“When will school start again?”
Mako’s mouth was making a gack sound as she tried to say something, but instead, Fukuda asked for her.
“As soon as possible.”
I replied.
I meant it.
I never thought I’d say I enjoyed going to school, but still, I wanted to get back there as quickly as possible.
I didn’t have any desire to attend classes, yet I found myself yearning for that leisurely atmosphere and the after-school club activities.
“I’ll try to go starting tomorrow.”
“How about taking a bit of a break first? Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Having been unable to move for so long, I thought I’d feel stiff and ache here and there when I finally got going, but that wasn’t the case.
Maybe it was because I wasn’t an average person.
I was hungry, though.
“…I see.”
Fukuda stared at me quietly.
Then he looked at Kagami.
“Why?”
“Oh, just.”
Fukuda tilted his head as he spoke.
“Just… that’s how it is.”
Why’s he saying it so awkwardly?
He doesn’t still think I might end up as a little brother, right?
I glanced at Fukuda’s dad, who was smiling, and felt a bit uneasy.
“I’d like to celebrate having met again today, but it seems tough. You just woke up, and going in there is a little…”
Fukuda looked up at the apartment.
We had returned to the apartment I used to live in. Although there were plenty of rooms in the house where the funeral took place, it somehow felt overly gloomy as if no one had lived there for a long time.
Kagami didn’t seem too keen on staying there either.
“Let’s just plan for another day to hang out.”
“…okay.”
I nodded to Fukuda’s suggestion and smiled slightly.
“…Let’s talk properly next time.”
Seeing Mako and Fukuda wave at me as they walked away, Yuuki casually came over and said something like that to me.
Before I could even answer, he followed those two.
Yamashita looked at me with a slightly confused expression and turned his body.
“I haven’t been to work for quite a while.”
The boss said it with a nonchalant expression, but there was a bit of a nasal sound.
“…I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize. There were circumstances.”
I had been dead for quite some time.
Even in winter, a body at this point wouldn’t be in great shape. After all, not every winter is always below freezing.
“Start work from next week.”
“Yes.”
I nodded in response to the boss. He finally seemed relieved and smiled gently.
“Wow, I was shocked~”
Miki popped out and said.
“What is this? A surprise?”
No, even so, surprises like this aren’t a thing.
Still, it would be a bit awkward to get into detailed explanations, so I just kept my mouth shut.
After the boss’s sisters left, Kaoru and Izumi showed up.
“I left some bread on your desk.”
“….”
Ah, that.
In movies or dramas, when a student dies, they often leave this or that on their desk as offerings.
“Did you eat in the afterlife?”
“…No.”
As if I would.
I didn’t even know it was left there.
“Um, can food offerings be eaten in the afterlife?”
I think they’re really just for the people surviving here rather than the dead.
With a world where ghosts and all that actually exist, it’s a plausible idea, but unfortunately, I’ve never been a ghost, so I can’t really answer that.
Or rather, what kind of question is that for someone who just came back from the dead?
Seeing me look incredulous, Kaoru rushed right at me.
And hugged me tightly.
It wasn’t as strong of a hug as Koko’s, but it was definitely one where “with all her strength” was fitting.
“Welcome back. Really.”
“….”
At Kaoru’s words, Izumi next to her started to choke back tears again.
“We’ll be waiting in the literature club room. Let’s start making this year’s edition a little earlier. It has to be way cooler than last year!”
Wasn’t she supposed to be an exam student from this year?
But still, even if I told her not to, she’d probably do it anyway, so saying that here wouldn’t have any real meaning.
“Ha, see you at school.”
That was all Izumi could muster up to say.
Kaoru patted Izumi’s back as they turned to leave together. Izumi turned back several times to wave at me.
…… I absolutely have to go to school tomorrow. Otherwise, they’ll definitely think something’s happened to me. Izumi and the homeroom teacher too.
Even amidst everyone saying their goodbyes and leaving, there was one person still waiting.
I looked at Shii.
“Senpai.”
Shii was using her sleeve to wipe her eyes. Her surroundings were red and swollen, so it was painful to see.
Although I wanted to blame someone for how things turned out, the moment I thought that, I realized there was only one target to blame, making it even more painful.
Not knowing how to comfort a crying Shii, I simply reached out and patted her shoulder.
“…Next time, I’ll take you out for ramen.”
And unbelievably, that’s what came out of my mouth.
Seeing Shii’s tear-streaked face break into a small smile, it seemed to have worked after all.
While worrying whether it would be okay to tease her about laughing here and now, I nodded as seriously as possible.
“Absolutely.”
Though it’s something I always do anyway.
Shii couldn’t verbally respond but nodded vigorously.
I turned to Sasaki, who had been with Shii. Upon realizing what my gaze meant, she quickly came over to Shii.
“Shii.”
“Yes, older brother.”
Shii waved to me. I waved back at her.
“….”
At a slight distance away, Hagiwara and Nakahara were standing.
The atmosphere between both was somewhat awkward.
Since Nakahara and I didn’t have much of a connection, that was actually fine, but Hagiwara…
I waved my hand a bit stiffly, and the two waved back.
