"Grandma, could you do me a favour?"
"Hmm?"
"When… When she gets back. Could you say- Could you tell her that my name is Taki?"
"Of course, dear. Now run along - didn't you have something important to do?"
He (she) gasped. "You're right! Thank you Grandma!"
And a moment later, Taki bolted out the door, ready to do everything in his power to save the town he'd come to love.
Confusion seemed to be a constant these days.
Mitsuha awoke gasping for breath, the last vestiges of a dream lingering in her mind. A dream of the sky falling to pieces around her, of shuddering earth beneath her feet, and a horrifying flash of light.
Oh, that's right. That really had happened. The comet had split and come crashing down to earth, terrifyingly close.
She yawned, rubbing bleary eyes in the morning light.
Except, instead of having safely evacuated to the highschool with the rest of the town, her dream had placed her on the grassy field above the festival grounds, right where the meteorite had struck and caused devastating damage.
It had felt so real.
It wasn't for the first time that Mitsuha felt like something was missing. Like an integral part of the puzzle that was her memory was simply gone. It had been leaving her with far more questions than answers.
How had she known the comet would fracture and crash-land? She had been so certain of it, yet astrophysicists and astronomers around the world had been caught completely unaware. She had convinced Sayaka, and Tessie, and even her father, without evidence, that they were all in danger and needed to evacuate the town.
She jumped as the hotel door rolled open suddenly.
"Onee-chan," Yotsuha greeted from the open door. "Breakfast."
Mitsuha lowered her hands from her eyes and gave her sister a nod, before the girl shut the door and disappeared.
Her eyes trailed down to her hands.
Black ink stood in stark contrast to pale skin.
'I love you' it read.
Her heart fluttered as she read the words again.
Someone… important had written this on her hand; a boy. His name was on the tip of her tongue, just out of reach. Who was he? Did he– Did he really love her? She was sure she knew him intimately, and yet she couldn't recall a single detail. He was so important, yet completely unknown.
It hurt. Her chest panged painfully, knowing something was missing yet not knowing what.
Mitsuha pushed herself up from the tatami mat she'd used as bedding, holding back the tears of knowing she was unknowing, and began to change.
It only took a minute, and she paused for a moment to examine herself in the mirror, deemed her attire acceptable, and bent to grab her phone from the floor. Muscle memory directed her to the journal app, and with a flash of surprise, she found it empty.
But… That wasn't right, it was… She hadn't ever kept a diary though, had she? Why was she surprised to find it empty? Why was the app even on her phone to begin with?
Confusion, it seemed, was a constant these days.
"Good morning Grandma," Mitsuha offered around a slice of toast as her grandmother entered the hotel dining area to join her for breakfast. Yotsuha had already finished, and had disappeared back to her room.
"Good morning Mitsuha," the older woman returned, before with narrowed eyes she took Mitsuha's chin in hand and turned her face to examine it closely.
"Huh?" she responded eloquently.
Whatever her grandmother was looking for didn't seem to reveal itself on her face, and she was promptly released.
"Are you alright dear? You look down."
"I…" Mitsuha took a slow breath. "I don't know. I feel like– like I'm missing something."
A look of realisation dawned on her grandmother's features. "I think I know what it is. His name."
Her breath caught in her throat. It felt like her heart had stopped beating. She wanted desperately to urge her grandmother on, to tell her because she couldn't remember she couldn't remember she needed needed needed to know she needed to know his name. But she didn't – couldn't – due to the paralyzing fear that if she pushed she may never know.
"He wanted you to know that his name is Taki."
A gasp forced its way past the painful lump in her throat and she was gone, sprinting from the dining room because she remembered.
She remembered waking in a body not her own, remembered the boy who had woken in her body. She remembered realising it wasn't a dream and learning to communicate with a boy across the country by leaving notes in each other's phones. She remembered his hair, his voice, his friends, his face. She remembered the jerk who touched her boobs!
She remembered waking on the mountain, overlooking her destroyed home, and she remembered the fierce, desperate determination when he told her his plan to save it.
Most of all, she remembered the way he made her feel. She remembered how much she loved him, and remembered the way he loved her.
It all fit, and she felt complete. It almost felt as though she had always known, if not for the sharp stab of guilt that reminded her that she forgot him she forgot him she forgot him.
But it was already slipping away, disappearing back into the fog of forgotten memories. Details that had seemed so real and solid moments ago – the ring of Okudera-senpai's laughter, the sharp smell and sensation of marker against her palm – were vanishing, quicker and quicker.
Taki-kun. Taki-kun. Taki-kun.
She repeated his name in her head like a mantra. Feet pounded against the wooden floor as Mitsuha ran on, desperate to get back to her room, to her notebook, to make the fading feelings in her head solid and real and unforgettable.
Taki-kun. Taki-kun. Taki-kun.
She wouldn't forget him. She couldn't. She ripped the door to her room open, gasping for breath.
Taki-kun.
She needed her notebook, she needed it needed it needed it.
Taki-kun.
Please. She couldn't forget him. Not again. Please don't let her forget him!
Taki-kun.
Pen pressed to paper, and she began to write, write, write–
...
All she managed was a single word.
Tears streamed down her face, leaving cold, wet trails on her cheeks.
Mitsuha drew a shuddering breath as she stared down at the paper, pen falling from numb fingers.
Just one word. Just one word.
"Taki-kun," she whispered.
Just one word was enough.
The marker fell from his hand and clattered against the earth.
"Mitsuha?"
Disbelief overtook him as he looked around him.
"Hey, Mitsuha..."
She was gone. Vanished. Spontaneously and without a trace.
But no, that wasn't true.
He looked down at his hand, at the dark black line of ink on his skin, a line he hadn't drawn.
"I wanted to tell you," Taki admitted aloud. He pushed his disappointment away, resolution taking its place. "Wherever you are in the world, I'll search for you."
He looked away from the destroyed bay, and up at the moon, bright in the evening sky.
"Your name is Mitsuha."
Her name. Her name. He wouldn't forget her name.
"It's okay, I remember."
The words rushed out, in part to reassure himself, and in part in the hopes that she could still hear him.
"Mitsuha. Mitsuha. Mitsuha." Her name was a mantra on his lips. "Your name is Mitsuha."
He wouldn't forget, he wouldn't forget, he wouldn't forget.
"Your name is–"
His breath caught in his throat.
No. No no no no no.
He dropped to his knees, desperately fumbling for the fallen pen. He pushed the tip against his palm, tracing an identical line to the one present on his other hand.
But he could go no further.
He didn't remember.
Tears streamed down his face, leaving cold, wet trails on his cheeks.
Taki drew a shuddering breath as he stared down at his hand, pen falling from numb fingers.
"Who are you?"
...
"Taki-kun!"
His head whipped around at the address. A girl, different, but familiar.
He knew her.
"Taki-kun," the girl said again, far more timid this time as she approached.
His heart hammered in his chest. He knew her, knew her, knew her but the memories were just out of reach.
The girl stopped in front of him, and stooped to pick up his fallen pen.
"Taki-kun," she said once more, taking hold of his hand and pushing the marker against his skin. There was a flush to her skin as she spoke. "Do you remember my name?"
He looked down as she released his hand, bringing it close so he could read what it said clearly.
'I love you' it read.
With a slow breath, it all came falling into place.
She watched him carefully, and then she smiled, radiant and bright, and beautiful beyond words.
A smile to match her own grew on his face. He lifted his head and spoke to the girl he loved.
"Mitsuha."