Chapter 10

It was a hot day in late August, but instead of enjoying the fantastic weather, Mitsuha and her friends were stuck inside, working on her story. The cultural festival was taking place at the end of October, but that entire month would be spent preparing in individual classes, so the literature club was trying to get its own preparations out of the way as early as possible. That meant Mitsuha's submission for the book had to be completed by mid-September at the latest.

Luckily for her, the friends she'd recruited to help her had been incredible help. Rather unluckily, they were still likely to end up working right up to the deadline, despite all the work they'd already done so far.

"I think it's pronounced Haruta, not Hinata." Kana was sitting beside her, a book and laptop open on the table in front of her. "Wait, when was that reading introduced…" Being a linguistic wizard, especially with old and archaic characters, Mitsuha had asked for her help in deciphering the texts she'd found at the library. They were written in a very old style and a lot of the words took ages to look up, even when she knew where to look. Some parts were even direct transcriptions of originals up to a thousand years old, which were practically illegible if you didn't have specific knowledge of old Japanese. Kana had sped up the process tenfold, as well as volunteered her house for out-of-school meetings.

Next to Kana was Hiraoka, who was currently reading and annotating the fifth (or was it sixth?) draft of the story. Mitsuha's spelling and grammar was fair, but she had ended up using a lot of old words and was writing in an unfamiliar style, so Hiraoka was sort of working as her editor. Not to mention that every time they read another new manuscript, new (or sometimes contradictory) information was found out and had to be added to the story. The first draft had also been far too long, and Hiraoka had really helped to trim it down.

Opposite the three girls, and taking up most of the table space, was Taki. In front of him lay an assortment of pencils, chalks, photographs, drawings, and a magnifying glass. He was currently working on the sky of one particular drawing – it was upside-down but Mitsuha recognised it as the scene of the comet impacting the original Itomori over a millennium ago. There were obviously no photographs or drawings of the event, and in fact the written accounts of what it looked like were very vague. Instead, Taki had worked closely with Mitsuha to get a first-hand account of what the 2015 impact had looked like, and used that as the basis for his drawing.

Mitsuha shivered. Even upside-down, the colours and shape of the comet were as beautiful – and as terrifying – as they had been two years ago. The way he had perfectly captured the event without ever seeing it himself was a testament to his skill as an artist.

Hiraoka looked up at Mitsuha and followed her eyes to Taki's drawing. "Hey, artist boy. Why are your drawings so big? You do know the book's going to be A5, right?" The drawing he was currently working on was occupying most of an A2 canvas, eight times larger than the intended size.

Taki responded without lifting his head or stilling his hand. "Always draw as large and as detailed as possible. Make it too small and you'll be in trouble if you ever have to enlarge it later."

Mitsuha smiled. As tough as they acted around one another, Taki and Hiraoka were definitely getting along a lot better now. She still wasn't sure why they didn't like each other so much in the first place, but that was none of her business anyway. On impulse, Mitsuha stood up and went around to Taki's side of the table. For a few moments she just stood there, looking over his shoulder as he worked, making sure not to block the light as she did so.

"Do you like it?" Taki asked, head still down.

"I'm not sure like is the right word for it. It's a little bit too accurate to make me feel comfortable looking at it." Mitsuha had watched this piece develop over the last two weeks, and now that colour had been added it was truly breath-taking.

It was drawn from the perspective of someone looking up at the comet as it splintered and fell. It was night, and the stars were bright around the edges of the sky but faded in the middle as most of the drawing was dominated by the comet itself. In the viewer's peripheral vision you could see some hills, trees and houses, lit up by the bright light of the meteorite hurtling down upon them. From this angle, it was strikingly similar to the sight Mitsuha herself saw on the day of Itomori's destruction.

Taki lifted his head and began to pack up his pencils. "I've got work soon so I need to get going," he announced. "I should have this finished by the time school starts again." Mitsuha moved back to give him space to stand up and watched as he efficiently stored everything in his bag. The exception was the massive drawing, which he put inside a special folder with a handle, designed specifically to carry artwork safely.