Hagiwara even tilted her head slightly toward me. Even while being a senior, to do that suggests she knows a bit about the incident from that day.
I thought I might need to ask her to tell me about it some other time.
After sending off the last party.
The remaining people were Koko, Kagami, and Yuka with her family.
“Yuka.”
Yuka’s grandfather spoke.
“…Today, we’ll stay here.”
“Oh.”
Kagami reacted as if she had been waiting for that.
“We were supposed to spend time as a family today.”
“….”
Yuka shot Kagami a sideways glance.
Family… huh?
I looked up at Kagami too.
“Are you planning on sleeping over here?”
As I alternated my gaze between Yuka and Kagami, both looked at me as if I were crazy.
“There’s a lot to discuss. Plus, who knows what might happen tonight.”
What might happen tonight…? Did that mean I might suddenly disappear again?
But I had nothing to dispute that with.
After all, I was the one who urged Yuka to stab me after coming back to life. She probably has a trauma from it by now.
I figure it was because of the funeral, but Yuka wasn’t carrying the knife she always had on her.
“Sleeping over, huh?”
Surprisingly, even Kagami reacted to my words as if they were absurd.
“Isn’t it totally natural for a family to live in the same house?”
Yuka’s words weren’t so surprising I felt indifferent afterward, but Kagami’s declaration was explosive.
“Huh?”
“You remember whose name this house is under, right?”
It’s not like I could just remember it or not.
I gazed intently at Kagami, but before I could say anything, she was already moving toward the house.
“Kotoné.”
Koko tugged at my sleeve.
“Kagami has been living here since then.”
And with what Koko said, I was left speechless.
“The number of meals has decreased.”
She even added that comment as if she were genuinely pleased.
Looking at Yuka, she shrugged her shoulders.
“Kotoné.”
Standing there in a particularly strange mood, staring at Kagami as she went up to the second floor, Yuka’s grandfather spoke to me.
“I’m sorry.”
“Yes?”
“When Yuka insisted on bringing you back to life, I opposed it.”
“….”
“I was too focused on one direction of the prophecy.”
“Prophecies do that, don’t they?”
Looking at Greek and Roman mythology, I know all about it.
Once you know, you can’t run away from it. Prophecy is just a troublesome concept that exists in this world.
Back then, the Kudan I met was quite noble and somewhat pitiable, so I felt a bit bad saying this, but… honestly, I hope I never have to meet Kudan this life again.
If I hear a similar prophecy again, I’d have no idea what to do.
“Could I ask you to take care of Yuka?”
Yuka’s dad, who was beside her grandfather, spoke.
He genuinely looked sorry. More precisely, he looked a bit embarrassed.
I slowly nodded my head.
“…Yes.”
Well, it was common for Yuka to say she’d spend a day with me.
Yuka’s face lit up with a big smile at my reply.
Her grandfather lightly patted my shoulder, then turned to say goodbye to Yuka.
“Let’s go.”
Yuka said that and entered the house ahead of me and Koko.
“Kotoné, let’s go!”
Koko tugged at my sleeve. With her strong pull, I began to move forward.
Thus, we returned home.
A little cramped, and somewhat old, but still…
A place where I had gotten used to enough that I could never forget it.
*
The next day, I put on my school uniform and went to school, and of course, there was a commotion.
The kids’ reactions were even more intense than I expected.
As always, I sat next to Koko, and every girl entering the room screamed and pressed against the walls.
The boys too seemed to turn pale; it couldn’t be helped. After all, I really had died and come back. The medical verdict must have been something like Koko had been sent from Yuka’s family when I was reborn.
Given those conditions, perhaps the reason they created forgery documents was that the government thought I was still useful.
I didn’t grasp what had happened precisely, but somehow something colossal occurred, and I had been at the center of it.
About ten minutes before class started, the homeroom teacher, Suzuki-sensei, walked in with a big smile on her face.
I had to get through some procedures to return to school, so early in the morning, I had stopped by the teacher’s office with Kagami and Koko.
Naturally, all the teachers looked pale when they saw me, but that was whatever. To sum it up, I submitted a medical certificate explaining how I came back to life, and just like that, I became a living student again.
Since they already knew that fact, Suzuki-sensei couldn’t be anything but in a good mood when she entered the classroom.
“Okay, everyone, could you sit down?”
Suzuki-sensei said to the kids with a very cheerful voice.
Those who had been pressed against the wall, trying to keep as far away from me as possible, and those who couldn’t even dare to step into the classroom, were slowly returning to their seats after seeing the teacher’s response.
It seemed they recognized I wasn’t a ghost. Suzuki-sensei had definitely looked straight at me.
“Alright then! Let’s start with the story of Kurosawa Kotoné, who has returned to our class!”
Suzuki-sensei said with a serious expression. I could feel the students focusing on her.
“Over the past few days, it seems Kurosawa-san was in a coma. There may have been a time when a death certificate was issued because she was in critical condition, and just yesterday, there was an incredibly serious situation that led to such a verdict.”
When the first death certificate was issued, it seemed there was little chance of survival, and the documents sent to school were ambiguously recorded, so I mistakenly conveyed that wrong information to you guys. I’m truly sorry.”
