Ch.183Chapter 28. Things You Should Never Do at a Funeral (3)

My body felt heavy, and breathing was difficult due to Koko’s arms tightly squeezing my waist, but I was more worried about my face.

It felt like I had burns on my face.

I’ve heard that human skin starts to cook when the body temperature rises just a few degrees above normal, so maybe that’s what was happening. Perhaps too much blood had rushed to my face, raising the temperature so high that it was burning my skin…

Thinking about it again, it wasn’t just my face. My entire body felt hot. Realizing this heat came purely from embarrassment only emphasized how mortifying my current situation was.

I wished Koko would just squeeze me tighter until I passed out. At least then I’d wake up in a better situation than trying to escape while wearing a burial shroud.

“Kotone!”

I was trying to keep my forehead pressed against the asphalt to avoid being flipped over, but Koko wouldn’t leave me like that.

My body suddenly turned sideways.

The other kids who had been piled on top of me had already backed away, and only Koko, Yuka, and Kagami were sitting near me.

Whether sitting or standing, they were all looking down at me either way.

“…”

Their gazes felt piercing.

Fortunately, none of them looked contemptuous or angry.

Most expressions showed either shock or amusement. They all had faces that had gone from crying to laughing.

…Wait, looking again, some of these people don’t even know my real situation.

“Kotone!”

But before I could continue that thought, Koko’s face filled my vision.

Even with Koko’s cute appearance, this was honestly a bit scary.

Though she was smiling brightly.

Koko seemed certain I was me. It wouldn’t have been strange if she thought I was some remnant of Nirlas.

But that thought changed when I felt my heart beating.

This body was still somehow connected to Koko’s body. The last one stabbed was Nirlas’s body. So naturally, the remaining part would be the body used to resurrect me.

Through my pounding heart, I could directly feel how happy Koko was right now.

As I slowly raised my body, Koko backed away slightly.

Sitting with my bottom on the ground, I was now face to face with Koko.

Her eyes were red.

They were eyes that had been crying until just moments ago. The area around them was swollen, while the rest of her face was pale. Had she not been eating properly again?

While I was worrying about Koko, my vision went dark again. Koko’s hair covered my face.

My body was squeezed tight. Koko was hugging me.

Perhaps because of the cold weather, I could feel Koko’s high body temperature against mine.

“…”

And that sensation made me realize I had truly returned.

I slowly moved my hands and embraced Koko.

It was a body identical to mine. The body I thought I might never see again was trembling slightly.

Koko buried her face in my shoulder and cried.

Whether it was because my body was receiving Koko’s emotions, or simply because I was happy myself.

I felt like crying too.

I knew I had caused great pain to the people here. Considering my actions just now, perhaps I wasn’t the one who should be crying.

But suddenly feeling so relieved, I just broke down sobbing.

Another hand was placed on Koko and me. Was it Yuka? Or Kagami who was right beside us? It didn’t matter.

I just enjoyed the sensation of being tightly embraced, welcoming me back.

Ah, I see.

I had been afraid too.

When I met Kuro, I acted as if I had accepted everything calmly, but I really did want to live.

Even though I acted like I had let go of everything in my past life, I still wanted to live.

There were so many things I wanted to do while alive.

All the conversations we had at the end,

And all the conversations we never got to have.

Everything.

I cried like a child in everyone’s arms for a long time.

*

After shedding many tears and blowing my nose several times.

I’m not sure who suggested “Let’s get something to eat,” but we found ourselves in a nearby restaurant.

Since it was late at night, we naturally ended up at a family restaurant.

Even in my tear-dazed state, I thought, ‘This combination of people is strange.’

I still hadn’t changed out of my burial shroud. Koko was clinging to me so tightly that I couldn’t change clothes.

The already white shroud had gotten dirty from rolling around on the ground.

As soon as we entered the restaurant, the few customers inside immediately turned to stare at us, which was unavoidable.

And that made me suddenly aware of our situation.

At the front was a girl in a dirty burial shroud. She looked pale, as if she had just died and come back to life.

Next to her was an identical-looking girl in black clothes, as if she had been attending the first girl’s funeral.

On either side of them were an adult who resembled the two girls, also in black clothes, and another girl who appeared to be their peer, also in black. Her hair was neatly tied back, and her eyes were red as if she had been crying heavily.

And that wasn’t all. Behind them were numerous people.

All dressed in funeral attire.

Among them was even our homeroom teacher, Ms. Suzuki, who still hadn’t fully grasped the situation!

“Um, Kagami.”

Having assessed the situation, I quickly looked up at Kagami and called her name.

Kagami looked down at me.

She was smiling.

She was smiling, but somehow it felt like she was extremely angry.

I swallowed hard and opened my mouth.

