Her skin had a healthy, warm tone, and her chest rose and fell steadily.
Her hair was black and soft, scattered across the pillow.
She wore that white dress.
Okkotsu stood beside the coffin, frozen stiff.
"Rika..."
The eyelashes of the girl in the coffin fluttered gently.
Then they fluttered again.
Then she slowly opened her eyes.
Her gaze was unfocused at first, as though she were trying to determine whether the world before her was real.
Then she turned her head, her gaze focusing on Yuta Okkotsu's face.
She looked at him.
He looked into her eyes.
Then she spoke.
"Yuta."
"Yuta."
She called his name again.
"I'm back."
Okkotsu raised his head to look at her.
Tear tracks marked the corners of his eyes, but he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from lifting into a curve that was both crying and smiling.
"Yeah..."
"Welcome back."
Rika smiled at him.
She reached out and patted his shoulder a little clumsily, imitating the way she used to do it.
"You're still just as ugly when you cry."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are. Your nose is even running."
"You just woke up. You're seeing things."
"No, I'm not."
"You..."
Nearby, Wangchuan leaned against the wall with his arms folded. He had already returned to his human body.
Wangchuan looked at the two figures beside the coffin.
The seventeen-year-old boy knelt on the floor with his head tilted up, while the eleven-year-old girl sat on the edge of the coffin, leaning forward slightly.
Their foreheads nearly touched.
"Is this guy going to be okay... won't he get an electric shock?"
As he muttered about whether to remind Okkotsu to rein it in a little, the phone in his trouser pocket suddenly vibrated.
Wangchuan took out his phone and glanced