A choking feeling…

  No, perhaps… suffocating? As if I couldn't breathe, no matter how hard I'd try.

  I felt no pressure, not on my neck, not on my lungs.

  In fact, I felt nothing but this odd suffocation.

  A dark void pressed down on me like it was squeezing my soul into a shape it couldn't fit in.

  It was a painless but painful hard-to-describe feeling.

  I don't know how long I've felt this pressure. A moment? When did I first have these thoughts? When did I first start feeling this suffocation?

  Was it just a moment ago?

  A few hours…? Maybe a year?

  There was nothing to indicate how long I'd been here. In this darkness, feeling this painful, yet painless feeling.

  Yet the next moment, whether a second or a hundred years had passed, I felt another feeling.

  As the pressure subsided, I felt a deep thump. It was rhythmic, like a gentle lullaby.

  Soon, the pressure was completely replaced by this thumping feeling. It slowly got stronger, and it felt much nicer than the suffocating feeling from earlier.

  I don't know how long it's been, but now that I felt more comfortable, I was content with this feeling.

  But, it didn't stop there.

  The darkness slowly began changing.

  While it was still dark, it was no longer a black void. It was pale, almost yellowish gray.

  Then, another feeling. Warmth. At times, it would be warmer than others, but that warmth came in fixed intervals.

  It seemed to wash over me when it was brightest in this odd void, then again at its darkest.

  Slowly, more familiar feelings began flowing through me. Like twitches.

  Those twitches were random. I felt them beneath me, and other times to my sides.

  Then another feeling. It was the opposite of the suffocating feeling. It felt as if I could breathe, now.

  I felt something refreshing filling me, then slowly it would deflate, then fill again.

  Along with the gentle thumps and the periodic warmth that enveloped me, this new sensation was comforting.

  Then it was another long moment before another change… or was it a short moment? I still don't know.

  This time, it was continuous warmth, but it wasn't the same as the periodic warmth. It was a warmth that covered my entire being, but it felt less… close. Less familiar, but I knew it was a part of me.

  Me?

  Who am I?

  I'm… William? A… a soldier… Marine…

  I like books, reading… RPG video games, guns, swords, and knives… anime, ramen, sushi…

  What happened?

  Why am I here, in this void?

  I was… I was just… what was I doing last?

  Was it painful? It was painful… was it painful?

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  What was painful? I'm not feeling any pain now… in fact, I'm very comfortable.

  Ah, a new feeling, but it wasn't comforting or comfortable. It was aching. All around me, it ached.

  But it wasn't painful…

  The warmth was more intense than before like it was fighting this aching feeling.

  I stayed like this for who knows how long… At times there would be a fresh, slightly cold feeling around my… head area, I suppose.

  It smelled nice, though. But that feeling doesn't always come.

  Then, it's as if all those feelings were turned up to eleven.

  The twitches, the random twitches, felt more clear. The constant foreign warmth, as well.

  The yellowish, pale void turned brighter, and I felt as if I was pressing against that very void. It was elastic, but I didn't feel as if I could break through with whatever it was I was pressing with.

  They didn't feel like my hands.

  …Hands?

  As if to answer that question, the void split open to brilliant white light.

  It was a painful moment, but I soon got used to it. Appearing before me was a pale, small hand.

  Too small and too frail. It wasn't my hand.

  But, at the same time, I knew it was my hand.

  "…"

  My eyes look away from the hand, looking out of a wooden frame.

  The frame contained a light blue hue, with an occasional blue or grey dot streaking by.

  It was… a sky. A clear, blue sky. A beautiful sight.

  Then, where am I?

  The ceiling… I was in a room, but it was unfamiliar and familiar.

  I never lived in a house like this, but I have, haven't I?

  For as long as I could remember, this was my room, but for as long as I could remember, I lived in an entirely different room.

  This room, a single chest, that I knew contained some of my clothes. A big bucket in the corner. I used that for baths.

  But… I just used the shower yesterday, not a bucket and a…—

  — A water… magic stone?

  Yeah, it was only natural to use a water magic stone to bathe myself, but… wouldn't using a shower be better?

  Magic…

  Magic?

  …?!

  "Ma—…gic…?"

  A frail, hoarse voice. It was mine. But aren't I a grown man?

  No, I'm… ten years old this year… I remember the pie Mama made.

  Mama…?

  Flashes of my mother… — mothers— passed through my mind.

  "…hhrk…!"

  A stinging pain assaulted my head.

  Yet, as soon as it started, it went.

  "I'm… I've been…"

  Reincarnated…?

  Clearly, I knew who I was… Corporal William Princeton, a soldier in the Marine Corps.

  But these other memories… they aren't mine, they were this body's memories.

  I… I must've died in battle… but why can't I remember it?

  And this body… this little ten-year-old girl…

  She was sick. Very sick.

  But she's fine now. I'm fine now.

  We're fine…

  It's hard to believe. All those goddamned isekai anime and manga… to think something like that would happen to me, of all people.

  But maybe it happens to everyone after they die. I wouldn't know. It's pointless to ask that question, anyway.

  William is dead and now I'm Luxanna Lunarwhisker.

  Heh… Lunarwhisker.

  The less funny part of this whole ordeal was that not only was I now a ten-year-old girl, but I am a ten-year-old cat girl.

  Fluffy white ears sat atop my head, and a long fluffy tail sprouted just above my butt. I felt long little fangs brush against my rough tongue.

  "My… eyesight… couhh— is incredible…"

  I used to wear corrective lenses, but this is crazy. I can see the littlest detail in the wood of the ceiling.

  But, how do I look? From memories, I'm a cute little kid with long white hair and light blue eyes.

  Huh… I like cats… in my past life, I've had two sibling cats I loved a lot. I got them from the streets, and they had completely different coat colors, but they were inseparable brothers.

  But, white hair and blue eyes. I'm surprised I'm not deaf. A common defect with cats that have this hair and eye color combination.

  Maybe it doesn't happen to cat people?

  One thing is for sure… I'm thirsty as hell!

  Just as I was complaining about the harsh dryness in my throat and nasal cavity, the door to my room creaked open.

  I meet eyes with a familiar figure.

  "Ma…ma…"

  The beautiful, young woman instantly dropped the book she was holding and covered her mouth, tears streaming down her clear blue eyes.

  "Luxa!"

  She rushed to my side and gently embraced me, careful not to hurt me.

  "You're awake…! You're awake! Oh, my little baby!"

  I weakly lifted my hands and reciprocated her hug. It was the same warmth I periodically felt while I was in that void, unconscious.

  This warmth that William long forgot, back when he was a small child himself. His mother also hugged him like this after he recovered from nearly drowning.

  Despite my dry mouth, I felt like I needed to say something. For Luxanna's sake.

  "I love you, Mama…"