“Maybe we should go back there instead…”

I wasn’t sure where “there” was. The place where the funeral was held was somewhere I’d never been before. Actually, I couldn’t remember it well. I had fled in such a panic that I hadn’t really observed my surroundings, but at least this restaurant was unfamiliar to me.

Kagami just looked at me without saying anything.

She just smiled—a wide, eerie smile.

I trembled.

I looked to the side.

“There wouldn’t have been anything to eat there.”

Is that so?

If it had been a Korean funeral, there would have been yukgaejang soup at least. Well, it’s not that Japanese funerals don’t have food, but the situation was probably too chaotic.

Besides, me eating yukgaejang at my own funeral would have been strange anyway.

…

Yuka’s stiff face was as frightening as Kagami’s smile, so I couldn’t argue.

“…I’m hungry.”

And decisively, Koko, who was stuck to my side and wouldn’t let go, said that, leaving me with nothing more to say.

To be honest, I was hungry too.

When I came to my senses, my stomach was growling. Whether this was due to Koko’s influence or because I hadn’t eaten anything for days, I wasn’t sure.

In the end, we occupied a corner of the family restaurant.

There were several types of seating available.

Four-person tables where people sat facing each other, the kind you might see in American dramas.

And long eight-person tables, seemingly designed for large families.

I moved toward a four-person table without hesitation, but someone grabbed the collar of my clothes.

Even without that, I couldn’t move if Koko didn’t move.

Yuka, who had grabbed me, dragged me over and sat me down at an eight-person table.

Koko sat to my left, and Kagami sat to my right.

Yuka sat across from me. And next to her was Yuu.

The remaining seats were filled by Shii, Harumi, and Mako in order, quickly filling the table.

Kaoru even brought a chair from the next table to claim a spot, and seeing this, Izumi did the same.

I was completely surrounded.

…Will I be able to tell if the food goes into my mouth or my nose?

Moreover, near this—now ten-person—eight-person table, other people crowded around and sat down.

It looked like a funeral was taking place in a family restaurant.

My funeral.

What should I do, really?

I looked down at the table, breaking out in a cold sweat.

*

While I was too flustered to remember what I had ordered, a hamburger steak appeared in front of me.

Various other foods appeared in front of the others as well.

The meal began in an extremely heavy atmosphere.

Judging by the atmosphere, it really felt like a funeral, and I felt like I should say something, but—

—what should I say?

The street earlier was better. At least there was a somewhat warm atmosphere then, but now it felt like a post-mortem inquiry.

Moreover, among my friends, some were connected to the “extraordinary,” and some were not.

I glanced slightly at Mako.

Mako was mechanically moving her hands, eating french fries. Judging by her slightly crooked glasses, both she and Harumi beside her seemed unable to easily gather their thoughts.

Since everyone was eating, I slowly raised my hands to pick up my knife and fork.

And I looked around.

All eyes were on me.

Was this some kind of verification process?

Like, “Zombies don’t eat food, so let’s see if you eat”?

I slowly moved my hands to cut the hamburger steak. It cut smoothly. I put a piece in my mouth along with the fried egg on top, and I could taste the rich meat flavor.

The cooking was just right, and despite being made from ground meat, it had a good texture.

It was delicious.

It was delicious, but this wasn’t exactly a cheerful situation where I could say “delicious” out loud.

To my right, Kagami was still smiling.

To my left… Koko was eating the same food as me, but she looked up at me with each bite, so when I turned my head sideways, our eyes met.

Yuka was still staring at me expressionlessly.

The others were no different. Whether glancing occasionally or staring openly, they were all looking at me.

“…Um.”

It’s extremely burdensome.

But in this situation, I was the one who needed to speak up. After all, I was the one who created this situation.

What should I say?

“Surprise”? If I said that, all the friends I had made would be terribly disappointed. Besides, it wasn’t even true. I didn’t want to lie even in this situation.

But not being sure how much to say or how to say it, what came out of my mouth was ultimately quite pathetic.

I carefully put down my fork and knife.

There was still unfinished food on the plate. The portion wasn’t much, and I wanted to devour it right away, but I held back and racked my brain for what I should say first.

“…I’m sorry.”

Yes. This was what I needed to say first.

Everyone here was someone I had worried in some way. So naturally, I should apologize first.

Whether they knew I wasn’t an ordinary human, or they knew I didn’t fall into the ordinary category of humans, they all thought I had died.

Thinking about it that way, I felt a bit wronged—but, fine. It wasn’t their fault. It was the fault of that cat who sits in that extremely high place and grins mischievously whenever it sees me.

I bowed my head.

“I’m really sorry for worrying you.”

And I glanced around cautiously.

Whether it was my imagination or not, I’m not sure, but the atmosphere seemed to ease considerably as soon as I said those words.

Not that the conversation continued, though.

But it was much better than just the sound of utensils with no one speaking.

“…Indeed.”

