That morning, before she'd left for school, Shiki couldn't wait to see Eri again. She'd been so relieved to be back home – to be alive – that she hadn't given much thought to how the initial reunion would go.
It wasn't until she'd reached the train station that the pieces came back together. Upon her return, it had been like nothing had happened. Time had been turned back three weeks to the day she'd died. She'd figured that out quickly. But if that was the case, then as far as Eri was concerned, Shiki had never been gone at all. They wouldn't have said anything to each other since the fight a few days prior. That was going to complicate things.
So when Shiki noticed Eri at the same stop, standing by herself, she couldn't help being nervous. She knew that Eri felt bad about what had happened – she'd wanted to apologize, if what Shiki had overheard during the Game was any indication. But what if something went wrong? What if things got worse instead of getting better?
It was a good thing, then, that Eri approached her instead.
The first few seconds were awkward. Neither girl spoke, and the two could barely look at each other. Eventually, Shiki couldn't stand it anymore. "Eri, I'm so sorry," she blurted.
Another brief moment of silence passed. Eri stared at Shiki, more confused than anything. "Why are you…?"
"I know what you meant to say," Shiki continued. "I know I took it badly at the time, but you didn't mean to hurt me. You were trying to cheer me up. I'm the one who almost ruined things for us, and I'm so sorry."
Her hands were shaking as she spoke. It was all coming back to her – everything she'd felt during that week. All the anger, fear, regret…all had given way to understanding, and that understanding had given her strength. And in that moment, she was so caught up in her own thoughts that she almost didn't notice when Eri spoke. "Here I was, ready to beg you to forgive me," she said, quietly.
Shiki couldn't help but smile. "You're not still mad?"
"I was at first," Eri admitted. "But then I thought of something."
"What?"
Eri paused. "How do I explain this...life is short, y'know? What if something had happened to you, or to me? I was going to try and take it slow, and talk to you later, but you never know if there'll even be a later. So I decided I'd go ahead and do whatever it took to make things up to you."
It seemed strange, hearing Eri talking like that. She wasn't usually the type to concern herself with what-ifs. Maybe some part of her still remembered what had happened the first time around. But it didn't matter right now. They were going to be friends again – and this time, there wouldn't be any hidden feelings of inadequacy to get in the way.
Shiki would never thought that a normal school day would be something to look forward to, but compared to the Game, it seemed almost refreshing. When she saw Eri again on the way home, the two were able to talk and laugh together like nothing had happened. As they got off at their stop, Eri had one last thing to say. "Did something happen? You seem different."
"Different how?"
"There's just something about you. You seem…lighter somehow. Like someone flipped a switch. It's actually kind of weird."
"Weird?" Shiki repeated.
"But I like it," continued Eri. "You seem more like yourself than you have in a long time.
And for Shiki, that was the best possible kind of compliment.