After an absurd and unexpected death in modern-day Japan, Aika Kurotsuki finds herself reincarnated in the world of Naruto, a month before the birth of Naruto Uzumaki. Granted three powerful wishes by the whimsical goddess Arcane, Aika's odd and unp...
You ever have one of those days where you just know something's gonna go wrong?
Yeah?
well, I was having one of those days. The sky was clear, birds were chirping, and I had just snagged the last limited-edition pudding cup from the convenience store. Everything should have been perfect.
It wasn't.
I should have known something was up when the store clerk gave me that weird look. Or when I dropped my phone, twice, on the walk home. Or when I literally tripped over a black cat crossing my path. You'd think at some point, my brain would've gone, "Hey, Aika, maybe today's not your day. Maybe go home, lock yourself inside, and chill out."
But did I listen? Of course not.
Instead, I continued on my merry way, humming to myself with my bags full of instant ramen and snacks, completely oblivious to the fact that the universe had something else in store for me.
And that something was a banana peel.
A single, squished, rotting banana peel, lying in the middle of the sidewalk like it had been placed there by fate itself.
I didn't see it. I was too busy balancing my pudding cup on top of my ramen, trying to get the perfect Instagram shot for my food blog. #LivingMyBestLife, right?
Then it happened.
My foot hit that banana peel like a scene straight out of a bad cartoon. Time slowed down as I felt my body go, and before I could scream or even process what the hell was happening—BAM—headfirst into the concrete.
Everything went black.
No long, drawn-out life flashing before my eyes. No emotional goodbyes. Just the abrupt, ridiculous ending of Aika Kurotsuki, age 22, tragically lost to an evil banana peel.
"Great," I thought. "I didn't even get to eat my spicy instant ramen."
But then, instead of endless darkness, I found myself standing—well, more like floating—in a strange, shimmering space. There was no ground, no sky. Just an infinite expanse of light. And in front of me, lounging on what appeared to be thin air, was a woman with an ethereal glow, as if she belonged to another dimension altogether.
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"Welcome to the afterlife, Aika Kurotsuki," she said, her voice a soothing echo. Her flowing robes shimmered like stars, and her eyes glowed a soft violet. Everything about her screamed goddess. "Or rather, the space between life and death."
I blinked. This couldn't be real. Could it?
"A banana peel? Really?" I muttered, half to myself. "What a joke."
