So this idea popped into my head the other day and this is what came out my hands.

Cover is from Google. Thanks Google.

Intro: Who prepares for own death when they're in university? I sure as hell didn't. I never imagined that would actually come to pass, or that I would get a second chance at life. Was this really the best world for a better life? Somehow I really didn't think so… SI/OC

Entwinned

(They say you never appreciate something until it's gone.

I thought I understood.

I was wrong.)

I had a good family. I guess. Like every family we had our issues but I think my parents did a relatively good job raising me. We moved around quite a bit.

I got through school and a couple years of university but I never figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I was aimless, just going along with the flow. I was the kind of person to sit in the middle of the class. I avoided the crowds and stuck to myself and my few friends. I was an ordinary person living in an ordinary world.

I never saw myself as someone special.

It worked for a while but I felt pressured to be doing something.

I never thought I would die before any of my grandparents. I was on my way to visit my paternals when it happened. My dad and I were going together but there was a mixup with the airlines. They apparently overbooked the flight.

Just my luck they messed up my seat in particular, leaving one of us in the lurch. They apologized profusely and got us a other spot on the next plane but one of us had to take the current flight. I was pretty okay with it. I mean, these things happen right? Getting mad at them won't make a difference and they're only doing their jobs. My dad was a bit ticked off but I managed to calm him down.

I told him he could to ahead and take our remaining seat. It was only an hour wait for the next plane so it didn't bother me. I told him I would text him when I landed. We parted ways; him boarding the plane and I followed the steward to the other gate.

I sat in the airport and listened to some music while I waited. Daft Punk was still my favourite after first hearing them more than a decade ago. Eventually my "new" plane was ready so I boarded with everyone else and found my seat. I had a window spot. Lucky!

After an uneventful takeoff I plugged myself back into my phone to keep listening. I had a couple books stored to make the flight pass quicker if I so chose. As it was late and I wasn't scheduled to arrive until the early morning I decided to try and get some sleep for at least part of my five hour flight.

It took a while, its always been hard for me to fall asleep in unfamiliar places. Hotels and planes were big ones for me. I guess it just takes me a while to adapt to new situations, particularly if I get anxious. Eventually I managed to drift off, focusing on relaxing my body and clearing my mind like I had been doing for the past couple years. It expedited the process.

Several hours passed before I awoke. It was dark outside my window. The moon was on the other side of the plane but the clouds far below us were brightly illuminated.

The plane shook.

For an instant, the dark sky erupted in light and smoke. In my groggy state, I thought i could make out flames. Was the engine on fire?

The loud explosion that rocked the plane a few seconds later confirmed my suspicions.

Some people were crying. Others screaming. The captain asked everyone to remain calm but I could hear the nervous fluttering in his voice.

I knew.

We were going down.

My hands clenched the armrests of my seat tightly as I watched the clouds rising slowly to meet us. At our full cruising altitude, it would take us a couple minutes to reach the ground if we kept flying.

At that point I still had hope I would survive.

That didn't last long.

I felt myself sweating. My palms were becoming hot and clammy. I had no idea what to do.

The plane began to spin as we nosed downwards.

The forces inside the plane kept me pinned to my seat and the wall beside me. The seatbelt light came on for whatever good it would do at this point.

As my head was knocked back and forth in my seat, I mused over the irony of my present situation. How did I get so unlucky? If our seats hadn't been screwed up I would be with my dad and probably landing soon. Now? Now I was alone on a plane with people I didn't know as we all rode the steel cocoon to our imminent deaths.

My thoughts went to my dad. Did he have any idea what was about to happen to me? His last words echoed in my mind. "I'll be waiting for you…"

Guilt...what on earth would he think when my plane never arrived?

What about my mom? My older brother?

Fuck...what about my grandparents who were anticipating my visit…

The shaking increased as I imagined what I would say to everyone if I saw them one more time.

We were in the clouds now. I couldn't see anything outside my window save for the burning engine and the snapped wing.

I was terrified.

I wasn't scared of the end so much. More what I was leaving behind. My family and friends.

My browser history.

