Dying feels painful you know? Alright, so I suppose not all forms of death are painful, but, you know, falling from the 24th story of a high rise and landing on the pavement below? Painful. And don't let the movies lie to you, not everyone dies on impact. How do I know that, dear reader? Because by my personal count, I survived for five god-damned minutes. Five gut-wrenching, hellfire-induced minutes of absolute agony.

I could feel every broken and splintered bone, every ragged breath I managed to rasp despite one of my lungs being completely shredded by broken bone. In short, it fucking hurt. And during all of this, I could hear the very faint voices of people around me. What I could hear over the steady pulses of pain throbbing in what I could only assume to be a ruptured ear drum.

"Hey, somebody call 911!"

"Holy shit, do you think she jumped?"

"No way, look how she landed, she had to of been pushed!"

All the while, I lay there, staring up at the clouds above me, unable to move and absolutely unwilling to try. Even as I stared above me, I could feel the sharp agony slowly dull to a roar of pain. Then mild and farther still as the world around me grew black.

'But.' I thought helplessly, an internal frown coloring my mind orange. 'I haven't done anything I wanted. No book published, no boyfriend...'

Unable to keep from closing them, my eyes drifted shut, blocking out the blue, cloud-filled sky and the concerned faces hovering at the edges of my vision bit by bit. 'God, my life barely got off the ground and it's already over.'

Darkness that reminded me of the taste of cherries for some reason descended, sounds muted to nothing more than the feeble beats of my, quite literally, broken heart echoing in the black. This was nice, I decided, comfortable in the soft darkness. The rapid flutter of my heart once more pulled at my attention curiously. Honestly, I thought it would have stopped by this point. I was a spirit right now, right? Shifting my attention elsewhere, I tried to make senses of the situation. I died, fell from very high on my apartment building. Vague images of a apartment deck with a view of the city skyline, ferns and morning glories decorating the railing. A single deck chair to one side with a scratched and beaten up wooden table beside it.

A burst of citrus-laced fear drug me from my thoughts. 'Something just touched me!' I tried to move, my limbs feeling like lead as I flailed whatever one would listen to me at the time. Please don't tell me I ended up in hell! Completely blind as demons rip the flesh from my bones inch by inch. Once again, I felt something brush against my side. Yellow sparks of curiosity touched my thoughts. This wasn't something horrible, no pain at least, just a gentle touch really.

I tried to shift again, slowly rolling my barely responding body until I faced the other way in the warm, non-space I apparently shared now. 'Another lost soul?' I theorized idly, attempting to move my arm until it finally responded and moved forward, brushing against something warm and soft.

Despite it's apparently affinity for touching me, my touched startled it into moving away from my questing hand. Not to be denied the same right this thing/person had been taking advantage of, I stubbornly stretched my arm the best I could until I once more came into contact with it again. It shifted, as if trying to escape again, but stilled when I tried to pat whatever I was touching in a soothing manner.

Something brushed my hand, curiously sparks raced across my skin until another hand grasped my own. Sudden red-hot anger blazed through me, not mine, it couldn't be. I had absolutely nothing to be angry about. Jerking away, I relished in the fade of the unusual emotion leaving me in a haze of confusion.

'What the hell was that?'

Shifting as much as I could, I moved away from the thing as far as I could, I vaguely understood what had happened. All my life, before dying that is, I had been an empath of sorts, sensitive to the emotions of others around me. Touching them granted a far greater degree of understanding, but nothing this clear before. I could literally taste the anger coming from them, lemony with a faint cinnamon aftertaste if you were wondering. Whatever they were... They did not like being here, either because I was in their space or just here in general, I had no clue.

I spent days drifting in and out of sleep, which surprised the hell out of me, honestly, because who would have thought you'd get tried after death? It was during one of my wakeful moments when I was scared once again.