Kagami, either letting down her guard or feeling somewhat better, slowly opened her mouth.

“Sometimes people who were thought to be dead do come back to life.”

The eyes of the children sitting at the table shifted to Kagami.

I exhaled softly.

“The reasons vary. It could be someone who had a brief cardiac arrest and recovered, or someone whose breathing stopped but whose brain hadn’t died yet.”

Kagami spoke with a smile on her lips.

“So I think the judgment this time was correct. If we had made a mistake, you might have been put in a coffin and cremated.”

“…”

Wait, is she not feeling better?

Her voice sounds angry to anyone listening?

“Come to think of it, I’ve heard of that too.”

Yuka chimed in with Kagami.

“I’ve heard of people who woke up again because the death certificate was inaccurate. Somewhere in the West, someone was buried in a coffin, and when they dug it up later, there were nail marks all over the inside of the coffin.”

“…”

That’s…

Are they thinking this is fortunate?

They hugged me tightly earlier, so they must think it’s fortunate… I think.

Yuka glanced at me.

And seeing my pale face, she stuck out her tongue slightly.

I felt a bit relieved.

“Is… is that what happened?”

Mako asked in a daze. Harumi beside her tilted her head.

Yuu was sitting with an extremely ambiguous expression, looking at Kagami.

“I think I’ve heard of that too.”

Kaoru said.

“I might have read something similar in a magazine?”

Maybe she really had read it, I thought. That kind of magazine. It wouldn’t be strange to find such strange stories in it.

I… well, it’s a story I’ve heard of too.

“I’ve read about it in a book. That’s right.”

“Y-yes! That must be it! I’m so glad, senpai!”

Izumi chimed in a bit late, and Shii quickly nodded her head.

I couldn’t say anything to those children.

They were desperately making excuses for me, so I shouldn’t interfere.

If I said something foolish, the situation could become worse than when I tried to run away earlier.

“Woo?”

My heart nearly sank when Koko next to me made such a sound while tilting her head, but fortunately, she didn’t say anything else until the end of the meal.

*

“So…”

Before parting, Ms. Suzuki looked at me with an extremely ambiguous expression and opened her mouth.

“…You’re planning to come back to school?”

She seemed unsure if this was the right question to ask.

Well, I was still in my burial shroud after all.

There probably aren’t many people in this world who know what to say to someone who has died and come back to life.

“…Yes, as soon as possible.”

I was extremely worried about what would happen when I returned to school.

But I had no intention of quitting school.

“Alright, I understand.”

Ms. Suzuki looked at me for a moment, then said,

“Let’s talk properly later. Okay?”

That’s what she said for now.

I nodded.

That was a welcome suggestion. Even if I made up a story, it had to be one that others would believe.

And we needed to coordinate our stories. It would be suspicious if we gave different answers to different people.

Coming back from the dead was already strange enough.

“You must take your daughter to the hospital.”

Ms. Suzuki, who had just spoken as if she was about to leave, immediately said this to Kagami.

Her expression and voice were deadly serious.

The adults around us had talked her out of calling an ambulance when she had belatedly come to her senses. At least Yamashita-san and Miura-san knew the situation. In the end, I avoided being suddenly loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital.

“Yes, I will.”

Kagami said with a smile on her lips. Her hands were on my shoulders. Having someone standing behind me was more unsettling than I expected. Especially since Kagami had been emitting a strange atmosphere all this time.

Ms. Suzuki’s eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Kagami.

Does she think this incident was some kind of abuse-like staged act?

Her hand clutching her phone twitched as if she might call the police right now, but Ms. Suzuki looked at me once more and exhaled deeply.

She seemed to decide against making the call, considering my condition.

Ms. Suzuki, who had been looking back and forth between Kagami and me, asked,

“Would it be alright if I contact you?”

She would probably assume something had happened to me if I didn’t answer.

I nodded.

“Don’t worry.”

Hearing my words, Ms. Suzuki smiled slightly.

It was a somewhat weak smile. She seemed quite tired.

“I’ll be in touch.”

Ms. Suzuki said that and turned around.

And then—

Before I could think of anything, my vision was obscured by hair.

It was Mako.

I felt a sense of déjà vu.

However, it felt a bit different from when Koko had rushed at me.

It was a much weaker embrace than Koko’s, who had hugged me with all her might—a hug with a hint of hesitation.

“…”

Mako didn’t say anything grand.

“I’m so glad… Really.”

That’s all she said.

And hearing that voice, I felt somewhat relieved.

She must have gone through a lot emotionally.

Kagami, who had placed her hands on my shoulders, seemed to read the atmosphere and quietly removed them.

Mako stepped back.

Tears were overflowing from her eyes again.

“I don’t know what happened, but I’m really glad.”

“…Yeah, me too.”

Truly, I’m glad.

That I could come back.

I’m glad.