As the end of the wedding reception drew near, Taki and Mitsuha stood at the doors and thanked guests as they were leaving. The only guests who weren't looking to make an exit were those seated at the exclusive area for Taki's and Mitsuha's closest friends. Seated here were Taki's and Mitsuha's fathers, Hitoha, Yotsuha, Sayaka, Tessie, Shinta, Tsukasa, and Okudera.
"I would love to stay longer but I do have work in the morning." Taki's father was the first of the special guests to announce his departure.
"Why don't you stay a little longer?" Toshiki beckoned his new brother-in-law to take his seat again. "Work shouldn't stress you. You'll be retiring soon enough."
"Oh god, do I really look that old?" Taki's father said with a distressed look on his face. His distress brought joy and laughter to the table.
"I wasn't being serious. And if you do need to leave we can handle the rest. But be sure to keep in touch. Old men like us need to watch out for these younger generations."
"I'll do that. It was nice meeting all of you." As the group said their goodbyes to Taki's father, they turned their attention to the newlyweds at the door. As they did, they saw a happy couple departing guests with a smile on their face and a skip in their step. Many at the table were reminded of their very own weddings which took place anywhere from 5 months to 5 decades ago.
But, something about Taki and Mitsuha was different. It wasn't just that the circumstances in which they met was strange. Their connection seemed too deep for a couple which had only been together for 10 months. Some thought it was due to an unplanned pregnancy, but they all knew Taki and Mitsuha wouldn't let that happen. The group had ruled it to be true love, but this didn't sit right. Especially with Okudera.
"Well, I think we should be heading out too." Hitoha whispered to Toshiki.
"It is that time of night." They both began standing up when they overheard something.
"It's almost like they're the same person."
"What?" Sayaka intriguingly replied.
Okudera didn't realize she was thinking out loud, but decided to continue her train of thought. "Have any of you guys ever gotten that feeling? That Taki and Mitsuha are almost the same." She looked around the table and saw faces of confusion from everyone, except Hitoha and Sayaka.
At this point, Hitoha sat down. She signaled for Toshiki to do the same.
Sayaka began to think back. She was specifically thinking about a few weeks in third year when Mitsuha began acting completely different. And the more she thought about it, the more she agreed with Okudera. "There was this time 10 years ago, around the start of our third year, where Mitsuha was acting really weird." Sayaka replied. "And now that I think about it, she kinda was acting like Taki."
With Sayaka thinking back, Tessie began to as well. "Why do you think that?"
"Well, she suddenly got really good at drawing. As good as Taki is right now."
"That just seems like a coincidence." Yotsuha chimed in.
"She also got way better at sports, specifically basketball. Tessie, don't you and Taki talk and play a lot."
"Yeah, he is pretty good."
"Wait, wait. Was there a time in third year where Mitsuha was acting really weird?" At this point, Okudera was at the edge of her seat.
"Yeah." Tessie stated. "It was almost like she was a different person. But everyday Hitoha would exorcise her and she'd be back to normal. That's what we thought, at least"
With this news, Okudera and Tsukasa looked at each other like they were trying to communicate telepathically. Shinta was a bit slow to figure it out.
"Why are you guys looking at each other like that?" Sayaka asked.
"Well, the same thing happened to Taki." Tsukasa spoke out. "At some point during third year, he became a different person. He forgot how to get to school, where he worked, even who his friends were."
"Ooohh, I remember that. He also developed this weird addiction to cake and cafes. Then he spoke with a weird accent and referred to himself as a female a bunch. But it was only for two or three days a week. And it only lasted for a month too." Shinta didn't really know what was going on, but he remembered the weirdest teenage phase he had ever seen.
"Sounds like Mitsuha, right." Okudera said to Sayaka.
"Yeah, but wasn't your third year 7 years ago. Ours was 10."
"That is true. But these can't all be coincidences. They must have met before they did 10 months ago." This is where Okudera always hit a mental block when thinking about Taki and Mitsuha. Fortunately for her, the perfect person was listening to their conversation.
Of course, Hitoha knew the answer. She figured out Taki was the man in Mitsuha's dreams the second time she brought him over. At first, she decided to keep their secret. But, with the relics of the Miyamizu shrine destroyed, the chances of the heritage being passed down dropped significantly. So, she believed sharing some of the shrine's secrets would only serve to keep the heritage alive in the new generations.
"Oh my. How close to the truth you are." For almost the first time, the entire group heard Hitoha speak.
