2 The Afterlife of James Silver

When James opened his hazel eyes again, he thought she would be before the gates of heaven and hell by now, but instead was standing on a recently rennovated road that seemed to vanish into darkness both in-front and behind him. The only way forward was the storefront now standing before him. The architecture of said storefront was similar to feudal era japan with a giant sign above bearing the iconography of a Gunbai with the lettering 'Reincarnating Incorporated Shoppe; KARMA ACCEPTED!' with the letters in capitals seemingly very recently added with red-hued paint.

James slowly pushed open the door and walked inside to see a large room which inhabited shelves and displays filled with relics from centuries past. Sitting behind the back counter was an exquisite beauty among women with jet-black hair of finest silken and alabaster complexion, well-rounded physique and hourglass figure hidden well behind a full-body robe of white and dark brown and a fine kasa worn above the head. James was instantly struck by the goddess' beauty, moving slowly and somewhat haphazardly to the counter.

"Welcome to Reincarnating Incorporated Shoppe, responsible for maintaining the workflow of the celestial hegemony's lifestream reincarnation system... I am Ame-no Uzume and you sir are dead. Would you like to have your Karma read, so that you may be reborn into another world?" spoke the woman in a silky tone and Japanese dialect which the American somehow understood. James examined the shelves nearby, his eyebrow raising when he found one decorated with what he could only assume was items hailing from the Narutoverse. He simply nodded to Ame.

The goddess retrieved an eyepiece gracefully, then moved to examine James as she would if examining a fine piece of jewelry. The goddess gave a low whistle, before raising her voice once more. "You've quite the amount of Karma, I see that you've done some truly great deeds back during your life such as bringing a major terrorist who was responsible for the death of many to justice. Normally, my assistant would allow you to choose from a catalogue of options but with this level of Karma, I'm feeling generous. You may choose whichever world you wish to reincarnate into, and may ask two wishes of me."

"Hmm, well..." James said in thought to himself, "I'd like to be reincarnated into the Narutoverse, born one year before Naruto Uzumaki himself. As for wishes... hmm." James thought deeply, his mind coming to one singular solution to his first wish. James' love for the Rurouni Kenshin anime was simply too great for him to not use the first wish on something from that world. "For my first wish, it's to be born possess the capabilities and skills of Kenshin Himura during his prime. As for my second wish, I'm not sure if it's something that can be done but I would wish for you to be my soulmate. I've never loved a woman before, not romantically. Not until I met you."

"All of those are fine, though please be aware that while I myself cannot come along with you I can create a separate incarnation of myself to fulfill your second wish. Will that be satisfactory?" Asked the goddess, standing up to full height and closing the tome which had been laid before her previously. James thought about the stipulation for a moment, thinking he had just about hit the jackpot. If this was to be an incarnation of the goddess then didn't that mean he would have her to himself rather than worrying about her disappearing to go and perform her goddess duties?

"I am fine with that as well, in fact that would actually be better." spoke James, finally. Ame-no Uzume presented the paperwork for which James would need to sign in order to finalize the transaction. Reading through the paperwork, James finally signed away. The goddess smiled warmly, "Your old name now belongs to me, James Silver. You will not remember it even when your previous life's memories begin to return to you at about five or six years of age. This is the price of services rendered by this shoppe. Now, your new life will begin shortly. Don't worry about finding me, I will come to you."

And then, everything was consumed by darkness as James' vision faded and he felt the sensation of falling for thousands upon thousands of leagues over what had seemed to be hundreds of hours until the sensation eventually faded. Eventually, the first sensation to return would be sound as the male listened to the ear-piercing cry of a child somewhere - almost sounding like it came from himself but that couldn't be... could it? James didn't have much time to truly decipher his current situation, as his own awareness and soul was melded into that of the child.