Not so much the last one…

I never got to say goodbye, only, "see you soon."

My mind was racing. When you're about to die, somehow your brain works much faster. You think of all the things you don't want to lose and what you're about to leave behind. I felt ashamed.

I could barely breathe through the g-forces in the plane. I just wished it would stop. That somehow the plane would level out and land safely.

I knew it wasn't going to happen but I still hoped.

A memory came unbidden into my mind. A time when I was little and went on a rollercoaster. It terrified me. Throughout the entire ride I clung to the seat for dear life, praying to gods I didn't believe in that it would be over soon.

I found myself doing the same.

Now I sat, eyes squeezed shut, hands clenched, legs locked, trying to hold on for the ride to be over.

Only this time.

I knew I wasn't getting off at the end.

The only thing I felt as we hit the ground was instantaneous, momentary agony as my body was crushed into the seat in front of me.

My bones crumpled and snapped while my face split apart as the metal capsule compressed. I was killed instantly.

The plane erupted in flame as the fuel ignited, cremating everyone on board in a brilliant inferno.

...

...

I felt warm.

…

...

It was wet.

…

…

I spasmed, reacting instinctively to the crash. I lashed out in terror and I hit something.

...

…

There was something surrounding me.

...

I lay still, my heart beating a mile a minute.

...

I tried to move again but my body was unresponsive.

…

Where was I?

…

Was I dead?

…

I should have been…

…

And yet…

…

I remembered everything.

…

The horrible shaking and uncontrollable fear as I raced to the ground in a death capsule.

…

I flinched again and my leg kicked out.

…

It hit something squishy.

…

Where the fuck was I?

…

Muffled laughter reached me through whatever was holding me. It was high pitched, distinctly feminine.

...

The sound seemed to vibrate through my body.

...

In that moment I felt something different beside me.

It reached out, or rather, we were pushed together. Our limbs entangled.

It was soft, smooth and warm.

So warm.

Instinctively I drew closer to it.

My body was still panicking.

I didn't know where I was or what was happening.

Strangely, the other thing seemed to understand and pulled me closer.

I realized I wasn't breathing.

I must be dead, I thought.

After my sudden demise I was shaken. That was putting it very mildly.

If I ever got out of this warm cocoon I swore I would never fly again.

I had no idea how long I lay in that strange place.

Hours? Days? Weeks?

All I had were my memories of my death that would not leave me alone and my strange acquaintance with me.

I couldn't see. I couldn't hear. I couldn't breathe.

I had to be dead.

But where was I?

What was going on? I was dead. I was sure of it.

Was this the afterlife?

Seemed pretty shitty to me.

Was I in the matrix and finally waking up in my incubator pod?

No… if I was in the matrix I would be fully dead now as my brain would have been destroyed. But that was just a movie so there's no way something like that could be happening.

I was clearly aware of my situation. I had all my memories with me.

Something was happening.

I could faintly hear voices outside my chamber.

The soft warm walls were tightening. Why? What was happening?

My companion and I had been shifting for the last while. I think we were now upside down but it was hard to be certain.

My limbs drifted slowly in the fluid surrounding me. My body still felt strange but I didn't know what was going on.

The walls squeezed me again. It didn't hurt exactly but it felt like I was being moved through a tube.

It was rather disorientating.

The next thing I knew it was cold. Very cold.

I gasped, choking and sputtering as I reflexively began breathing as a pair of large hands held me.

Sounds assaulted my sensitive ears while my eyes had yet to open.

Cries of laughter, pain, excitement.

I was wrapped me in a soft blanket before being passed to someone else. Their hands were so soft and gentle. They tenderly pulled me closer.

I collapsed onto whoever held me.

I was alive.

I knew it.

Somehow...I didn't know…

My body was weak, exhausted, and barely responsive to my commands.

I heard a female voice again. She was holding me tightly to her chest, whispering softly to me. I couldn't understand her words.

Were my ears not working properly?

A moment later, another object was pressed against me. It moved.

Its small arms curled around me and I did the same without thinking. It felt right somehow.

