It's cold.

Awareness comes slowly, and painfully. Yet it's not the dull, throbbing pain in her midsection that catches Shiki's attention when she finally wakes. Rather, it's the jarring sensation of something distinctly cold beneath her skin instead, an unnatural chill that sinks deep and lingers in her bones.

Cold.

The little girl opens her eyes.

For a long moment, her surroundings are nothing more than a vague blur. Shiki blinks a few times, and eventually her vision swims back into focus. It's '

' She doesn't really know what she'd been expecting. But somehow, she finds that she's not entirely surprised to be met with the all-too familiar sight of a sterile, gray ceiling.

"You're finally awake."

The little girl turns her head from where she's resting on the hospital bed, registering a shock of snow-white hair. " ' Sa '"