Kimi no Na wa - A Sequel

by jjadpw

Picking up from where Kimi no Na wa left off, this story begins after Taki and Mitsuha meet on the stairs. Their meeting triggers a strong Déjà vu-like feeling in Mitsuha that causes her to start seeing visions of Itomori's destruction that happened in the original alternate timeline where Mitsuha died. She experiences trauma and depression but with Taki's help, she finds recovery.

25. Chapter 24

chapter 24: leap of faith

Mitsuha 17 July

Stress. It's like a tumour, growing bigger and bigger every day, eating away at my mind. Soon, all my energy is focused solely on getting rid of it, but every failed therapy session feeds it, making it bigger: Every failed session eats at my motivation, consuming it, leaving me broken and drained. I want to get better, I have to get better, I need to get better. Everyone has spent countless days sleepless, worrying for me, caring for me. There is no way I can disappoint them. I could never. I just can't give up, not after all that I've already put them through.

But I'm scared. I haven't shown any improvement as of late, and my emotional state only seems to be getting worse. I'm scared that nothing will get better. I'm scared that I will disappoint Yotsuha and Grandma. But what I am most scared of, is Yotsuha and Grandma, my 2 oldest confidantes, have been through so much with me, leaving me.

What if they eventually decide I'm not worth caring for?

The will to carry on drags my hopeless, lifeless soul along the rough, gravel road to recovery. All around me, I see the carcasses of those who have travelled on this road but have failed, and could not help but wonder, would I be next?

---

I munch on my bowl of cereal while scrolling on my phone. I dread the afternoon: another therapy session. My hope has dissipated completely: Now, I go there not in search of gradual recovery, but for a mere miracle, that I can open my mouth. I scroll through endless stories of friends: their smiles, the people around them, their company, it demoralizes me. The one person who's alone. My suffering. It's mine. I'm an alien.

I dream of speaking to those who I love, the people who care for me, about how the current therapy doesn't work, but right now, it's these people who I don't want to disappoint; these people who I dared not share how I truly feel.

Then something catches my eye. A picture of Taki, out in the fields. Taki.

I quickly message him. He may not have understood me the first time, but he did bother to come and check on me, to look after me while I was out, to try to make up for his mistakes.

There's no one else I can trust. Why not him, right?

I ask him to come with me to the session later on, in the hopes that maybe someone who knows what I see can release me from my fears.

Ten minutes later, he agrees.