My name is Arata. Arata Ren.
I'm seventeen—born in the Heisei period of Japan.
Seventeen years… though it feels longer.
Most days, it's like I've been drifting through fog. Floating in nothing. Searching for something—anything—that could give my life meaning.
But I never found it.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find a reason to keep moving forward.
All that was left was disgust. Disgust for the person I'd become. For my weakness.
I hated the reflection that stared back at me every morning.
That night—it must've been around ten, maybe closer to eleven—I finally decided to clear my head. No destination in mind. Just walking.
The city was quiet, washed in the dull glow of streetlights. When I got thirsty, I ducked into a convenience store.
Still detached. Still drifting.
I wandered the aisles until I grabbed a bag of chips and a bottle of water. While the cashier rang me up, my attention drifted to a small radio beside her—some late-night talk show.
"Remember, self-love is important."
"True. Depression's become such a problem for young people lately."
"Birth rates keep dropping. It's like people forgot how to value life."
"Exactly. Everyone has something to live for."
"Two-fifty," the cashier said, pulling me back.
"Huh?"
"Your total."
"Oh… right."
I handed over the coins, took my things, and left.
As I stepped out, two guys around my age walked in. I brushed one of them by accident.
"Watch where you're going."
"Yeah, loser."
I didn't reply. Just gave a dry laugh and kept walking. It wasn't like I was bullied growing up—I just never fit in. I was always… off.
Outside, I opened the chips as I walked. The salt burned my tongue. The water that followed was cold and clean. Refreshing.
For a second, I almost felt alive.
Then I saw her.
A small girl—maybe nine or ten—standing alone under a flickering streetlight. She looked terrified. Lost.
I hesitated, then stepped closer. "You okay?"
"I… I'm lost," she said, voice trembling.
"What happened?"
"I was home with Mommy. She got mad and started yelling, so when she fell asleep, I ran out. But now I can't find my way back. Please, can you help me?"
I nodded. "Sure."
Her eyes widened. "Thank you."
We walked hand in hand for a while. Ten minutes, maybe more. My fingers started going numb.
"Sir," she said softly, "I think I remember this street. I came from over there."
I followed where she pointed.
"By the way," she asked suddenly, "what's your name?"
"You can call me Ren."
"Wow… my name's Rin! They sound similar, huh?"
I smiled faintly. "Yeah. They do."
We kept walking until a voice shouted from behind us.
"Rin!"
The girl's head snapped up. When she saw the woman calling, her eyes lit up.
"Mom!"
She let go of my hand and ran to her mother. They hugged under the streetlight, tears mixing with laughter.
I watched them for a moment and smiled. It felt warm.
Then I turned and kept walking. No reason to stay.
Eventually, I reached a bridge overlooking a slow river. I leaned against the railing and stared down. The moon's reflection rippled on the water like broken glass.
For a while, I just stood there. The world felt quiet. Still.
"We all have something to live for," I whispered.
But I didn't.
Not really.
I'd tried to find something—family, friends, dreams—but everything slipped away. Maybe I just wasn't meant to find it. Maybe I was born to drift.
And for the first time, I made a decision on my own.
"I'm tired."
The wind brushed my face as I stepped onto the railing. City lights blurred below. I wasn't afraid anymore.
I took a breath—and let go.
The world vanished in the rush of air. The cold bit at my skin, and for one brief, weightless moment… I felt free.
Then came the water.
The impact was sharp—like a thousand needles tearing through me. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. The river swallowed me whole.
My chest burned. My body grew heavy. The world above dimmed into silence.
And then—something stirred in the dark.
A warmth. A voice.
"You've wandered for so long, haven't you?"
The water shimmered with light. Time twisted.
"Sleep now… and wake in a new world."
My vision faded completely. The last thing I felt was the river filling my lungs—then nothing.
Silence.
A deep, endless silence.
For a moment, I thought that was it—the end.
But then, through the quiet, a voice echoed.
A woman's voice. Gentle, distant, like it was whispering through the walls of reality.
"Simon Sinclair."
The sound wrapped around me.
"Simon… Sinclair."
Warm. Kind. But strange.
I didn't recognize that name.
Before I could ask who she was, the world went silent again.
Then—light.
Weight pressed down on me. The air felt thick and hot against my skin. My lungs burned, and I gasped.
I was breathing.
My eyes opened slowly, shapes and colors flooding in—too bright, too big, too real.
Two faces hovered over me. A woman with auburn hair, tears in her eyes. A man beside her, voice shaking as he leaned closer.
"He's such a beautiful boy…" she whispered.
"That's my Simon," the man said proudly.
Simon.
That name again.
I blinked. My vision was blurry. My limbs felt small and weak. I tried to speak, but only broken sounds came out.
The woman laughed softly. "Welcome to the world, my little one."
Her warmth was real. But her voice wasn't the one from before.
That other voice… it didn't belong here.
I tried to look down—my arms were tiny. My legs barely moved. The realization hit me like lightning.
I wasn't Arata Ren anymore.
I have been reborn into another world.
The man smiled through his tears. "Simon Sinclair… our son."
Their words echoed in my mind, but I could still hear that other voice—the one that called to me before all this.
"Simon Sinclair."
It was the name I'd been given.
And as my new mother held me close, a strange warmth pulsed in my chest—a faint hum, like something ancient waking from sleep.
Whatever that voice was… it brought me here.