The fire cracked softly, the night calm in that way Soul never trusted, it was quiet, a bit too quiet even, quiet to unconfort
'Man… this forest is creepy as hell.' He thought, already regretting coming here as he poked at the embers with a stick.
Then—crack.
Definitely not a twig. Something heavier. Soul froze for a second. Nah… that ain't normal. 'Please tell me it's some big-ass raccoon or somethin'…
A deep growl rolled out of the darkness, low enough to vibrate in his chest. His friends jerked their heads toward the trees.
"Don't move," he hissed, already feeling his pulse start to sprint.
'God damn… that ain't no raccoon.' He realized at the last second as the bear sprang out of the brush. Mark screamed as it bowled into him, sending him rolling across the ground.
"Yo!" Soul shouted before he could stop himself. His body moved on instinct. "HEY! OVER HERE!"
'Bro, what the hell am I doin'?' But there was no time to think. Mark was on the ground, scrambling, the bear towering over him. Soul charged, and the bear's head snapped toward him, teeth gleaming in the firelight.
'Oh fuck, no!' It hit him like a truck. Air shot out of his lungs; claws tore across his side. Pain flared white-hot as he saw red, ripping a scream out of him.
He hit the ground, rolled, and gasped.
'Okay.'
'Okay.'
'Get up now, c'mon, nigga, move!' His hands dug into the dirt, slipping in something warm. His own blood and more poured from his side, soaking his shirt.
'Damn… this is bad. Real bad.' He dragged himself an inch. The bear's shadow loomed over him again.
"So this it? For real? Fuck…' He was tryna graduate, get paid, get out of the hood… not get fucked by a damn bear.
Another blow, this one duller. His body was getting heavy, floating. The edges of his vision darkened.
'Mark… where he at? He better be running… if I see him standin' around I swear to God…' Then he heard a shout, someone calling his name. Mark's voice. Not close. Far. Running.
He smiled, just barely, although bitter.
Good… good.
'That's what's up. Get out, bro. Don't look back.' The pain thinned, turning distant, like it belonged to someone else.
'Damn… I can't feel nothin. For real.' His fingers relaxed in the dirt, and the stars above him wobbled gently, swimming in and out of focus.
'Ma… I'm sorry.' He couldn't help but think back as the image of his mother traversed his head.
But he did somethin' right today, and he knows that much.
The bear's footsteps faded as the world softened. Quiet settled in again, deeper than before, and just like that, Soul exhaled slowly, the last bit of warmth leaving with him.
…
…
'Fuck I died'
He didn't expect to go out like that. There was no tunnel with a bright light, unfortunately, no pearly gates, and thankfully, no burning pits when he barely regained consciousness. It was hard to maintain, but all he noticed was just darkness, though it was somewhat warm and comfy. Occasionally, he would fade in and out of consciousness for who knows how long. Maybe it was days, or was it years? He could not tell.
Finally, it seems like there was actually a light at the end of the tunnel, but it wasn't heaven that was waiting for him.
'So I am getting the Isekai treatment now? What about my cheat? Shouldn't I get a system? Or at least a little something? Fuck, bring me the manager!'
He thought to himself.
As he finally made it through. He was welcomed, not by a God but by a woman, and she looked like a perfectly normal human. No unusual hair or eye colour, no tai,l nor cat ears. A perfectly normal human, it seemed.
'Fuck me sideways. So much for an isekai, she looks Asian though. Am I Asian this time around?'
Nah, who is he gonna deceive? By looking around, he can tell he was in a baby basket, about to be adopted… and really, despite being a little disappointed, he was still curious about his new life.
The woman said some words he couldn't understand, but having been a closet weeb in his former life, he recognised them as Japanese.
'I, at least, hope I am still black in this life though.' He didn't wanna be anything else if he could choose.
Finally, he got to see his father, at least he assumed… if they were gonna adopt him. There could be a possibility of them just dropping him off at the nearest orphanage, which I wouldn't fault them for cause taking care of a baby is one hell of a job. Shit, he personally couldn't do it.
Either way, no matter what happens, as long as he doesn't die before reaching a sufficient age to walk around by himself, he would probably manage to make it work somehow.
"Just a simple translation skill please, is niggah asking for too much?"
He could not understand what they were saying except maybe a familiar word once in a while from all the anime he had watched with subtitles. Nowhere near enough to even understand a single sentence, though. And as he struggled to make peace with it, the new parents- allegedly- seemed to find joy in watching his face change and head turn left to right between the two of them as they spoke to each other.
Finally, though, they seemed to have reached an agreement as the woman held him high with a smile as both parents spoke words he could coincidentally understand at the same time.
"Okaierinasai Kazuki-chan!!"