"What truth, grandma." Yotsuha asked.
"Something mystical happened between Taki and Mitsuha. It's how they know each other so well, better than any couple in the world." The words of the wise grandma only further confused the party members. "Think closely about what happened to Taki and Mitsuha however many years ago."
"When they were acting weird?" Shinta said with a detective-like face.
"They weren't just acting weird, were they." Hitoha slowly pushed the table towards the truth.
"No, they were acting like each other. For one day at a time" Okudera added.
"Then the next day they would be back to normal and not talk about what happened." Sayaka said.
"Huh, it's almost like they were switching bodies." Tessie said with a small laugh.
"You always talk such nonsense." Sayaka harped. "They were probably abducted by aliens too."
Tsukasa looked at Hitoha and saw a small smile fall upon her face after Tessie's outrageous claim. But, considering everything they were describing, the claim wasn't that insane.
"Is that really it? Did they really switch bodies?" Tsukasa beamed at Hitoha. The table eagerly awaited Hitoha's answer.
With a yawn, she looked at her watch. "Toshiki, it's getting late. Could you help me get home?"
"Sure, let's go."
"Wait, grandma. I should help you get home too" Yotsuha said.
"You have helped me enough Yotsuha. Besides, I think you'll want to stay for a little while." With this, Hitoha and Toshiki stood up and began walking to the exit. Before she left the table, she responded to Tsukasa. "If you want to know the answer, you'll have to ask them yourselves." The table was in an utter state of disbelief as Hitoha and Toshiki walked towards Taki and Mitsuha.
"Grandma!" Mitsuha hugged Hitoha as she walked up to her.
"Mitsuha. Congratulations."
As Toshiki walked up, Taki reached out to shake his hand. "Thank you for supporting us, sir. I'll make sure the rest of her life is the best it can be."
"I'm sure you will Taki. And drop the formality, I'm your father now."
"Ok, sir" Taki replied with a smile on his face.
"Alright, I'm done with you." Toshiki walked over to Mitsuha and Hitoha and joined in on their hug. After a short amount of time, the three separated.
"I wish the best for the both of you." Hitoha said, looking at Taki and Mitsuha. Toshiki and her began walking out, when Hitoha turned around. "I would suggest going and talking with your friends soon. They have a lot of questions to ask."
Taki and Mitsuha hadn't realized, but their friends were the last guests at the reception, and they were all staring at them. "What did you do grandma?" Mitsuha said, looking back to Hitoha.
"Just helped them figure something out."
"That was cruel." Toshiki whispered to Hitoha as they walked away from the reception.
Now that the guests were gone, Taki and Mitsuha went to retake their seats at the special guests table. The entire way there they felt like fawns being stalked by lions. And when they got to the table, the lions pounced.
"DID YOU TWO SWITCH BODIES?!" Tessie screamed. The entire reception would have heard him if they were still there.
Taki and Mitsuha gave each other a knowing look. They now knew what Hitoha had done.
"Why would she do that?" Mitsuha angrily muttered.
"Mitsuha, is it really true?" Sayaka said in disbelief.
"Yeah, it is." Taki replied. It was the first time he had responded for Mitsuha in several years.
Okudera was in shock. "So on those days when Taki was being really sweet,-"
"That was me."
"When Mitsuha was being really outgoing,-" Tessi questioned.
"That was me."
Thirty seconds passed in silence as this new revelation shook the party to its core. Now that they were past whether or not it was possible, they began thinking what this meant.
"So who fixed my skirt at the restaurant?"
"I did. It was really cute, wasn't it. I wanted to add some more designs, but there wasn't enough fabric in the restaurant."
"I'm guessing Taki helped me build that wooden cafe."
"Yeah, we always sat at these depressing benches in the rain and cold. I thought that it'd be nice to have a better place to sit."
"We?" Sayaka hesitantly said. Taki and Mitsuha then realized that everyone looked like they had just seen a ghost. It reminded them of when they first realized they were swapping bodies, and the horror it brought them.
"Look, we don't why it started happening. But when it did, we just had to get used to it." Mitsuha tried bringing the group back down to Earth.
"You didn't try to tell anyone." Shinta was the first to calm down.
"What was I supposed to say? 'I'm randomly switching bodies with some girl from the country, bear with it for a while.' Would you have even believed me?"
"Maybe. You were acting like a-" Tsukasa was interrupted.
"OH MY GOD! THAT WAS TAKI!" Yotsuha gave Taki a death glare. Taki knew why.
