Before heading up into the mountains, Taki stopped for a meal at a lonely diner, nestled between the foothills.
There were no other customers, and just a single staffer, an old, gristly man who took his order and then bustled off to the kitchen.
"Bit lonely out here, don't you think?" Taki said, when the old man came back out with his food.
"It's not so bad."
"Oh yeah?"
"I don't know. I came out here to try to forget about things. You spend your whole life in the city, working, drinking, whatever. You lose track of time. Maybe I'm just crazy. But I like it. I go into town to get what I need. Weather's nice."
"It sure is beautiful." Taki said.
"Sure thing." Through the window, the sun hovered in the sky, above the horizon. Its reflection glistened off the lake. The old man started wiping down the tables. "What brings you to these parts?"
"Just hiking." Taki said. "Wanted to get out of the city, same as you. I guess I just felt drawn here."
"It's special, this place is," said the old man. "It doesn't feel like it should exist, almost. The mountains, and the flowers, and the lake, and the birds. It's different. Something about all the comets that fell. Time just doesn't flow quite right anymore. It gets tangled and knotted, I've seen it in the clocks. And in the spring the ice melts in the mountaintops, and the water runs in little streams and rivulets down to the lake. But each year they melt different, and they shouldn't, they shouldn't, but they all run together."
The man wiped his brow. "Sorry, never mind me. Just rambling. If you're going hiking, you should check out the white crater up on that mountain, there." He pointed. "Gorgeous view of the lake. If you leave now, you might be able to catch the sunset. It's worth it."
"Thanks," Taki said. "I think I'll do that." He left some crumpled bills on the table. Chuckling to himself, he started off down the trail towards the mountain, backpack slung over his shoulder.
It was a long way, and the sun began to dip low in the sky. Taki didn't mind. There was the smell of something in the air, something old, but peaceful. Spirits, maybe, in the trees and in the rocks. The lake was beautiful – it had been formed by not one, but two meteor hits. He passed the ruins of Itomori on his way to the white crater. So many meteors, Taki reflected, in such close proximity, as if even the stars were drawn here.
The old road up the mountain lay mostly intact. Taki took a moment to admire the landscape, then began the ascent. He wanted to reach the mountain by sunset – and see the colors of the sun dazzle across the surface of the lake.
The sun began to sink further and further in the sky as he made his way up the trail. He stopped for a little to rest and drink some coffee from his thermos. In the twilight air, he caught the scent of something indescribable in the wind. He was turning to continue when he saw the flash of movement.
Running down the old road was a young schoolgirl, maybe about his age.
"Huh?" Taki said, to himself. The girl seemed to notice him as she approached. "Hey!" he called out.
"Hello!" she cried out in response.
"Is everything alright? Why are you running?" he asked.
"I want to make it to the festival in time."
"The festival? In time for what? What's your name?"
The girl looked taken aback. She giggled, almost nervously. "That's too many questions. I'm Mitsuha. Who are you? I don't recognize you."
"I'm Taki. I'm from Tokyo, just passing through."
"Oh, Tokyo! Wow. What're you doing all the way out here?" she asked him.
Taki looked around at the mountains, and the slowly fading light. "I'm not sure. I think I just wanted to a change of scenery." He hesitated for a second. "You said there was some kind of festival?"
"Yeah," Mitsuha said. "Right down by the lake. The whole town will be there."
"Town?" Taki's brow furrowed. "I didn't know anyone still lived out here."
Mitsuha stifled a laugh. "Of course they do, silly. Can't you see all the houses right over there?" She extended a finger and pointed. Taki turned and looked.
For a second, he was just confused. "I don't understand… all I see are…" He felt a slight chill. She was pointing towards the Itomori ruins.
"Can't you see all the lights, and stands, and people? It's our yearly festival. But this year it's going to be extra special. You should come! You can meet Katsuhiko, and Sayaka, and tell us about the city."
"Mitsuha…" Taki said. "Are you by chance going to go see a comet in the night sky?"
She gave him a look. "Of course. What are you, stupid? What's wrong with you? Everybody's been talking about the comet for the past six months."
"Mitsuha, all I see down there are ruins. Three years ago, there was a comet passing by the Earth. Part of it broke up – from the planet's tidal forces – and rained down through the atmosphere. A chunk fell on Itomori… destroyed the whole town. I remember hearing about it on the news. I think hundreds of people died."
The sun's last rays flickered intermittently over the horizon. Mitsuha seemed to tremble a little. "Hey, that's not funny at all!" she said. "What kind of prank is this? That doesn't make any sense. How could the town be destroyed if I see it right there?"
"All I see are broken walls and caved-in houses."
"That's not – here, I'll show you, oh!" Mitsuha leaned forward to grab Taki's hand, but when she did, their arms passed through each other. She stared in shock, then a whimper escaped. "Huh? How is that possible?"
Taki stared back, equally shocked. How can this be? Unless…
"You must be a memory," he said, softly.
"Huh, what's that?"
"When the comet fell, it must have imprinted something into the landscape. Maybe when it shook the earth, it ruptured something, and time broke here, just a little. And it doesn't quite make sense anymore, and sometimes, you can see things as they used to be. Ghosts of the past."
"What? No, I'm not a ghost." Mitsuha recoiled. "Maybe you're the ghost. Maybe some traveler slipped and fell on the trail, and now his phantom tries to scare people, telling them stories about how they're going to die."
Taki looked at his hands helplessly. "There's nothing I could say that could prove it to you."
"Then go on, phantom. Leave me be."
Taki looked down at the ground, trying to think. After a moment, Mitsuha pushed past him – no, through him, starting off down the road, towards the festival, and towards…
"Mitsuha, wait!"
She hesitated.
"What if neither of us is a ghost. They say, at twilight, the bonds between worlds grow weaker. Maybe, what we're seeing is each other, but not as memories, as… we really are."
"How… but you said we'd be years apart."
"I don't know," Taki said. "None of this make any sense. But I know what's going to happen to you, if you go down there. You can leave, Mitsuha. You might still have time to get to safety."
She stared at him for what seemed like a long time.
"How can I believe you?" she said, in almost a whisper. "How can any of this be real?"
The last of the sun's light disappeared beneath the mountaintops, and before him, she winked out of existence.
He stared out over the lake. It was quiet. "Mitsuha," he said, rolling the name around with his tongue, trying it out. "Mitsuha."
A dream? A fantasy?
He sat by the road for the rest of the night, but nothing else broke the silence.