Ch.184Chapter 28. Things You Should Never Do at a Funeral (4)

“When will you start coming to school?”

Since Mako still made a lot of choking sounds whenever she spoke, Fukuda, who was standing next to her, asked on her behalf.

“As soon as possible.”

I answered.

I meant it.

I never thought I’d say I enjoy going to school, but I really wanted to return as quickly as possible.

I didn’t particularly want to attend classes, but I was eager to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and after-school club activities again.

“I’m planning to go starting tomorrow if I can.”

“How about resting a bit more? Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine.”

I thought my body might feel stiff and painful after being immobile for so long, but it didn’t.

Perhaps because my body wasn’t that of a normal person.

I was hungry though.

“…I see.”

Fukuda looked at me quietly.

Then she looked at Kagami.

“What?”

“Nothing, just…”

Fukuda tilted her head and said.

“Just… you know.”

Hey, why are you being so vague?

Surely she’s not still thinking about the possibility of me becoming her sister?

I glanced at Mr. Fukuda and saw him smiling, which made me a bit anxious.

“I’d like to celebrate our reunion today, but that seems difficult. You just woke up, and it would be awkward to have everyone go in there.”

Fukuda looked up at the apartment.

We had returned to the apartment where I used to live. The house where the funeral was held had many rooms too, but it had many… excessively gloomy areas since no one had lived there for a long time.

Kagami didn’t seem to want to stay there either.

“Let’s hang out another time instead.”

“…Okay.”

I nodded and smiled slightly at Fukuda’s words.

“…Let’s talk properly next time.”

Mako and Fukuda waved goodbye to me, and as they walked away, Yuu approached me and said those words.

Then he followed the two of them before I could respond.

Yamashita gave me a complicated look before turning away.

“I guess I haven’t been to work for quite a while.”

The manager said with a nonchalant expression, though his voice sounded a bit nasal.

“…I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. You had your circumstances.”

I was dead for quite a while.

Even in winter, my body couldn’t have remained intact by now. Winter doesn’t mean the temperature is always below freezing.

“Come back to work starting next week.”

“Yes.”

I nodded at the manager’s words. He finally seemed to relax a bit, showing a slight smile.

“I was so surprised~”

Miki stepped forward and said.

“What is this, a surprise?”

No, no one would do this kind of surprise.

But it’s also awkward to give a detailed explanation. I just kept my mouth shut.

After the manager and his sister left, Kaoru and Izumi approached.

“I even bought bread and left it on your desk.”

“…”

Ah, that.

That thing they do in movies and dramas when a student dies, placing items on their desk.

“Did you eat it in the afterlife?”

“…No.”

Of course not.

I didn’t even know they had placed anything there.

“Hmm, so you can’t eat the food offered during memorial services in the afterlife?”

I think those offerings are more for the living who come to pay respects.

It’s a plausible story in a world where ghosts and such things exist, but unfortunately, I’ve never been a ghost, so I can’t answer this question.

Actually, what kind of question is this to ask someone who came back from the dead?

When I gave her an incredulous look, Kaoru rushed over and hugged me tightly.

It wasn’t as tight as when Koko grabbed me, but it was definitely a hug that could be described as “with all her might.”

“Welcome back. Really.”

“…”

At Kaoru’s words, Izumi standing beside her started sniffling again.

“We’ll be waiting in the literature club room. Let’s start making this year’s anthology early. We’ll make it much better than last year!”

Isn’t she supposed to be a college entrance exam student this year?

Well, she’d proudly do it even if I told her not to, so pointing that out wouldn’t make any difference.

“S-see you at school.”

That was all Izumi could manage to say.

Kaoru patted Izumi’s back as they turned to leave. Izumi looked back at me several times, waving her hand.

…I definitely need to go to school tomorrow. Otherwise, they’ll think something happened to me. Both Izumi and our homeroom teacher.

Even as everyone said goodbye and turned to leave, there was one person who waited until the end.

I looked at Shii.

“Senpai.”

Shii wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Seeing her eyes red and swollen made my heart ache.

I wanted to blame someone for causing this situation, but when I thought about it, I was the only one to blame, which made it even more painful.

Not knowing how to comfort the crying Shii, I just reached out and patted her shoulder.

“…I’ll treat you to ramen next time.”

And ridiculously, that was what I said.

Seeing Shii laugh through her tears, it seemed to have had some effect.

Since teasing her about crying then laughing would only make things worse, I nodded as seriously as I could.

“I promise.”

Though I was always treating her anyway.

Shii couldn’t respond verbally, but nodded vigorously.

I looked at Sasaki who was standing next to Shii. Realizing what my gaze meant, Sasaki quickly approached Shii.

“Shii.”

“Yes, brother.”

Shii waved at me. I waved back.

“…”

Standing at a distance were Hagiwara and Nakahara.

Both of them seemed a bit awkward.

It was better with Nakahara since we didn’t have much connection, but Hagiwara…

When I stiffly waved my hand, both of them waved back.