"What, Yotsuha?" Tessie questioned.
"On all of those weird days you're talking about, Mitsuha woke up groping her breasts. I thought it was strange, but I know why now."
"TAKI!" Okudera exclaimed. But it wasn't just her. Everyone was looking at Taki now.
"Well, I thought it was a dream at first." Taki said while rubbing the back of his neck. "Besides, you don't know how weird it is suddenly waking up with breasts."
"Weak excuses." an angry Sayaka replied.
"I already apologized too." Taki said, looking at Mitsuha.
"Well, it wasn't accepted." Mitsuha replied while looking away.
"Oh man." Taki felt like Sayaka's, Yotsuha's and Okudera's looks were causing him physical pain. He was afraid his heart would stop from sheer exhaustion.
"Oh, I almost forgot. He also drank my kuchikamizake." At this point, Mitsuha just wanted them to make fun of Taki.
"You really drank that?" Tessie said with disgust on his face.
"I HAD TO!"
"WHY?!" Yotsuha said standing up.
"Because I, I-" Mitsuha took Taki's hand. They gave each other a loving look.
"Why, Taki?" Sayaka questioned.
"Because I had to save her life." He said, turning to the table. "I had to save everyone in Itomori."
"What do you mean?" Tesse asked.
"Yotsuha, Sayaka, Tessie. We all died. Us, and everyone in Itomori. I saw it with my own eyes, although you definitely don't remember."
"Then how are we alive?" Yotsuha said while sitting down.
Mitsuha pointed to Taki and let him speak. "I don't know if you guys figured this out yet, but when we were swapping, we were the same age. That means we were three years apart."
"You were time traveling? Why didn't you bet on some games?" Shinta jokingly asked.
"We wouldn't do that." Mitsuha replied. "But, we didn't get the opportunity to anyways, because we never realized we were living in different times."
"I feel like that should be pretty obvious." Yotsuha said.
"Well, when I woke up in my own body, my time in Mitsuha's felt like a dream. I could remember the most important parts, but I always forgot the little details. I guess I just never thought about it."
"It was the same for me." Mitsuha said.
"Then how did you figure it out?" Okudera asked.
"It was during our trip to Itomori. I was actually looking for Mitsuha. I don't know if you guys remember this, but I didn't actually know where she was. I just had a picture of the landscape."
"I thought that was weird." Tsukasa said. "We thought some guy online was messing with you and was going to kidnap you."
"No, it's just because I couldn't remember. But, when I found out she was from Itomori, I also found out she died. Her, Yotsuha, Sayaka, Tessie, and many others. That's when I realized we were in different times."
"I don't remember that." Okudera said.
"When I found out she died, I didn't know what to do. I just knew that I wanted her to be alive." Taki said while looking at Mitsuha. "Then, I remembered our trip to the shrine god's body, Yotsuha."
"So that was you. Mitsuha was acting weird that day."
"Yeah. I remembered I brought Mitsuha's kuchikamizake there. At the time, it was the only piece of Mitsuha left in the world. So, I went to the top of the mountain and drank it."
After a short pause, Sayaka spoke up. "Well, then what?". She, and everyone else, were eager to hear the end of this true love story.
"I woke up in her body, on the day of the comet."
"He probably did it so he could feel you up again." Youtube said.
"YOTSUHA! He was trying to save my life." Mitsuha exclaimed.
"The first thing he did when he woke that day was start touching you."
"TAKI!" She said letting go of his hand.
"At that point, it was part of my morning routine." He said while nervously rubbing the back of his head. "I'm sorry."
"I should have made you break your hands."
"I would still have been able to use your hands in your body."
"I should have made you mentally break your hands. So you couldn't use your hands in anyone's body."
"I don't think you would have liked that."
"Why not?"
"Because I wouldn't be able to do this." Taki began to tickle Mitsuha, much to her surprise. But, her battle experience prepared her for this, and she began a swift counterattack. It soon became a full scale war, a war with spectators.
"Ahem." Tessie said with no response. "HELLO!" Taki and Mitsuha looked up in slight embarrassment, and called a ceasefire.
"Right, where were we." Taki said, moving his chair back to normal.
"The day of the comet." Sayaka said, somewhat annoyed.
"Oh yeah. Sayaka, Tessie. I made the plan to blow up the power station with you guys. It was me for most of that day."
"Most?" Tessie asked.
