Mitsuha Miyamizu was the eldest daughter of the town's local shrine. A high school student of a precocious 16 years of age, the girl had lived her whole life within the recluse of her small town. It was a calm and quiet place, filled with simple folk who lived their simple lives in happy pastoral peace. Which was a polite way of saying it was incredibly boring. Yes there simply wasn't a lot to her quaint and quiet mountain town, it had a department store, a fairly notable inn and perhaps what some tourists might call an 'old world charm' but all of this was a distraction to the utter mundanity that was life here. Time seemed to stand still for Mitsuha, or at least that's what it felt like for most of her days.
She'd never say this out loud to her beloved family, of course, which was why she moved into the family dining area once more this morning with little more than a "good morning" to her placid grandmother and little sister.
"Morning sis," Yotsuha, the aforementioned sister, said to her blankly as the two sat down for breakfast. It was a normal breakfast, with eggs, a bit of leftover pork from last night's supper, and rice. Mitsuha gently scooped up a spoonful of rice and placed it directly into her bowl with a small sigh under her breath. The weather was nice, sun glistening against the ardent nature around their house, so Mitsuha's slowly awakening mind could only find focus on one thing. The television and the subsequent news.
"His wife is expected to pursue damages. Until further notice, reporter-" the TV continued with its mundane broadcast.
"Hrm? What's going on?" Mitsuha asked out of a slight sense of curiosity.
"A city councilman having an affair apparently. This is why you can't trust politicians," her grandmother mused bitterly.
"Oh," Mitsuha said blankly as she attempted to push the depressing thought out of her mind.
"Until allegations have ended, she will be off the air and out of the public eye-" the broadcast continued unabated.
"This is why you don't get into politics kids," the elderly woman side eyed the TV, "it's the root of all corruption."
"Mayor Miyamizu has made a public statement saying that the affair and subsequent fallout has no relation to his own cabinet-" the TV ended with a sudden blip as the screen turned black and Mitsuha returned the remote control to the table.
"Can't you just apologize to him?" Yotsua asked her older sister who simply closed her eyes and took a sip of her water.
"It's an adult thing, you wouldn't understand," Mitsuha scolded as the family finished their breakfast.
From there, Mitsuha and Yotsuha left their house and went their separate ways. Yotsuha waving goodbye as Mitsuha likewise saw her little sister off to her friend's house. As she continued down the path she saw two familiar figures standing at the crosswalk. Her two closest friends, Chie and Yukiko.
"Hey! Mitsuha!" Chie greeted as she waved the girl over. Mitsuha likewise waved back as she walked up to the two of them.
"Hey ya'll," she greeted as she approached the two. Chie was dressed in her usual green and yellow tracksuit, Yukiko in her red sweater over her white blouse and elegant clothing.
"So how's life been?" Chie asked as the trio began walking down the winding path to the paltry part of downtown they generously referred to as a shopping district.
"Normal. Helping grandma out at the shrine. Getting ready for the ritual," Mitsuha said as she looked out at the sky, "I really don't want to make kuchikamizake again."
"Well at least the media aren't all gathered at your house 24/7," Yukiko sighed as she moved along.
"Huh? What happened Yukiko?" Mitsuha asked.
"OHHH You didn't hear?" Chie said with wide eyes, "that news anchor? Mayumi Yamano? The one who had an affair with the city councilman?"
"Oh! I did hear something about that, actually," Mitsuha admitted as she recalled the vague glimpses from the TV she heard.
"Well she's staying at the Amagi Inn! Apparently she lived in Inaba a while back and moved here to get out of the public eye," Chie said in as hushed a voice as she could muster.
"Oh. Really?" Mitsuha got a peculiar look. Why anyone would willingly come to this town was beyond her.
"It seriously sucks," Yukiko said morosely, "reporters keep showing up and asking me all kinds of pointless questions about Yamano-san. It's not like I'm her best friend all of a sudden! And we have strict confidentiality clauses. About the only people who could get in there are police."
"That doesn't sound too bad Yukiko," Mitsuha said, "besides there are worse things to be the center of."
Yukiko lowered her gaze upon hearing Mitsuha's words. "Sorry. I forget your dad's the Mayor sometimes."
"It wouldn't be so bad if he just gave up on me," Mitsuha sighed, "but sometimes I walk by him giving a speech and he'll say something like 'MITSUHA! STAND UP STRAIGHT! YOU'RE SLOUCHING!' or something condescending like that."
"Jeeze for real?" Chie winced "I'd have died of embarrassment if that happened to me."
"I sometimes wish I could die of embarrassment," Mitsuha sighed, "then I could become a ghost and haunt him for the rest of his days."
"Let's talk about something else... OH! School's starting up tomorrow?" Yukiko pointed out.
"Oh great. Thanks for reminding me," Chie despaired. "Do we at least have a cool homeroom teacher?"