"Has it brought back anything else?" Taki asked in a low voice. "New memories?" Mitsuha glanced up to see Kana and Hiraoka subtly watching them and decided that this was better discussed outside. Before Taki had a chance to pick up the folder, she grabbed it and held the door for him before letting it swing mostly shut, somewhat suspiciously accompanying him round the corner of the hallway and to the front door, out of earshot of the others.

"No, nothing new," Mitsuha finally replied. "The only memory I have from that day is what you've been drawing today."

"Well, I'm sure it'll come back eventually. The rest did."

"You've remembered something?" Neither of them had had much luck since most of their memories had come back – the day of the incident in particular was always hazy.

"No, nothing. It's just, I feel like I'm missing something, you know? Like something just doesn't make sense about the swapping and everything. There's an inconsistency somewhere."

Mitsuha stopped at the front door. "What do you mean? It all makes sense to me. I mean, apart from the fact that the whole thing is absurd in the first place…"

Taki looked at her and smiled. "You're right, I'm looking for logic where there isn't any to be found. Well…see you at school, then." Mitsuha handed him his artwork and a few seconds later he was out of the door. She sighed. I wish I would just hurry up and remember already. She walked back down the hallway but stopped just outside the door when she heard Kana's voice.

"Honestly, they should just get together already." Kana was speaking unusually loudly, and the words easily carried through the slightly ajar door. What is she talking about?

"It's so obvious they like each other. Not that I approve, but what can you do?" Hiraoka seemed to be reluctantly agreeing. Mitsuha stepped slightly closer, and the thick carpet of Kana's fancy western-style house easily muffled her footsteps.

"One of them should just pluck up their courage and ask. Like, it's obvious the other's going to say yes." Kana again. What are they…no, surely they're not talking about…!

"You know he recognised her the first time they met? Apparently they'd seen each other somewhere in passing. Seemed a pretty weak excuse if you ask me." Wait, how does Hiraoka know about that?!

"Plus he was like, the first person she asked to work on this with her. I wouldn't be surprised if they dreamed of each other." There was the sound of muffled laughter, but Mitsuha was not amused. You're more correct than you know, Kana!

"They can confess their love at the cultural festival and get married!"

"And call their daughters Itsuha and Mutsuha to continue the family pattern!" By now the two girls were howling with laughter and irritating Mitsuha quite a lot. "Wait, 'six leaves' would be pronounced Roppa not Mutsuha." Kana was nerding out again…

"You know it's rude to eavesdrop, Mitsuha!" Hiraoka shouted, and Mitsuha realised they'd been playing with her the whole time. She slowly opened the door, her face clearly showing she wasn't amused, which made the other girls only laugh harder. Mitsuha let out a small sigh of frustration before taking Taki's recently vacated seat, opposite her two friends, and crossed her arms.

"You know, the more you talk about it the more you're putting me off," Mitsuha said in an attempt to get them to quiet down.

"Oh, so you admit there's a chance?" Hiraoka retorted, sharp on the tongue as usual. "Personally I don't really like the guy, but you look pretty happy when you're around him."

"You've never actually told me why you dislike him so much. Well, at least you've been getting on well lately." Mitsuha tried to steer the conversation away to no avail.

"Now, now, this isn't about me, it's about you." Hiraoka guided them back to the one place Mitsuha didn't want to go. "We've seen the way you look at each other. Right, Kana?"

"…Futaba, Mitsuha, Yotsuha, Itsuha…huh?" Kana had already drifted off into the land of linguistics. "Oh, yeah, you two are so into each other. You try to hide it, but we can tell. You're always looking at each other, and you look so, like, comfortable together, even though you barely know each other."

Mitsuha thought about it a bit and realised that their observations were correct. From an outside perspective, she had just turned up a few months prior and immediately hit it off with Taki. But the conclusion, that she thought of him like that, was, well…it's not that I mind, just that I'm pretty sure I don't actually feel like that. But then again, I'm not sure I've ever felt like this before, except in the dreams.

