to say or do it.”

In the end, there really wasn’t. Kasumi was too excited at the thought of immersing herself in doing art soon that she really did not ask about too many details. And there was nothing from her old home that would be holding her back, truly, that would make her have any last requests before she was sent off.

“I’m ready to go,” Kasumi confirmed.

Tulilith nodded and released her soul as her body formed, sending her to the next world in sparkling golden light.

“Then from now on, you are no longer Hokusai Kasumi. From this day forth…your new life and name….is Penelope Snowflower!”