I was testing my fingers, one by one, making a fist then relaxing it before doing it all over again. During my second attempt I felt a firm pressure against my back. Startled, I scooted away from it, ignoring the fact I basically wrapped around my angry visitor. Another lance of irritation spiked through me, but was cut off short when the pressure came back, this time against the both of us.

Wishing I could make even a simple noise, I wrapped myself around my companion, despite being completely freaked out myself, I could feel the violet worry waving off of them and wanted to help somehow. Irritation spiked again until the pressure came back, harder this time, and they returned my grip. Hands grabbing what they could while we both tried to move away from the invading force.

'What the hell is that thing?!' I groaned mentally, pulling my companion closer with what little strength I had, feeling them reluctantly respond in kind.

'Calm, it most likely will not hurt us.'

Jerking in surprise, I tried to move from whatever I was clinging to only for them to hold fast. That was a goddamned voice in my head! A rough, obviously adult voice with a touch of frustration that from what I could tell based on what they said, came from my companion!

'What?'

'Calm down before you injure yourself, or, to a far greater degree, me.'

'What the hell is this?'

'I mean to ask the same. Humans hardly have such coherent thoughts at this stage of life.'

This time light green suspicion colored their tone, making me flinch mentally.

'I'm not sure what you mean.'

It was a while before they replied, leaving me to realize the invading pressure was gone and hasn't been back during our internal conversation. Idle relief filled me until the voice came back, their tone leaving no arguments.

'Do not speak to me again.'

They slowly pulled away from me until the only thing that touched was their back from what I could feel. Confused and slightly hurt, I rolled myself around until mine pressed against them in turn and drifted into a dazed sleep.

Days or perhaps weeks passed, our silence holding firm. I finally decided I had to of landed in hell considering the company I was keeping. Now and again I would test my limbs, moving my arms or legs, testing my hands then circling back before I grew tired and fell asleep again.

In short, I was bored and despite the growing irritation from my companion at my constant movement, I once again attempted to talk to them out of the need for something different to do.

'Hey, you awake?'

The familiar feeling of annoyance edging into anger washed over me before resignation colored it all in soft gold.

'What?'

'Do... Do you know why we ended up in hell together?'

Silence reigned, surprised bubbling from them as they processed my question. Maybe I was wrong, maybe they had no idea they were in hell until I said something? It was a odd situation to find yourself in to begin with but still, they didn't draw the conclusion themselves yet?

'You... Believe we are in hell?'

Pink amusement flashed when they answered, the taste of dark chocolate following close behind.

'While I am inclined to agree due to sharing this space with the likes of you. I will tell you this is not hell.'

I unconsciously turned myself around, focusing on them intently.

'So what, heaven forgot to pay the bills and has to conserve space and power?'

'You truly are simple-minded as to believe you are dead.'

'What the hell does that mean?'

'It means we are not dead obviously.'

Now he was just trying to piss me off. What the actual hell was he talking about?

'Alright then, smart guy, what do you think all of this is then?'

'Very simple, a human's womb. Unfortunately I was not aware she carried twins until it was too late.'

Now that shocked me into silence, a womb? What? I died! How the hell could I be in a womb? A shift in my companion, a hand pressing my chest, catching my attention.

'How does an unborn child as yourself have such clear thoughts?'

Reaching out the best I could, I touched them back hesitantly.

'I died, ended up here somehow.'

Vague, unfinished thoughts danced between us. Ideas that were quickly banished and replaced with new ones just as fast.

'Perhaps we are in a similar predicament. I however have the advantage of being superior. You being nothing more than a human, one with unique abilities but a human nonetheless.'

'Then what does that make you?'

'A demon.'

I fell quiet, squeezing what I assumed to be their arm curiously, feeling them out a moment before replying with some measure of disbelief.

'You don't feel like a demon.'

'Child, I am in a human's womb, what do you assume her to birth?'

A long-suffering voice of someone much older trying to explain something simple drifted from them. Completely uncalled for, but whatever.

'I don't know? I mean, she's a human giving birth to a dead person and a demon. You tell me.'