Hagiwara even gave me a slight bow. For a senior to do that probably meant she knew something about what I had done that day.

I should probably talk to her sometime when I have the chance.

After sending off the last group.

The only people left were me, Koko, Kagami, and Yuka with her family.

“Yuka.”

Yuka’s grandfather said.

“…I’ll stay here tonight.”

“Oh my.”

Kagami reacted to Yuka’s words as if she had been waiting for it.

“I was planning for us to spend time as a family today.”

“…”

Yuka glared at Kagami’s comment.

Family… huh?

I looked up at Kagami too.

“You’re staying over?”

Looking back and forth between Yuka and Kagami, both of them stared at me as if I was saying something strange.

“We have a lot to talk about. And no one knows what might happen during the night.”

What might happen during the night… Is she saying I might suddenly leave again?

But I had no grounds to argue.

After all, I was the one who urged Yuka to stab me right after I was resurrected. It wouldn’t be strange if that left her traumatized.

Though it might have been because of the funeral, Yuka wasn’t carrying the knife she usually had with her.

“Staying over?”

Not just Yuka, but even Kagami reacted to my words as if they were absurd.

“Isn’t it natural for family to live in the same house?”

While Yuka’s statement wasn’t particularly surprising, Kagami’s comment was a bombshell.

“Huh?”

“You do remember whose name is on the deed to this house, right?”

Well, regardless of whether I remember or not.

I stared at Kagami, but before I could say anything, she was already heading into the house.

“Kotone.”

Koko tugged at my sleeve.

“Kagami has been living with us since then.”

I gaped at what Koko said.

“The variety of dishes has increased,” she added, sounding pleased.

When I looked at Yuka, she just shrugged.

“Kotone.”

As I stood there in a daze, feeling very strange while watching Kagami go up to the second floor, Yuka’s grandfather called out to me.

“I’m sorry.”

“Pardon?”

“When Yuka said she would bring you back to life, I opposed it.”

“…”

“I blindly believed in the prophecy from only one perspective.”

“…Well, that’s how prophecies are.”

You can see that even in Greek and Roman mythology.

Once you know a prophecy, you can’t escape it even if you want to. It’s a troublesome concept to have in the world.

The Kudan I met then was quite gentlemanly and even pitiful, so I feel a bit sorry to say this… but honestly, I hope I never meet Kudan again in this life.

If I hear a similar prophecy again, I have no idea what I would do.

“May I ask you to look after Yuka?”

Yuka’s father, who was standing next to her grandfather, asked.

He truly looked apologetic. More precisely, he looked ashamed.

I slowly nodded.

“…Yes.”

Well, Yuka staying over for a day was a common occurrence anyway.

Yuka smiled brightly at my answer.

Her grandfather patted my shoulder lightly, exchanged goodbyes with Yuka, and turned to leave.

“Let’s go.”

Yuka said that and entered the house ahead of me and Koko.

“Kotone, let’s go!”

Koko pulled on my sleeve. I moved forward, practically dragged by her strong grip.

And so I returned home.

To that place that was a bit small and somewhat old.

But a place I had grown so attached to that I couldn’t help but miss it.

*

The next day, when I went to school in my uniform, there was naturally an uproar.

The students’ reactions were even more intense than I had expected.

As I sat in my usual spot next to Koko, every girl who entered the classroom screamed and pressed herself against the wall.

The boys couldn’t help turning pale either. Well, I had truly died and come back to life. The medical opinion seemed to have been arranged by Yuka’s family, just like when I got a sister named Koko.

I wonder if the reason they provide forged documents under such conditions is because the government thinks I’m still useful.

I don’t know exactly what happened, but it seems they somehow accepted that something big had occurred, and I was at the center of it.

About 10 minutes before class started, our homeroom teacher, Ms. Suzuki, entered through the front door of the classroom with a beaming smile.

Since I needed to go through the procedure of returning to school, I had visited the faculty office early in the morning with Kagami and Koko.

The teachers in the faculty office all turned pale when they saw me, but that’s beside the point. To cut a long story short, after submitting a doctor’s note explaining how I came back to life, I became a living student again.

Knowing this fact already, Ms. Suzuki who entered the classroom was in a good mood.

“Come on, everyone, please take your seats.”

Ms. Suzuki said in a very cheerful voice.

The students who had been sticking to the walls trying to keep their distance from me, and those who hadn’t even dared to enter the classroom and were standing in the corridor, slowly returned to their seats after seeing the teacher’s reaction.

They seemed to have judged that I wasn’t a ghost, since Ms. Suzuki clearly looked at me.

“Now, good. First, let me tell you about Kurosawa-san who has returned to our class.”

Ms. Suzuki said with a somewhat serious expression. I could feel the students focusing on her.

“For the past few days, Kurosawa-san was in a coma. There was a time when she was so critical that she was declared dead, and yesterday the situation was so serious that such a declaration was made. Even when the first death declaration was made, it was considered almost hopeless, and the documents sent to the school were ambiguously recorded, so I ended up conveying incorrect information to you all. I’m truly sorry.”