The truth of it was rather more unbelievable, of course. They knew each other through their body swapping, which meant they shared an unexplainable bond that made them far closer than anyone would think possible; they had literally lived as each other. That kind of, well, intimacy, was something unforgettable. Even when they couldn't recall exactly what connected them, the feelings had always remained. So it was only natural that they would feel comfortable around one another, without the need for any words.

It was just too bad that that kind of behaviour came across as something more romantic in the eyes of her friends. She'd never really considered how their relationship looked to others. With both of them following their hearts more than their heads, people were beginning to notice. Which made her remember something.

"Hey." Mitsuha uncrossed her arms, and her face grew slightly sombre. "How do you think people will react?"

The two girls had noticed Mitsuha's change in tone, but Hiraoka managed to sneak in one last joke. "When you ask Taki out?"

"No, when everyone finds out where I'm from." Mitsuha had been very sparse about details of her hometown, so much so that the only one to really figure it out was Kana, and even then that was because she already knew Yukino-sensei was from Itomori. Taki knew for obvious reasons, and when she told Hiraoka before inviting her to join her project she seemed to suspect it but wasn't completely sure. Currently they were the only ones who knew, but after the cultural festival it would be public knowledge.

But it was worse than that – they would know she was a miko, and easily figure out that she was the mayor's daughter. Not to mention the story itself, which added a large supernatural element to her family name. The fallout was going to be massive, and people would definitely make a big deal out of it. On the spur of the moment, Mitsuha had made the decision to go public with it in the most incriminating way possible, and she was almost regretting it. Almost. Only time would tell how many headaches it would cause her.

The girls went quiet. They had thought about this on and off over the last couple of months, and both had individually decided not to voice their opinions on the matter; it was Mitsuha's choice after all, and she seemed to be fine with it. But now it seemed as if perhaps she wasn't as sure of herself as she appeared. Kana decided to voice her support. "I'm sure people will get excited. It was a national, if not international news story two years ago. But I'm sure it'll die down quickly enough," she said. "It's normal to be like, nervous and stuff."

"People will get over it faster than you think," Hiraoka added. "Your friends will stay your friends, and everyone else will just forget about it and move on. I'm sure a few people will take it overboard – you in particular, with your relevance to the story you're writing, will attract a lot of attention." She leaned forward over the table. "But just look at Yukino-sensei. She never hid it, but she didn't exactly tell everyone either. Once people found out she got pestered for a few weeks, but that was it. Now everyone's over it and she's just another teacher. I'm sure nothing weird will happen."

Mitsuha considered their words. "You're right," she finally responded. "This school isn't like Ikebukuro, I actually have friends here – people who won't change how they see me just because I was in the wrong place at the right time." She hastily wiped her eyes before any tears could fully form. "Thanks, guys. I'm glad I can trust you."

〈◇〉

"It's certainly well-written, and fits with the theme of origin in a way I hadn't considered." Erina, president of the literature club, was sitting next to Mitsuha in the regular club meeting room and giving her feedback for her story. "But there are a couple of things I'm slightly…wary of."

It was mid-September, school had already been back in for two weeks and the club was busy editing the vast collection of stories, poems and artwork that would go into their annual book. Mitsuha had submitted the final version of her story, as well as some scans of Taki's art pieces, to Erina and Yukino-sensei to look over. Today they were giving feedback and making sure everything was turned in. Before the summer holidays, Mitsuha had cleared her story idea with Yukino but asked her not to tell anyone about it, which meant Erina hadn't even known what Mitsuha was planning to write until today. Of course it's going to have problems, I've never written a story before… Completely missing Erina's initial compliment, Mitsuha prepared herself for an onslaught of literary criticism.