A man laughed behind us. He sounded tired but relieved. I could hear it in his voice.

He said something to the woman causing her laugh as well.

...

I recognized two words this time.

…

It felt like they were important somehow.

...

"...Hiro…" the man said.

...

"...Hinami…" the woman spoke in reply.

...

The man and woman continued speaking, it was plain that both were tired. I can only imagine what going through childbirth must have been like; and twins at that.

So.

There I lay, wrapped in the arms of my apparent mother and my apparent twin, wondering what in God's name just happened.

It was of course obvious. I had died. I had been reincarnated into the fetus of a random woman. I had been born.

Again.

Somehow despite the implausibility of my situation, it was the only thing I could come up with. My acceptance was also surprising.

Since I didn't know who this body's parents were yet I wasn't all that worried. Maybe I should have been, but I had little information to go on.

As my twin began squirming around in our mothers arms, I chose the sensible option. I tried to speak.

"Aaaaa…" was all I could do. My throat was stuck and my body unresponsive to the signals I was sending. Apparently babies can't speak like an adult fresh out of the womb.

I imagine it would have been highly unusual for a newborn to be able to form coherent sentences. And it would probably give a bad impression. I don't want them to think I was possessed or something.

There was some excited clapping from the man beside the bed, at least I assumed we were in a bed. I couldn't hear anyone else besides us four, and his enthusiasm was rather unprofessional for a doctor. I could only imagine him as the father.

The woman spoke to my twin and I in a gentle soothing voice as I found myself being reorganized and a nipple shoved into my mouth.

Without prompting, my infantile body latched on and began to feed as the woman stroked my head. She had very big hands...or was I really that small by comparison? It was a long time since I was a baby and I couldn't remember any of it.

Brushing aside any confused feelings about breastfeeding, I drank what was provided for me as I tried to identify the people around me.

It was at that moment when I finally managed to open my eyes and took in my first sight of my new life.

It was a breast.

Obviously.

Did you think I could see anything else besides the mammary I was presently suckling?

Well, no I could not.

However, my action did not go unnoticed as the woman gently turned my head towards her. My eyes widened.

Whoever this woman was, basking in the afterglow of childbirth, she was simply stunning. She was shirtless and her pale skin glistened with a thin sheen of sweat. Her long brown hair was plastered to her neck and forehead with moisture. The woman's warm brown eyes met mine filled and were filled with such joy and pride. Her petite mouth broke into a wide smile as I stared, dumbfounded at my new mother.

She was beautiful. I stared. I didn't know if my reaction was normal. To be perfectly honest, I had never encountered someone who was successfully reincarnated and could explain my current situation. I don't think anyone has done that.

The woman spoke something directly to me but all I could identify was "Hiro" again. Was that supposed to be my name?

I finally made the connection between an oriental woman breastfeeding me and calling me Hiro. I must have been reborn to a Japanese family.

That was cool, I guess. I had wanted to visit Japan before all whatever this is happened so at least now I was getting one wish checked off. It only took dying to do it.

Silver lining, people, silver lining.

The woman turned to her other breast where my twin had apparently opened their eyes as well.

"Hinami!" The woman spoke.

The name was familiar, tugging my brain somewhere. I felt I should recognize it from something.

It probably wasn't that important for the moment.

My mother pulled both of us further up her chest so our heads were right next to one another. For the first time, I gazed at my twin. They had a small tuft of brown hair atop her head, the same colour as our mother.

I don't know what was going through her mind at that point, hopefully it was normal baby thoughts and not the post traumatic terror of a dead man.

They were absolutely adorable.

I had been around when some of my older friends had children so I got to interact with the little ones from time to time. But this one was the cutest looking baby I had ever seen. They had soft brown eyes, staring at me with wonder as their hand crawled its way over to me where our arms joined together.

It was amazing. I could only assume my twin was female with a name like Hinami.

If I recalled correctly, I think I was given to our mother first. Was I born first?

I guess I got the little sister I always wanted.

Our mother held us tenderly. I could feel her love for us in her warm exhausted embrace. Whoever she was, I figured she would make a good mother.