Suzuki-sensei stepped slightly out from behind the teacher’s desk and bowed a bit toward the students.
The classroom atmosphere became a little awkward. It’s common to see a student apologize to a teacher, but not many situations occur where the teacher will apologize to a student.
It’s understandable since it must have felt a bit unfair for Suzuki-sensei, but seeing her doing that makes me realize just how upright of a person she is.
“Now that she has overcome her health issues, she is able to return to school again, right?”
The teacher turned her gaze toward me, and I nodded.
“However, the illness she suffered from recently still has no clear cause. It seems like it could be a genetic disease, and there’s still some possibility of health issues arising, so if Kurosawa-san is having difficulties, I hope you can help her.”
I could hear the students murmuring away. From what I could catch, it didn’t sound like they were having terrible conversations. After all, I’m friends with Mako, Yuuki, and Fukuda. And those three knew many kids in the class.
So, it would probably follow that I wouldn’t be seen as a bad person.
“Alright then.”
After finishing up, it seemed Suzuki-sensei noticed the students were mostly in a good mood and opened the attendance sheet.
“Then, let’s call the roll.”
As she was looking down the attendance sheet, she suddenly turned towards me with a playful expression.
“Let’s try calling attendance a little differently today!”
Rather than calling out the first name as usual—
“Kurosawa Kotoné.”
She called out my name first.
Koko, who was next to me, looked at me with a big smile.
I felt like I was about to get infected by that smile and tried to twitch my lips slightly, but somehow managed to hold it in.
“Yes.”
But I couldn’t help but let a chuckle sneak into my voice as I answered.
*
Returning to school was nice, but I still didn’t find attending classes all that enjoyable.
Each teacher entering the room looked at me intensely, which made it a bit uncomfortable, and above all, I hadn’t followed the previous lessons, so keeping up was a little tough.
It was only a few days, so if I made a little effort, I could catch up quickly, but at my age as a student, making even ‘a little effort’ is surprisingly quite difficult. Isn’t this usually the age where you want to do many things?
So, pushing effort aside for a bit, I went up to the literature club room with Koko.
“….”
And then I came across the wild korokke.
No, calling it wild wouldn’t really apply. The korokke bag had a small hole at the end and was tied with fishing line.
Naturally, it was Kaoru’s trap again.
But to be honest, it did feel strange to get caught in traps now.
Having seen this trap many times before, what’s more, I wasn’t the Kotoné I used to be back then.
I wasn’t wandering around almost starving every day. This morning, I had eaten a proper Japanese meal that would be fitting for a traditional dinner.
Now that I think about it, Kagami really seemed genuine in her cooking. Or maybe she already had decent skills but just hadn’t put much thought into learning until now.
One thing’s for sure, she definitely had talent.
If by any chance Fukuda and she got married, Fukuda would definitely be over the moon.
Anyway, having just eaten a well-balanced breakfast of grilled salmon and miso soup, I wasn’t weak enough to be lured by an alley korokke.
Koko showed some interest, but as I simply walked by, she seemed a bit disappointed but still followed me.
As I slowly walked toward the club room, I quickly moved my feet and stepped heavily on the fishing line.
But as if it had anticipated me doing that, the fishing line flicked aside, expertly avoiding my foot.
As I moved my foot several times, the korokke was swiftly pulled closer almost to my foot.
Pausing for a second at the danger of stepping on the korokke, it flitted right under my foot and shot away straight ahead.
I half-leaped to grab the korokke—
“I got it!”
Kaoru, who had hooked a girl in as bait, excitedly hugged me.
“Just like I thought! Kotoné! Koko always catches them in one go!”
“….”
That was quite a compliment that made my feelings complicated.
While Kaoru was in a joyous mood, the door to the literature club room opened with a squeak, and Izumi peered outside, looking at us as if we were ridiculous.
“What are you two doing?”
She asked.
But the moment our eyes met, a smile spread across her face, which she couldn’t suppress.
Izumi quickly covered her mouth with her hand, but Kaoru already found something to tease her about.
“Talking like that, who was the head of the club who’s always been waiting for her underclassman?”
“I-I wasn’t! Why are you making things up?”
It certainly didn’t sound made up. With the way Izumi’s face was turning red, it seemed she didn’t know how to respond.
I decided to act oblivious to it.
As Kaoru and Izumi began to banter with one another, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
“Hello.”
Yuka greeted Kaoru and Izumi.
“Oh, hi!”
“Hey.”
Both of them smiled and greeted her.
The sight of them was so peaceful and dazzling that I squinted my eyes.
“Shall we go in then? It’s about time for club activities.”
Though “club activities” meant nothing more than sitting with the books we like, still—
“Say, aren’t you guys exam students from this year?”
“Oh, come on.”
Kaoru pointed her finger at Yuka’s remark.
“No need to speak of the cruel reality. They’ll come to face it all themselves.”
Where on earth did she read about something like that?
Was it a horror novel?
Izumi chuckled at that remark, while Yuka shrugged and looked at me.
I shrugged back. Even Koko imitated me.
We laughed as we entered the literature club room.
Just like always.
Just like I wish it would go on forever, just like always.
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