APVCS 01

Chapter 1

Chapter 1. Prologue: The Dog Dies

“Coco, please say something…….”

In the garden where we happily went for walks every day, my sister was crying.

I could feel my sister’s warm hand stroking my white fur.

I tried to tilt my head at her like I always did, but I had no strength in my body.

‘Why is my body like this?’

As a wonderful dog, I should be tapping my tail against my sister.

I should be gently going chomp! on her fingers without hurting her.

It was strange that I could not move as wonderfully as usual.

‘I shouldn’t be like this. I need to rub my nose against my sister!’

That was how I made my sister smile.

I struggled with my body, which seemed to have become heavier lately.

My sister was sitting on a chair in the outdoor garden, so I wanted to bring her the flowers she liked.

‘My body has no strength.’

Instead of picking a flower, I barely lifted my head on my sister’s lap.

I could see her purple eyes filled with tears.

“Coco. Hmm? Why can’t you even tell me that you’re sick, and so…….”

Before I knew it, drops of water were falling from my sister’s eyes.

I sniffed with my dried-up nose and smelled my sister’s scent.

‘It smells like sadness.’

Why was my sister sad?

Whenever she was with me, I could always hear the happy beating of her heart.

‘Does she dislike me because I’ve become weak? Does she hate me because my fur has fallen out and I’ve become ugly?’

As I thought carefully with my little head, my sister hugged me tightly and murmured softly.

“Coco.”

I felt a familiar warmth.

It was the first warmth of my dog life, since I had been born as a stray dog and had never once been held by a person.

I burrowed a little deeper into my sister’s arms and made a small sound.

“……Mong.”

My sister stroked my fur hard and murmured.

“If you had been able to speak when you were sick, could we have lived together for more than five years?”

“…….”

“If you had been a bad child instead of a good one, would I have regretted sending you away any less?”

A tear fell onto her cheek with a soft plop.

I was a stupid dog who could not understand more than half of what my sister said.

But I could tell that my sister was sad faster than I could see a ghost.

‘My sister must not be sad. I think she’s sad because of me. I have to comfort her.’

I barely lifted my front paw.

My left front paw, which I had hidden all this time because my fur had started falling out and it had become ugly, touched my sister’s cheek before dropping down with a little tap.

When my sister saw my thin paw shaking in front of her, she lowered the corners of her mouth and barely held back her tears.

“I love you.”

“…….”

“Your sister loves our Coco very much.”

Usually, whenever my sister said, “I love you,” her arms smelled full of love, just like when she said, “Coco, you’re such a fool.”

But this was strange.

Today, they smelled of salty tears.

I tried to burrow more energetically into my sister’s arms to comfort her.

But my body would not listen to me. It was slowly becoming stiff on its own, so I could not do it.

“Coco, Coco……. My baby. You can’t die. There’s still so much I……want to do for you.”

I did not know much about death.

But when I heard my sister speaking so sadly, somehow, it seemed like something very sad.

At the moment when I could no longer see my sister’s face clearly and my vision slowly became blurry, a clear image flashed through my mind.

The memory began from when I was born on the streets.

My life had been a little difficult when I was born.

No, perhaps it had been very difficult.

I lived in a military camp during the war, eating food called military rations, and there were many people who hated me.

“Ah, this is annoying. Get rid of this damn dog. Its fur is flying everywhere.”

After the war ended, someone said they were going to eat me.

So I was locked inside a very small room and waited to be eaten……

But luckily, deep in the night, I was able to escape through a gap in the open door with my friends!

“Did you hear? A few damn dogs escaped from the breeding farm.”

“Leave them. They probably died anyway.”

I secretly escaped through the people who puffed away at cigars in the yard, laughing excitedly.

No!

I escaped wonderfully together with the other brave puppies.

‘That’s how I became a brave but scruffy stray dog.’

But I don’t think I was very happy when I lived as a stray animal.

“Ugh, dog smell. Disgusting.”

There were many people who hated me, spat at me for no reason, or chased me away.

But I had forgotten those difficult and sad memories by then.

Looking back now, I had been a very, very happy puppy.

It was when I happened to reach a busy main street filled with people.

There were so many smells around my nose that I did not know where to go.

The human world was frightening, and I had stopped blankly in the middle of a road filled with strange, square carriages and frightening horses.

Then I saw a very, very fancy carriage stop in front of me with a screech.

I will never forget the moment that day when my eyes met those of my sister, who stuck her face out of the carriage window.

“What is it, coachman?”

“Lady Chloe, there is a stray dog in front of the carriage. I will remove it immediately.”

“……A stray dog?”

“Woof!”

My sister stared quietly into my black eyes.

She smelled strongly of loneliness.

Just like me, who had been alone for a long time without anywhere to belong.

“……Bring it into the carriage.”

“Pardon? B-but it’s a stray dog, so it might be dangerous, my lady. If you need a pet, I can find you another cute puppy of good bloodline……”

“Bring it in front of me. Right now.”

My sister, Chloe.

She was the first sister I had ever had.