My head rolled to the side as the man came and sat beside her on the bed. I noticed they wore matching silver rings.

He must be our Father.

The man had short black hair a well trimmed goatee. There was a stethoscope hanging from his neck and a white doctor's coat overtop a plain collared shirt. His brown eyes shined down onto me as we looked at one another.

I outstretched one of my tiny arms towards him and my fingers latched onto his thumb. He wiggled his hand back and forth but my grip held. He laughed. I giggled.

I couldn't believe I was actually enjoying myself.

My father gently scooped me up into his arms, lifting me over his head before cradling me against his wide chest. He spoke again to our mother, making her smile again.

I managed to pick out a few more words this time. Anata, chiisai and kawaii.

Seems he was fond of me.

He pointed to himself, making sure I was watching, and exclaimed "Otou-san!"

Then pointing with my own hand at my mother, "Okaa-san!"

Finally, at my twin sister gazing at us curiously, "Hinami-chan!"

My twin giggled excitedly, not understanding anything but enjoying the fact our mother was tickling her gently as he hugged her.

As my new father cradled me in his arms once more, my eyes drifted shut. I was so tired.

A part of me anticipated waking up on the plane and discovering that this whole this was all a strange, but very detailed, dream. I hoped that's all this was.

I couldn't sleep. Of course I couldn't. Not after everything that just happened.

I had been changed into some rather soft pajamas at some point and I lay atop my mother's chest, my twin in her other arm. The beautiful woman was resting with a deeply contented smile on her face.

My new mother seemed to understand there was something wrong with me. I was curled up tightly on her chest with my head beneath her chin. She gently stroked my head, whispering softly to me.

I still couldn't understand the words but I recognized it was Japanese. At least that elective in university would come in handy after all. Knowing hiragana and katakana would definitely give me a leg up but my vocabulary was sorely lacking. I was afraid to start learning kanji...that was a daunting task looming in the back of my mind. It seemed my brain was trying to focus on anything other than my recent trauma. Classic disassociation.

Whether or not it was working, I was still very shaken up after my death.

My tiny hands clenched and unclenched relentlessly. I spasmed, kicking out with my small feet. It must have looked like I was restless as she held me gently, but firmly enough that I wasn't going anywhere.

My twin, Hinami had fallen asleep and was currently with our father in a chair across the room. He rocked her gently back and forth with a wide smile on his face.

At least everyone else was relaxed and happy.

I tried to inhale and my attempt at breathing quickly morphed into a wailing cry. I was ashamed. Tears filled my eyes as I wept.

I was a baby.

So I cried like one.

Whatever life this was, why did I have to remember who I used to be? Why leave me with the agony of leaving everyone behind. They would mourn me. They would weep.

It hurt that I would likely never get to see them again. Even if I found my old family how could they possibly believe it was me…

My thoughts went round and round, spiraling downwards like the plane. There was no escaping my own mind. Trapped in the womb for who knows how long with my twin had likely driven me insane.

If only breathing exercises could work when you were supported by an umbilical cord.

A pair of soft lips pressed onto the top of my head, momentarily distracting me from my slipping sanity.

What was this woman thinking right now? What did she see me as?

She continued stroking my head gently rocking me back and forth. It was surprisingly pleasant. As much as my brain refused to settle down, the effect was much stronger on my new body. It was gradual but my tears stopped and my wails ceased until I eventually relaxed.

I had no clue how she managed to calm me down. My appraisal of my new mother had just improved dramatically. Once again the irony of my behaviour was not lost on me.

I was acting like a baby.

I buried as many plans and ideas as possible and tried my hardest to let go of my thoughts and fears. I concentrated on her steady heartbeat and the gentle rise and fall of her chest. After a long while she eventually coaxed me into slumber.

That first night of my new life I was exhausted and weary; traumatized by my final moments and clinging to the second woman to birth me as a lifeline to my remaining sanity.

I slept like a baby.

(There were two important things that transpired that day.

The first: I had died and been reborn.

The second: Ryouko Fueguchi had just given birth to twins.)