'I am merely using this body to hide until my powers return.'

'Oh, a demon in a human body. Sounds like a story I used to watch.'

Flashes of images flickered across my mind. Yu Yu Hakusho was one of my favorite animes. Kurama had a similar story, a bit of a stretch it was happening here. Demons were around, but from what I could tell with my limited awareness of emotion, they were nothing more than energy until they managed to latch themselves onto a human with negative feelings or thoughts.

'What was that?'

They asked finally, a frown seeming to color their voice. Something tugged at my thoughts, rewinding the images until it stopped on the one of Yoko Kurama and seemed to study it from every angle.

'So similar, however the ears are a darker color than my hair. The tail is much too short. Where did you see this?'

I felt the uncontrollable urge to laugh. This guy, this supposed demon was telling me he looked exactly like Yoko Kurama? Fat. Chance.

'Dude, it's a TV show. You can't honestly expect me to believe that is you.'

'The name Yoko Kurama has appeared in your thoughts in relation to this image. That is my name.'

'Yeah right, and I'm Shessomaru!'

Ignoring their puzzlement, I blocked them out in aggravation and pulled away to be alone in my thoughts for a while. Whoever they were, demon or whatever, they were pissing me off. As if I'd believe any of that! I absolutely refused to believe I fell into a fucking fanfiction-esque storyline. Yoko Kurama indeed!

Time was hard to tell in the limbo state we were in. But considering I knew where we were, it made sense that our living space began to steadily grow smaller. In any case the next time we spoke, our backs had been pressed against each other for a while.

'Where did you come from?'

This time it was him that initiated the conversation, and for once there wasn't even an ounce of irritation in his tone. Merely pure curiosity.

'Earth.'

'While I appreciate sarcasm, now is not the time.'

The familiar frustration for some reason soothed me into a more comfortable state of mind.

'Two thousand and twenty.'

I finally stated, drawing on the thoughts I had been pondering over during the silence.

'And if you really are Yoko Kurama, then this is the beginning of your human life, making it the early nineteen eighties by my best guess.'

'Hardly believable. Much less important to how you know me.'

I groaned mentally and began skimming images like before, stopping at a few then finally settling on a simple memory of my hand holding the box set of Yu Yu Hakusho my best friend gave me for my twentieth birthday.

'This is why. You can't be him because Yoko Kurama isn't real. Just a part of a story.'

Like before, he seemed to take the image and turn it over, studying it closely.

'Interesting, and what does this story tell?'

'Ha, not happening. Even if it is highly unlikely you are him. I'm not even going to take a chance, everyone knows future information is dangerous.'

'Fairly intelligent for a human.'

'Oh shut up.'

We were silent a moment, dwelling on the conversation. It was a rather odd one, but at the very least it kept the boredom at bay for a bit.

'Who are the others in this image?'

'I don't think you should know that either.'

I was hesitant, on the one hand I knew everything that would happen, all the good and bad as well as the in-between and wanted to help. But it was dangerous to know your own future, there was no telling what little bit he already knew might change already.

A bubbling laugh washed over me, nearly scaring the shit out of me in the process.

'A human with enough intelligence to say no and keep their head about not giving into the urge to change a story they know.'

'Uh... What?'

A chuckle this time, followed by what could only be a sigh with something similar to fondness tempering it.

'Keep the information to yourself, little one, I have no desire to ruin the story of my own future.'

'Well good, because I wouldn't have told you anyway.'

'Perhaps when I return to demon world, I will take you with me. You have turned out to be rather entertaining.'

'Won't I die from exposure to the air there?'

'Normally, however there are a multitude of plants that when cultivated properly can give you immunity for moments at a time.'

'I'll have to think about it.'

'You act as if I will give you a choice in the matter.'

'Come on, we're finally talking on good terms, don't ruin it now.'

He chuckled again and shifted against me in what seemed to be comfort.

'Sleep and grow, we will have time to speak on this matter later.'