"I don't think there needs to be any more editing done," Erina began, and Mitsuha blinked in surprise. "In fact, I quite like the story. But I feel that it's perhaps slightly insensitive to survivors of the Itomori incident from two years ago. I'll have to let sensei give it a read and ask her what she thinks, since she's from Itomori herself." But I'm from Itomori! Mitsuha wanted to say, but the girl continued before she had a chance to speak up.

"The second issue is the use of your name. I understand an author wanting to leave a bit of themselves in their work, but putting your own name into the story like this seems slightly, well, arrogant."

Mitsuha was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, naming the shrine and lead heroine after yourself. I'd really like that changed if you don't mind."

Ah, I get it. Nowhere in the story had she actually mentioned that it was based on a real account passed down through the Miyamizu family (until the Mayugoro fire, anyway). "I think you're misunderstanding, senpai. This is based on the actual story of Itomori's inception, recovered from manuscripts a researcher I know found in the National Diet Library. My name is the same as the shrine's because, well, I'm from Itomori." Mitsuha had to hold back a smile at the older girl's astonished expression. "If this woman actually did exist, which I'm not entirely sure of, she would be one of my ancestors. The women of the Miyamizu family have been shrine maidens for literally over a thousand years. I hope that also clears up the first issue of potentially causing offence to Itomori's prior residents."

Erina had to take a second to compose herself. She shut her eyes, returned her face to a neutral expression, and slowly reopened them. "I see. That is a very…unexpected, but nevertheless reasonable explanation. I, um, yes." She glanced over to where Yukino-sensei was just getting up from reading another boy's work. "Please excuse me for just one minute," she said, before scampering out of her seat and approaching the teacher. A brief discussion ensued, from which Mitsuha was too far to hear, but she could see the smile slowly widening on Yukino-sensei's face. Yukino caught Mitsuha watching and gave her a wink, before finishing her discussion with Erina, who promptly returned.

"It appears that sensei was already aware of the story," Erina mumbled as she stood beside Mitsuha's desk. "We decided it would be best if you wrote a small, one-page introduction explaining what you just told me, as well as crediting your artist, Kana-san and anyone else who helped either there or at the end. Otherwise, the story itself is fine and we have no objections to adding it to the collection." Erina still looked a little peeved at being kept in the dark, but her interest in the story seemed to have eclipsed any annoyance she felt. She turned away and checked Mitsuha's name off her list, before looking over her shoulder one final time. "Oh, and I love the artwork," she said with a smile, before rushing off to locate her next target.

Mitsuha smiled a genuine smile. Taki will be happy, I'll call him tonight. Just then, Kana returned from her toilet break to see Mitsuha staring off into space with a grin on her face. "Did I miss it? Did she like it?"

Mitsuha focused her smile on her friend. "I need to write a small introduction explaining the origin of the story, and credit you, Hiraoka and Taki of course. Apart from that, no changes or edits made to the story itself. She liked it."

The two girls high-fived with a quiet cheer and began to write the introduction.

〈◇〉

The Miyamizu family had just finished dinner and were ready to start tidying up when Mitsuha spoke up. "By the way, you know how I've been spending so much time on that project for the literature club?"

"Hmm? Yes, you mentioned collaborating with some friends to write a story. For the cultural festival, correct?" her dad answered. She'd told them the bare minimum – that the literature club wrote and sold a book for the festival, and she was working with some classmates to write and illustrate a story. Beyond that, she'd been deliberately vague about the contents, partly because she was worried they might not like her writing about Itomori, partly because she wanted to get through all the manuscripts first, but mostly to avoid all the questions.

But since she'd already handed in the final draft, it would be the perfect time to tell them – there was no way she could hide it forever, and she didn't want to either. Mitsuha especially wanted to share what she'd found out with her grandma. "Yeah, we're writing a book of stories and poems with the theme of origin. So I thought it would be appropriate for me to write about Itomori." That last sentence was immediately followed by 'ooh's from Yotsuha and Hitoha, and an interested 'hmm' from Toshiki. Mitsuha continued on, specifically addressing her grandma this time. "You know how you told us about Mayugoro and how all the shrine's documents were destroyed?"