My sister said my eyes were incredibly black, like little black beans, and thought they were cute.

She asked why I was so small, even though I seemed to be quite old.

After washing all my dirty fur, she told me I was white and pretty.

‘She even gave me a name. Coco.’

You know.

When my sister first fell in love with her fiancé, I stayed beside her and watched her write love letters.

Whenever she ate delicious food, I wagged my tail while sitting on her lap.

Then I got scolded because I wanted some of the food she was eating!

Whenever my sister said she was depressed, I would gently place my head against her arm and share my warmth with her……

‘I stayed with her for so long. Long enough to see new flowers bloom five times.’

So, what I want to say right now is this.

I am glad I was able to say goodbye to……

the sister I loved more than anyone in the world.

I struggled to raise my tail and made a small woof.

It meant that I loved my sister very, very much too.

I wonder if she understood?

I do not know if that sound reached my sister as she endlessly stroked my body.

“My baby……. Please. I beg you. If there is a next life, please be reborn as your sister’s daughter. Okay?”

After my sister’s final words, I died.

At last, complete darkness came.

And instead of my sister, a wonderful rainbow bridge appeared in front of me.

I zoomed across the rainbow bridge and arrived at the Dog Star!

This place was a paradise made for dogs.

There were many walking paths for dogs, lots of fun rides, and plenty of sweet potatoes that I had wanted to eat but had been forbidden because they would make me fat.

But……

‘What’s the point of having a nice place? My sister isn’t here.’

I crumpled the white fur on my paws.

Sometimes, at the Dog Star, I watched the human world with my dog friends.

Whenever we did, my sister was hearing terrible things from people.

People openly called her a ‘villainess.’

She became completely separated from her family and was left all alone, and her fiancé continued to torment her in horrible ways.

But, but……

My sister did nothing in response, like she was the saddest person in the world.

She did only the minimum amount of work and just lay around all day.

‘There’s so much darkness around my sister!’

Normally, when I patted her with my little paws, a light would suddenly appear.

Then I could see my sister’s face becoming bright and happy.

But……

‘She’s worried because I’m not beside her anymore and can’t do that for her.’

Thinking about my sister, I also stopped eating and stopped doing anything.

After living like that for almost a year as the saddest dog on the Dog Star, the Dog God, who was said to govern our Dog Star, came to see me.

The Retriever God, who had shiny golden fur, looked at me and said,

“Why aren’t you doing anything? Go for walks like the other dogs and try eating some sweet potatoes.”

“I’ve decided! I want to be reborn as a human!”

“What? A human?”

“Yes! My sister told me to be born as her daughter in my next life!”

“That won’t work. That human you call your sister isn’t doing anything that would allow a baby to be born.”

“What kind of thing allows a baby to be born?”

I tilted my head strongly enough for my ears to flap.

Even my tail, which had been happily wagging at the thought of seeing my sister, suddenly stopped as I focused.

“I don’t know either. Anyway, you can’t be her daughter!”

I showed my magnificent fangs and charged forward with a spirited chomp!

“No! I have to go see my sister! My sister will die without me!”

“Ah, geez. All dogs are the same! I can reincarnate you as a human. But I don’t recommend it.”

“Why?”

“Until your sister, as a human, develops <true intimacy> with you, you cannot tell her that you are the dog Coco.”

“Hmm? Then we can just become close again!”

“And whether your sister recognizes you or not, you must return here after five years.”

“Whaaaaaaaaaat! I can live with my sister for another five years?”

“If you live together as humans, it will be much harder to let go when you return here. Are you okay with that?”

“That’s okay too!”

As long as I could make my sister very happy for five years and then return!

The Dog God stared at me for a while before changing the subject.

“Humans are different from dogs. Sometimes they do ugly and bad things without hesitation. Can you endure that?”

“I’m very, very bad too! There was a time when my sister told me not to eat snacks, but I secretly tore them open and ate them. And when my sister told me not to touch tissues, I tore up the tissues too!”

He gave a small laugh.

He probably thought I was very, very bad!

“That is why dogs are too kind. So, for you who will become human, you will need some good abilities.”

“Good abilities?”

“First, the ability to talk with animals. Second, the ability to see the future.”

“Wow…….”

“And lastly……. When it comes to things related to your sister, your intelligence will sparkle and rise.”

The moment his hand touched me,

my fluffy body began to shine white and brightly.

“This is the complete blessing of God.”

After the light surrounding my entire body softly disappeared,

the Dog God patted my head repeatedly, telling me I was a good dog.

Then my vision began to spin.

The other dogs gathered around me in a noisy crowd, and each of them said something.

“When you see my big brother, make sure you tell him that I love him!”

“Can you tell my mom that I’m sorry I couldn’t stay by her side for long?”

“Tell my dad to shave properly!”

As I listened to my dog friends’ noisy farewells, I nodded so hard that my ears flapped.

“Leave it to me! I’ll definitely tell them!”

‘I’m going back to meet my sister with the awesome ability to see the future equipped.’

The sister I love more than anyone else in the world!