Ms. Suzuki stepped out from behind the podium and bowed slightly to the students.

The classroom atmosphere became a bit awkward. While students often see other students apologizing to teachers, it’s rare to see a teacher speaking like this to students.

It might be a bit unfair for Ms. Suzuki, but seeing her act this way shows she’s really an upright person.

“Now her health issues have been resolved, so she’s able to come back to school. Right?”

The homeroom teacher looked at me, and I nodded.

“However, the illness she suffered from until recently is still of unknown cause. It seems to be a kind of genetic disease, and there’s still a possibility it could cause health problems occasionally, so I hope you’ll all help Kurosawa-san if she struggles.”

I could hear the students murmuring among themselves. From what I could catch, the conversations didn’t seem particularly negative. Well, I’m friends with Mako, Yuu, and Fukuda. And those three know quite a few people in the class. So they probably think I’m not a bad person either.

“Good.”

Having finished her explanation and noticing that the students weren’t in a negative mood, Ms. Suzuki opened the attendance book with a pleased expression.

“Then, I’ll take attendance.”

Looking at the attendance book, then shifting her gaze back to me with a slightly playful expression.

“Today… shall we change the order of taking attendance a bit?”

Ms. Suzuki, instead of calling the first name as usual—

“Kurosawa Kotone.”

Called my name first.

Koko in the seat next to me looked at me.

She was grinning from ear to ear.

I felt like her smile was contagious and my lips twitched slightly, but I managed to hold back.

“Yes.”

But I couldn’t help the smile that crept into my voice as I answered.

*

Returning to school was nice, but listening to classes wasn’t entirely pleasant.

It was a bit uncomfortable having every teacher who came in stare at me intently, and above all, it was somewhat difficult to keep up since I hadn’t attended the classes I should have.

It’s only been a few days, so with a little effort I could catch up quickly, but for someone of student age, “a little effort” is often harder than it sounds. It’s an age when there are so many things you want to do.

So, postponing the effort a bit, I went up to the literature club room with Koko.

“…”

And encountered a wild croquette.

No, looking again, it wasn’t exactly wild.

There was a small hole at the end of the croquette bag with a fishing line tied to it.

Of course, it was Kaoru’s trap again.

But honestly, falling for a trap at this point feels a bit silly.

It was a trap I’d seen many times before, and above all, I wasn’t the same Kotone as before.

I don’t walk around nearly starving every day. This morning I had eaten a proper Japanese breakfast that you might find in a decent family restaurant.

Just thinking about it now, Kagami seemed to be seriously studying cooking. Or maybe she had the skills all along but hadn’t bothered to learn more.

She definitely has talent.

Enough to make Mr. Fukuda extremely happy if they ever got married.

Anyway, having had a proper breakfast of grilled salmon and miso soup, I wasn’t weak enough to be tempted by a convenience store croquette.

Koko showed some interest, but when I just walked past, she followed me, though somewhat reluctantly.

As we slowly walked and almost reached the literature club room,

I quickly moved my foot to step hard on the fishing line.

But as if anticipating this, the fishing line moved sideways, skillfully avoiding my foot.

After several attempts to step on it, the croquette was quickly pulled almost to my feet.

I hesitated, worried about accidentally stepping on the croquette, and in that moment it slipped under my foot and continued straight ahead.

I half-lunged and barely caught the croquette—

“Got you!”

Kaoru, who had used the bait to catch a girl, happily hugged me.

“It’s Kotone after all! Koko always catches it on the first try!”

“…”

That was a rather complicated compliment.

While Kaoru was rejoicing, the door of the literature club room slid open with a clatter.

Izumi poked her head out, looked at us with a disapproving expression, and asked,

“What are you guys doing?”

But when our eyes met, she couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.

Izumi hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand, but Kaoru already had the look of someone who had found something to tease about.

“You say that~ but who was the club president eagerly waiting for her junior~”

“I-I wasn’t! Why are you making things up?”

It doesn’t seem made up. Judging by how Izumi’s face is turning red.

I decided to pretend I didn’t notice.

As Kaoru and Izumi were bickering, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

“Hello.”

Yuka greeted Kaoru and Izumi.

“Oh, hi!”

“Hello.”

Both of them smiled and returned the greeting.

The scene looked so peaceful and radiant that I narrowed my eyes.

“Let’s go in then. Time to start club activities.”

Though club activities mostly consist of just sitting around with books we like.

“Aren’t you seniors preparing for college entrance exams this year?”

“Shh, tsk.”

Kaoru put a finger to her lips at Yuka’s words.

“There’s no need to mention cruel realities. They’ll come on their own anyway.”

I wonder where she read such lines.

A horror novel perhaps?

Izumi gave a bitter smile at those words, and Yuka shrugged and looked at me.

I shrugged back. Koko beside me imitated the gesture.

We entered the literature club room, letting out laughs.

Just like always.

Just like always, which I hope will continue forever.