"Ah yes. Sandal-maker Mayugoro's bathroom caught fire and burned down the entire shrine, you asked me about it again not too long ago. Why, is that what you wrote about? It's not exactly a thrilling story though…"

"No, that's not what the story is about. I mentioned it because all the documents were lost in the fire. Do you remember that Dad also mentioned Empress Go-Sakuramachi?"

"Yes, I remember," the dad in question responded. "You wrote about her visit?"

"No, not about that either."

"Um, excuse me," Yotsuha interjected, raising her hand sheepishly as if she were asking an embarrassing question at school. "What's an empress got to do with Itomori?"

"Well, Dad said that a couple hundred years ago, Empress Go-Sakuramachi visited Itomori and asked for access to the shrine's documents. I also asked you about that comet, do you remember? Lexell's comet?"

"Oh yeah," Yotsuha said, clapping her hands together as she recalled the random question her sister had asked her a few months prior – she'd almost completely forgotten about it. "It's the closest a visible comet has ever got to Earth," she hastily explained to the two adults who were quite lost at the current change of topic. "It passed Earth in 1771 or 1772, I can't remember exactly. It was super bright, visible for ages. But what's that got to do with the empress?"

"Mitsuha-chan, are you suggesting that Empress Go-Sakuramachi visited Itomori because of the link between comet Tiamat and the one that Yotsuha just mentioned?" Grandma asked.

"Yes. And there's more – she made copies and notes on the documents found in the shrine. A lot of them were destroyed, but some of them made it to the National Diet Library. A researcher there helped me find them and among them is the story of Itomori's founding. Everyone from Itomori already knows that the lake was made from a meteorite impact, but there are a lot more details in the manuscripts I found, including the founding of Miyamizu shrine and the origin of Itomori's name."

Toshiki was leaning over the table with wide eyes focused only on his daughter – this was very interesting news. "And you compiled them into a story?" Mitsuha nodded. Beside her, Yotsuha was looking surprised, and Grandma was smiling. "Well, well. Who would've thought all those ancient fairy tales managed to live on," he continued, earning a stern look from Hitoha. "May we read the story?"

Mitsuha grinned and crossed her arms. "Not until it's published at the cultural festival. Then it'll be in a proper book, with illustrations as well." That reminded her, she had to call Taki and tell him the story was in. "We – me and my friend Kana – haven't finished typing up all the documents yet, but once we do I'll show you all of those too."

"Can I see them too? Please?" Yotsuha asked earnestly; she had always been way more interested in Itomori's history and culture than Mitsuha had.

"Yeah, of course. Once it's ready."

Immediately all three of them began bombarding Mitsuha with questions about the contents of what she'd found, before her dad and grandma started excitedly discussing some of the old important documents they hoped would be there. Those two had never exactly seen eye to eye since Toshiki left the shrine, but they'd been trying to mend things ever since moving in together after Itomori was destroyed. Perhaps this common point of interest would mend the bridge. Mitsuha smiled. He cares more about the shrine than he lets on. I haven't seen him this excited since before Mum died. Turning to face her sister, Mitsuha found her gaze transfixed on their father's smiling face. So she's noticed too – noticed how much he's changed.

Mitsuha rose and excused herself, heading to her room. Inside, she closed the door, picked up her phone from her desk and sat down on the bed, cross-legged. Feeling the weight of the phone in her hand for a second, and reflecting on the excitement she'd brought to the rest of her family, she unlocked her phone and navigated to her contacts, scrolling down until she found Taki and tapping the entry to bring up his details. They'd exchanged numbers when he started working on her story, but neither had had cause to ring the other – usually a simple text would suffice, or a message to the LINE group chat they shared with Hiraoka and Kana.