"Hah, you wish," a male voice said next to them. The three girls turned their heads and were greeted by the visage of a brown haired boy.
"Yosuke!" Chie shouted as she pointed at the boy, "where's my DVD? I lent that to you WEEKS AGO and you haven't returned it!"
"OH! UH- RIGHT! I'll bring it back tomorrow!" he smiled nervously at the trio as his attention fell on the rest of them, "anyway uh... our homeroom teacher is King Moron."
"Nooooo. Not Mister Morooka," Chie whined, "anyone but him!"
"The Last time I saw him in school he was tellin' me I was wearing my freaking skirt too short," Mitsuha sighed, "he said I was a harlot. Who does that!?"
"And it's gonna be that ALL YEAR," Yosuke said with a pained expression.
The four of them sighed and looked down the road at the highschool. Now a symbol of an encroaching dread that tempted them to desolation.
"I should get back to the Inn," Yukiko sighed, "last day of winter's always the busiest."
"Oh yea! Your inn's holding that reporter lady who got into the affair right?" Yosuke asked.
"Yes and if you bring that up again I'm hitting you," Yukiko warned before stomping off.
With Yukiko leaving, the trio of Yosuke, Mitsuha and Chie slowly made their way downtown toward the city center. Or at least what counted as a city center in a town as small as Inaba. As they walked and random conversations continued, Mitsuha found herself talking to Yosuke about his past growing up in a bigger city. The lights, the size, the hustle and bustle... of course, it was all in Yosuke's words and he wasn't the most eloquent at speaking them. Still though, comparing her simple country life to Yosuke's account of the city. It was impossible for her to not start getting into her 'griping about Inaba' mode.
"AHHH I just wanna graduate and go to Tokyo already! This town's too much! There's one train every two hours. One gas station. One pub- we don't even have a BIG BANG BURGER?" Mitsuha wined as she rubbed the back of her head. Chie simply winced a bit as Yosuke solemnly nodded alongside her.
"Yeaa I know that feeling. But hey! If you want to get the TRUE CITY EXPERIENCE why don't we stop by at the local cafe?" Yosuke asked with a wink.
"WHAT!? A CAFE!?" Mitsuha's face brightened as her eyed widened in Yosuke's direction. Chie likewise gave Yosuke a doubtful but intrigued look.
It wasn't a cafe of course. It was the food court at Junes. A bait and switch that left Mitsuha pouting at one side of the table as Chie disdainfully watched Yosuke bring over a couple cans of coffee from a nearby vending machine.
"Here you two lovely ladies go!" Yosuke said with a meek grin as Chie grabbed a can and opened it.
"You're a real cheap skate you know that Yosuke. I better see my Trial of the Dragon tomorrow," Chie said darkly as Mitsuha simply sighed and took a can of coffee herself.
"Y-you will, you will," Yosuke said nervously as he proceeded to drink a can himself, "OH! But uh- did you hear?" he was trying to change the subject.
"Hear what?" Mitsuha asked.
"Apparently we're getting a new transfer student? I heard King Moron complaining about it," Yosuke said offhandedly as he took another sip of his coffee, "he's suppose to be arriving in town tomorrow? He's staying with Dojima-san."
"The police officer?" Chie asked with a blink and a sip of her own coffee.
"Yep. Apparently he's a relative of his, he's gonna be here all year," Yosuke explained. Mitsuha sighed. Another person coming to a dead-end town like this. At least he'd get the privileged of leaving soon.
"That's nice... but wanna know what I heard?" Chie offered in retaliation to Yosuke's hearsay. "There's this rumor going around about a weird TV channel that only plays at Midnight!"
"Huh? TV Channel?" Yosuke asked, "like a... broadcast signal being picked up or?"
"Nobody knows for sure. But what they say is: if you watch TV at 12:00 AM exactly. An image appears on the TV! The image is of a person, and whoever that person is? Is your soulmate!" Chie explained as she gestured around with her hands.
"Soulmate huh? That must be interesting to have, right Mitsuha-san?" Yosuke looked to the girl and gave a small wink. Mitsuha had no interest.
"Whatever. I'm going home," Mitsuha said as she picked up her book bag and shuffled it over her shoulder.
"Oh riiight. Your ritual is tonight," Chie said with a wince.
"OH YEA!" Yosuke responded with a smile "you're making kuchikamizake? I'd love to try some!"
At first there was a pause. Then Mitsuha reeled back. Then she spun her head around flustered. Then she walked up to Yosuke and gave him a solid elbow to his chest before stomping off in a storm.
"What did I do!?" Yosuke huffed out between labored breaths.
"You idiot!" Chie scolded, "do you even know what kuchikamizake is!?"
"It's... homemade sake right?" Yosuke asked with a wince as he tried to correct himself.
