"Wow, he sounds super weird," Sayaka said to her friend as they walked to school,

"I know," Mitsuha exclaimed, "He's a total weirdo."

It had been a full day and Mitsuha was still bugged by her run-ins with…Taki. It was nothing short of humiliating for her, and besides that, Taki was just annoying. He had a big head and a loudmouth. Mitsuha could not stand this guy.

"Wait, come to think of it, why were you even out there?" Mitsuha's other friend Tessie asked, in regards to when she first met Taki.

Shoot. Mitsuha really didn't have an alibi for why she was out on that road. Yelling about how she hated the whole town? Wanting Tokyo boys? Yeah, no thanks, she'll take the vague answer.

"No reason." She spoke nonchalantly, although the humorous doubt on her friend's face was visible,

"Liar," Tessie smirked,

"Don't make me push you off of that bike Tessie." Mitsuha jokingly warned,

Her friends laughed, and the group continued the walk to school in mostly silence.

Ugh…school. Mitsuha herself could barely believe that summer had ended already. Now it was time for a new year of school. Which by extension meant a new year of being picked on for being the mayor's daughter. It wasn't anything new of course, it happened all the time, and had been happening for even longer. It was just that some students believed her to be more privileged than them. That she had it easy or something like that. High schoolers being high schoolers they also then felt the need to 'keep her in line' which resulted in the same song and dance every school year. In reality, Mitsuha was anything but privileged. She barely had free time having it all taken up with her grandma at the temple, she had the same tests as everyone else, her 'father' was barely ever around, and her mother…that was a topic Mitsuha didn't really like to tread on.

But regardless of any personal problems Mitsuha had (not that anyone actually cared) her only friends would remain two, just Tessie and Sayaka. Truth be told Mitsuha never understood why Sayaka stuck around, Tessie's father was a contractor who worked for Mitsuha's father, by extension they kind of had to stick together. But Sayaka really didn't have a reason to stick around, she was pretty enough to hang with any of the cooler kids yet she decided to stay with them. Mitsuha often joked when they were alone that it was her crush on Tessie making her stay, of course, Sayaka denied this. But Mitsuha could see through that, she knew love when she saw it.

Mitsuha and her friends entered the gates to the Itomori high school with time to spare. Immediately they began to move away from the other crowds of students who gathered all around the field in their own cliques and groups. They moved to take their spot under the tree with the old and unused desks looking out over the town and lake.

However, when they got there they found an unwelcome surprise, a constant in their bullied life. The two girls, Sakura, Tanaka, and that boy, Akashi. They knew Mitsuha and her friends sat there too, they were just waiting so they could stir up trouble. Mitsuha quickly redirected her friends, steering them away. Speed walking as fast as she could away from trouble.

"Where do we sit now?" Sayaka asked,

"I don't know, I gues-"

Mitsuha ran directly into someone. In hindsight, she probably shouldn't have been walking so fast and paying more attention to where she was going. Her father's chiding of 'standing straighter with her head up' seemed a lot more valuable now. Not that she'd admit that aloud.

Mitsuha fell flat on her behind, rubbing her head from its impact into whatever it was she had run into.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean t-oh." Mitsuha felt her veins go icy,

She looked up, hoping that she was wrong. However much to her disappointment and what was probably the universe's delight at her plight standing right there, was Taki.

"Oh, crap," Mitsuha said under her breath.

"Funny how we keep running into each other." Taki smiled down at her, she was really learning to hate that,

Taki crouched down, reaching very close to Mitsuha's leg. The girl quickly scrambled backward with a squeal. Attracting the attention of a couple of people nearby. Taki looked up at her slightly confused, Mitsuha tracked his arm with his eyes to see the book he had dropped and was reaching to pick up. It was also the exact same book she had, it was a textbook. He wiggled it slightly at her with a smile in a joking manner before standing up and walking away. This sparked the laughter and snickers of multiple nearby students who had witnessed the event. Mitsuha had never felt so embarrassed. She had also never been so furious.

Without another word, she jumped to her feet, grabbed her friends, and dashed in the other direction. Although being careful to avoid any more embarrassing run-ins.

"That was him?" Sayaka exclaimed looking back over her shoulder every moment with both eyebrows raised, "Wow, he's pretty handsome."

Mitsuha took note of the frown that appeared on Tessie's face at that moment. Then capitalized on it.

"We'll…he is from Tokyo." She said just barely able to contain the smile with the expression both her friends made,

"TOKYO?! Well, that explains it. Wow, he is a looker isn't he?" Sayaka looked over her shoulder again,

"Well I don't know…I've seen a couple boys in our school who could probably top that. Besides, didn't he seem a little full of himself?" Tessie butt in, Mitsuha savoring the enjoyment from his jealousy.

Though Tessie wasn't entirely wrong. Taki did give off some of 'those' vibes. Still, it seemed like she would just have to endure. They'd be going to the same school from now on. Hopefully, with any luck, she'd be as far away from him as possible. There needn't be any more unnecessary interactions or awkwardness between them.

Mitsuha made her way to her homeroom all the way trying to dodge anyone she could potentially run into and steering clear of any that saw that embarrassing exchange between her and Taki.

Finally arriving at the room, she slid the door open and stepped inside. Then for the second time, today walked directly into a boy.

Then for the second time today, realized who she had walked into.

"You gotta be kidding me," Taki said