But now that she was going to call him, Mitsuha was getting a bit nervous. She wasn't sure why – they saw each other and talked together at school pretty much every day, they had a pretty intimate connection in the form of the whole body-swapping thing, and they had even met up many times over the summer. They'd also been alone together on several occasions, so it wasn't shyness or awkwardness. I'm a girl, and I'm calling a boy; that's what's making me nervous. Mitsuha recalled the light-hearted teasing the other two girls had subjected her to at Kana's house a few weeks earlier. Perhaps there was some truth to what they'd been saying – and even if there wasn't, their words alone were making her feel nervous over nothing. It's just a phone call, just a phone call…

Mitsuha took a deep breath and got ready to touch the call icon, before realising that she'd been idling so long the screen had turned off. Unlocking her phone, she tapped the icon and put the phone to her ear. He might not even pick up…

Suddenly the regular beep-beep was replaced by a click, and Mitsuha heard a familiar voice answer the other end. "Hey Mitsuha, what's up?" Mitsuha froze. How did he know it was me?! …Oh wait, caller ID. Duh.

"Er, hi Taki!" she responded, uncharacteristically loud and high-pitched. She coughed once to reset her vocal chords and tried again, this time in her normal voice. She almost said 'what's up' back to him but managed to catch herself just in time. "How are you doing? I don't think I talked to you today." Which was true.

"Just finishing up the last piece for the story, then I'll scan them all in super-high resolution tomorrow or the day after. What about you?" He sounds so calm…I wonder if he's also panicking on the inside. Mitsuha realised she was gripping her phone too tightly and lay down with her legs still crossed, forcing her upper body to relax.

"I just got feedback from Erina – that's the literature club president – about the story. She really liked it, in fact she didn't edit it or want any changes made at all."

"Wow, that's great!" Taki sounded genuinely excited.

"She got a bit confused at first…" Mitsuha retold the small misunderstanding from earlier that afternoon, getting a few laughs out of both of them. "So I just need to finish up that introduction. She also said she really liked your illustrations."

"I'm glad." She could practically hear him smiling on the other end. "You showed her the ones of the old town and the comet, right? I really liked how the comet one turned out…" Mitsuha uncrossed her legs and turned on her side, closing her eyes with the phone under her head and the sound of Taki's voice loud and clear in her ear. I could listen to his voice all day…it's like I'm hugging him to me… Mitsuha shot bolt upright, a look of horror on her face. What am I thinking?! Those two are getting to me… "…Mitsuha? Everything alright? I thought I heard something."

"What? Oh, yeah, no, yeah, er, everything's fine. I just got up a little too quickly. Your v-" Mitsuha barely caught herself and forced herself to slow down. "-illustrations, I'm looking forward to seeing them in the book. And the modern Itomori one especially, I don't think I've seen it yet."

"Yeah, I think you'll like it. I'll send you the scan as soon as it's done."

There was silence, as girl and boy simply listened to the sound of each other's gentle breathing. Mitsuha's heart rate had returned to normal, and she was just enjoying the peace.

"…Mitsuha."

"Mm?"

"Thanks for asking me to do the illustrations. I really had a lot of fun."

"Me too. It means a lot to me, to capture it all forever like this. Thank you."

"Good night, Mitsuha. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Good night, Taki."

They both hung onto the line a few seconds longer, before Mitsuha pulled the phone away from her ear and ended the call. She lightly dropped backwards onto her bed and placed her phone on the bedside table, exhaling deeply and closing her eyes.

Damn those two, putting ideas in my head. I'm falling for him all over again…

…again?

A/N

Happy Christmas everybody! A bit late, but I got it done eventually. After the cultural festival we will rapidly approach the climax of the story. As you can see, Mitsuha and Taki (especially Mitsuha) are starting to realise exactly how much they care for each other – everyone else can already see it, now they just need to recognise it themselves.

I hope everybody is having a good holiday and break. Myself, I'm home from uni for the holidays which makes life significantly easier (and tastier). I'll also be cross-posting this to AO3 soon, under the same username. Don't forget to leave a review if you liked (or didn't like) the chapter!

Talndir