He's Still here

Chapter 1

The twins were 5 years old when it happened. Nothing seems out of the ordinary that day, family driving to the store like they did every other Tuesday together. The twins playing with their matching fox plushies in the back. All was well, until it wasn't.

There was loud honking to the right of the car, then the sound turned to that of crunching metal. Someone was screaming, no one really knew who it was. Glass shattered and at least one person's screams abruptly stopped.

The police showed up quickly. One group arresting the surprisingly unharmed drunkard in the first car, the other assisting paramedics with the family in the second car. The man had hit the passenger side. The mother's arm was definitely broken and she was unconscious. The father, who was driving, was awake with several cuts, scratches and bruises. The first twin was in a similar state to his father, although he wasn't conscious.
The second twin however... they didn't even need to get him out of the car to know it was a DOA. The car had hit directly on the back door of the passenger side. It was most likely a dead on impact. Never the less, the paramedics got the entire family out and made their way to the hospital.

•

The father, Mashiro, was the only one able to be discharged. He had scraps and bruises as well as a minor concussion but was overall alright. The mother, Akira, needed surgery on her arm and would be assessed for a concussion after she wakes. He unfortunately was alone when he received the news about his son. Even more unfortunately, they didn't know which son.

Atsumu and Osamu were identical twins, they had the exact same DNA, the only thing unique between them were their fingerprints. Having been 5 however, the twins had never been fingerprinted. The father had the unfortunate job of having to ask his own son who he was. Then having to break the news that the other never made it out. How could he? They were together even before they were born, never having to be apart for more than a day. How could he tell his son his other half was dead?

Finally the moment Mashiro was dreading came, " Mr. Miya your son is awake."

He slowly walked into the room to see his small son groggily rub his eyes as if he had just woken up from a nap, "Papa?"

"Hi bud, how are ya feeling."
"Mmm... head hurts... where's nii-san?"

He didn't know what to say... but he couldn't lie to him. How could he?

".... I-Son... he.... Nii-san isn't here."
"Where he go? I need him."

Mashiro couldn't help the tears that came to his eyes, "Well bud... ya see... we were in an accident... we all got real hurt but... your brother got hurt the most..."
"What!! Papa please where's nii-san!!"
"Oh baby I'm so so sorry!"

All Mashiro could do was hug his son in tears.

The twin was silent for a moment. He may be young but he isn't stupid. His father told him his twin was hurt badly then when asked where he was cried and apologized. He connected the dots rather quickly but refused that reality.

"No. No you not sorry Papa! Nii-san is fine! Nii-san would never leave me! We promised!"
"Son... sometimes... bad things happen and we can't control them... we just have to be sad, and work on being happy again."
"Papa no! I need him! He needs me! He's still here Papa he has to be!"
".... Baby ple-"
"NO!! No no no no NOOO!!!"

The boy started kicking and screaming. His heart monitor went wild and a few nurses came rushing in having the father step outside.

"I'm so sorry baby...."

•

They ended up having to sedate the boy as he absolutely refused to calm down and was aggravating his injuries in the process.

At this point Akira, the mother, had woken up and also been given the heart breaking news. The next day Akira was also discharged as she surprisingly also only had a minor concussion and the surgery had went well only needing a follow up to remove the cast and stitches.
Physically their son was fine, but they were informed he now refused to speak. They recommended a child psychologist and therapist for the boy and were told to not mention the other's twin for the time being, as it might create another episode. They then were allowed to bring him home.

Still, they didn't know which son it was.

•

It had been two weeks since the accident and still the boy hadn't spoken. He barely ate, barely did much of anything really. His parents were getting worried and tried to talk.

This time his mother tried first, "Hey sweetie? Could you sit here with us on the couch?"
He looked up from his coloring and silently sat between his parents.
"Honey... I know this has been hard for you but... you need to speak. Not just for life but you need to be able to talk about this with someone."
The twin looked at his mother confused and without ceremony spoke, "About what ma?"
Akira's eyes widened thinking she had made some sort of breakthrough, "Well, about your brother sweet pea."
"What about 'em?"
"Well, I know it's difficult now that he's not here and you need someone to help."
"Ma? What're ya talkin' about? We didn't go anywhere...?"
"I-Well no you didn't but your brother did."
"But we're both... right here...?"
"I-What?"
"Can me and 'tsumu color again?"
"I-um. Sure honey."

As the boy went back to his crayons she made a call to the doctor.

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"Dissociative identity disorder or a split personality."
"I- what?"
They had brought their son to the recommended psychologist the next day.

"I technically can't make an official diagnosis until he's older but this is often the age that this disorder develops. Essentially some sort of major trauma happens and the psyche is unable to deal with it therefore creating a separate psyche to deal with said trauma. Although your son has taken the direct route to erase the trauma entirely by reviving his twin, at least in his mind."

"So... Which is the real one?"

"That's a complicated answer. While your son himself was born as one particular twin, this disorder usually creates another personality entirely with their own facets. It is essentially two or more people sharing a body, one is not more 'real' than the rest."

Akira and her husband sat down a moment to process all this new information.

"So... how do we... fix it?"

"That's a complicated answer as well. This isn't something you can fix with medication nor therapy. The mind created this alternate personality to deal with trauma that they aren't equipped to handle. If we could somehow take away the additional personalities then the 'original' psyche would be forced to deal with the trauma that it is unable to deal with and could cause a a breaking of said psyche."

Just then the little boy ran up to his mother, "Ma! Look what we drew! I did dis one and 'samu did dat one!"

They were surprised as they looked down at the coloring book. It was of dinosaurs. On the left the one 'Atsumu' claimed to color, it was of several unrealistic colors of purples and pinks and blues as well as quite scribbled with many spots still open with white. The right dinosaur however, that 'Osamu' colored was a muddy green color with some yellow and most of it was colored in with the very few missing spots. The dinosaurs were uniquely them. It was as if when one twin's body died, his spirit simply slipped into the other body to share. They were different yet one in the same, they shared absolutely everything from birth why not a body they supposed.

"They're beautiful babies. Ma loves you... both of you... so much. You know that right?"
He looks up at her with his innocent bright eyes and smiles, "We love you too Ma!"

•

Well that was the first chapter! I'm sad now lol. The next chapter will be a bit of a time skip. Hope you're liking it so far. Thanks for reading!