It was later that very night and all Yosuke and Chie could do was watch. Watch as Mitsuha and her little sister danced up on stage, moving their suzu, little handheld wands with bells on them, around as the two continued their traditional dance. Yosuke watched with a bizarre fascination, like something out of a horror thriller or drama. Like the moment Mitsuha finished her dance some horrible beast would come out and devour her and her sister whole. Of course Yosuke pushed the thoughts from his mind.
Mitsuha meanwhile could only feel disgrace and embarrassment. Not so much at the dance she was doing but what she knew would come soon after. For once her and Yotsuha's dance finished, she and her sister knelled down onto a pair of pillows, took out a box of freshly cooked rice and each put a handful into their mouths. Slowly they both began to chew.
Yosuke's first thought was that they were simply going to eat it. Maybe it was like the western idea of Sacrament? But then he saw Mitsuha bring the sleeve of her shrine maiden attire to her face, covering it partially as she raised a small wooden box beneath her mouth and... slowly began to spittle out a gooey white substance that would fill the box.
"It's called mouth-sake," Chie scolded Yosuke, whose face went from fascinated to shocked then horrified.
"Jeeeeze. They make her do that in front of everyone?" he whispered to Chie who simply elbowed him for talking about it like that.
"If you know it's embarrassing then don't talk about it!" she scolded then promptly shut herself up when she noticed Mitsuha had indeed heard her and was looking directly at the two. All they could do was look away in shame.
The ritual drew to a close and Mitsuha was busy walking outside with her sister in toe. The two were now dressed more normally, although Mitsuha's clearly sour disposition had yet to lighten. Mumbling to herself, all she could think about was the banquet their grandmother had forced them to attend. Serving drinks to a bunch of old people who were closer to death than either of them were to birth. As Yotsuha heard her sister angered murmuring she looked up at her.
"Hey sis. I got an idea! Why don't you try selling your kuchikamizake? It'll make you lots of money and then you can move to Tokyo," Yotsuha asked. Mitsuha paused as the thought appeared in her mind. A billboard with her, dressed in her shrine maiden attire selling what was basically her spittle fermented. For a second she almost considered the validity of it, there'd have to be some weird perverts out there interested in something like that right? It only took her one re-examination of that thought for her to instantly kick it from her mind and realize how utterly unfeasible that would be.
"NO! LIQUOR TAX LAWS WOULD NEVER ALLOW IT!" Mitsuha shouted.
"That's your concern?" Yotsuha said incredulously.
"GOD!" Mitsuha shouted to the sky. "GOD! IF YOU'RE UP THERE PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!" she begged the sky. "LET ME BE REBORN AS A HANDSOME BOY IN TOKYO! PLEASE! THAT'S ALL I WANT!" she pleaded.
"Why a boy?" Yotsuha asked as she approached her sister from the side.
"I just want to get away from this life. From my life. From myself," she moaned out.
The two stopped as they were greeted by their "family pet". A badass looking fox with a scar over one of its eyes and a a frilly red bib that Yotsuha had somehow managed to wrap around its neck. It wasn't a pet obviously, the thing was as feral as they came but it had hung around their shrine since they were little. Mitsuha even recalled her grandmother talking about the thing with a nostalgic look in her eyes, which begged the question of how freaking old they were!? Even the foxes in this town were apparently ancient!
"Hello Mister Fox," they both said as they bowed slightly and let it pass them. Watching its graceful steps as it skipped along with a single knowing nod to each. Best be respectful to potential deities, they figured.
"Anyway, you're weird sis," Yotsuha said plainly as she ran down the steps and up to a girl her own age. "Hey Nanako!" she greeted.
"Hey! What were you doing up there on the stage Yotsuha?" Nanako asked.
"Making mouth-sake. It's made from spitting up rice!" Yotsuha said to her.
"That's gross!" Nanako responded.
"Yea! It is!" Yotsuha replied matter of fact. That was preschool for you. No judgment, no rumors. Just pure innocence. It must've been nice.
Mitsuha sighed and looked up at the gathering clouds. Would it rain tonight? Crap she had better run home soon. Of course, her thoughts of Tokyo and the person she wanted to be didn't leave her mind. Who she wanted to be huh? That question hung in her heart as she thought back to a few summers ago and a promise long broken. Of a boy she'd probably never see again and of a world she knew she couldn't escape from. Like it not, she was stuck here with these people in this backwater town... maybe if she just had the courage to take those first few steps she could-
Mitsuha shook the thought from her mind. Paralyzed by the actual implications of what she'd need to do. No matter how fed-up she was with this place she couldn't bring herself to confront that part of her that said everyone she knew here was pointless and boring, and more importantly what they said about her as a person. Mitsuha, despite everything, couldn't face herself.
Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm just uploading this fic here from my Ao3 account. If you'd like to read the entire thing in one sitting the entire work is uploaded here: /works/12143643/chapters/27553212
If not? Then I'll be uploading a chapter here once a week. Hope you enjoy the story!