Grumbling to myself, I reluctantly fell asleep despite not liking his possessive tone. Just my luck to meet one of my favorite characters from an anime I watched near-religiously as a child and well into adulthood, if I were to believe him anyway, and he ends up deciding I'm something akin to a pet!

Months passed in this fashion, our conversations ranging from our pasts, to how we were even talking to begin with. Turns out, unborn children are more soul than body. And with the two of us being in two bodies from the same source, our souls were a closer wavelength of energy. Despite our difference in species anyhow, allowing for a sort of connection. I have no real idea what he was talking about to be honest. Most of what he said flew directly over my head. Needless to say, our time passed in a somewhat pleasant state. Aside of his obviously possessive attitude. Thankfully it wasn't anything weird not like he wants me to be his lover or anything, thank god for that, I don't really think I could handle that on top of everything else.

Like I said earlier, it was more along the lines of his favorite pet or something. Apparently he doesn't like to share if his annoyed reaction to my recount of how I met my best friend is anything to go by.

'Who is this woman?'

I paused on the mental image of Savanna, blond curly hair, blue eyes and that familiar happy-go-lucky smile that nearly blinded me with it's innocence every time it was pointed at me.

'Savanna, my best friend. She was there for me during some of my darker times. I honestly don't know what I would have done without her.'

'It is a good thing she is not here.'

'Why?'

'I may have the urge to keep you away from her. You are mine now, remember that.'

I groaned in frustration, mentally palming my face and taking a deep breath to try and calm down before replying.

'Would you knock that off? I'm not your dog!'

'If you wish to believe that.'

At the very least, we weren't alone and bored while waiting to escape our rapidly shrinking cage. The only thing we really argued about was space and who's foot goes where. Most of that was really for no other reason than to argue to alleviate the silence now and again.

After what seemed like ages, there was a shift, a lack of space, the warm bubble surrounding us vanished, the skin outside of it pressing in on us.

'What? Kurama!'

'Relax, Let it happen.'

His calm words helped me to relax, but I wasn't any less freaked out. Letting go of him, I tensed up and just let whatever was happening, happen. With all the time that passed and his calm tone, I could only assume it was time to be born.

'I will see you on the other side.'

His voice somehow seemed to grow faint, what little contact we had slipping away as I moved farther. Let me tell you, birth? Extremely uncomfortable for the child. Being pressed in on all sides while squeezing through a small area. No way to breathe or even scream as you are slowly pushed down a narrow tube of sorts.

Finally a blinding light, large hands and muffled words as I was thrust out of the warmth and into the cold. I couldn't help myself, everything was too much to bear or even keep up with. No calming voice or familiar touch to help me chill out.

I cried, panicked as I moved around, passed hand to hand before settling on something warm for a few moments. And just as I got comfortable and started to calm down, I was taken away again and laid on something soft. Voices echoing around me while I flailed, trying to get away from the pair of large hands moving me around.

Something was laid beside me after a while, my immediate reaction to grab onto it in an attempt to ground myself. A familiar brush of emotion made me tear up again as I grasped Kurama's hand tightly.

No words passed between us, just a gentle calm with underlying amusement. No doubt at my expense, was exchanged. I took several shuddering breaths as I gripped his hand with what strength I had.

'Don't let go.'

I pleaded softly, unable to handle everything that was happening on my own, he responded by gripping back just as tightly. The hands returned, bringing with it a brief moment of fear, my other hand flailing around until I could grab onto Kurama with it too.

A gentle voice washed over us as we were lifted into the air. A couple of heart-stopping moments later, we were laid against something warm, the familiar thud of a heart against my ear leading me to believe we were now laying against someone's chest. Most likely our mother's from what I could recall of my sister's labor.

Finally, fresh air. Now we just have to grow up. I made a gurgling noise in my throat as I clasped Kurama's hand and snuggled into the warmth of the woman holding us. Good god I was not looking forward to puberty the second time around.