"When I went to convince dad, I mean Toshiki, to evacuate, he wouldn't listen. He said 'Who are you?'. I think he knew it wasn't Mitsuha in her body. I knew I had to bring Mitsuha back to convince Toshiki. So, I did what I did in my body and went to the shrine god's body. That's why I took your bike Tessie."
"It was Mitsuha, but I know what you mean." Tessia said.
"We ended up meeting at the top of the mountain, at twilight." Mitsuha filled in. "It's where we first met, where we last swapped, and where Taki told me about the comet."
"So that's how you knew about the comet. I thought it was some divine intervention." Tessie said.
"In some sense, it was. The god's brought Taki to me." Mitsuha replied. "He saved my life along with everyone in Itomori."
"He time traveled and saved your life. Even with that, I still don't know if I'd forgive him." Yotsuha said while relaxing in her chair.
"Oh, calm down. I think it's an amazing story." Sayaka approvingly said.
"Thanks." Mitsuha replied.
"But how did you meet? Weren't you there at different times." Tsukasa pondered.
"We don't know ourselves." Mitsuha said. "My grandma believes the threads of fate brought us together at that moment. Regardless, it's where we fell in love." Taki and Mitsuha joined hands again, reconfirming their love for one another.
"If you fell in love then, how come it took so many years for you two to get married?" Shinta chimed in.
"Well, after the evacuation happened and things settled down, my memories of Taki vanished. I was only left feeling that something, someone, important was missing from my life."
"Is that why you were so depressed?" Sayaka realized. "We thought it was because of the comet."
"I thought it was that at first. But, I eventually realized it was something deeper." Mitsuha said.
"You could have told us sooner." Tessie said. "We spent a lot of time trying to help you."
"Setting me up with every guy you know isn't helping." Mitsuha snarked. "I even heard you were placing bets on how long my dates would last."
"That wasn't me. That was Tessie and some people from Itomori." Sayaka said. "We really were trying to help. After the comet hit, we were all sad. But, after me and Tessie got together, the world didn't seem so bad anymore. We thought you needed something like that too."
"That's fair. They weren't bad people, but none of them felt right. It's because none of them were Taki." Mitsuha rested her head on his shoulder. The long wedding day had been more taxing than she planned, and she was ready to fall asleep any minute.
"We just thought Taki was asexual." Shinta added.
"No, Shinta. I was just looking for the right person." Taki said while wrapping his arm around Mitsuha. "And the wait paid off."
"So, what happened with the train then?" Okudera asked. "Did you get your memories back when you saw each other?"
"They didn't come back instantly." Taki replied. "But when I saw Mitsuha, I somehow knew she was what I was looking for, and I knew I needed to meet her. That's why I got off the train and ran around Tokyo."
"Once we started talking again, the memories came back. Grandma also helped us recover our memories as well. Apparently, a similar thing happened to her when she was younger."
"That explains why you fell in love instantly," Yotsuha said. "I know you hate 'love at first sight' stories Mitsuha."
"I do, which is why we call our story 'love at first memory'".
Yotsuha instinctively rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I know second years with better jokes." This sent Shinta into a fit of laughter, which spread around the table. After a few moments, everyone calmed down.
"Wow, I can't believe you actually swapped bodies." Tsukasa said.
"So whenever Taki was acting cute, that was actually Mitsuha." Okudera said, looking at the couple.
"Yeah." They replied.
"Then I never did get a crush on you Taki, I got a crush on Mitsuha." Okudera said with a laugh.
"Oh, I loved spending time with you Miki. I was really looking forward to our date, too. But Taki went on it. And I heard he completely ruined it."
"It was my first date, I didn't know what to do." Taki said while rubbing the back of his head. "It wasn't that bad, right Okudera."
"Taki, I don't mean to be mean, but that was the worst date I've had in my life."
"I'm sorry. But I got better, right Mitsuha."
"Marginally." She said with a smirk.
"Tessie, didn't you have a crush on Mitsuha back then too." Sayaka said while nudging Tessie.
"It wasn't just me, it was half the school. Besides, we know now that it was Taki in Mitsuha's body. It was just a little bromance." Tessie reached across the table and gave Taki a fist bump.
As the night continued, the group discussed their memories of years ago while enjoying each other's company. Their new perspective of the past allowed them to relive it and enjoy it again. Once the cleaning crew kicked them out the venue, the crew went their separate ways.
"I didn't expect to tell them about our past tonight." Taki said to Mitsuha.
"You can thank grandma for that. I need to ask her why she told them."
"I'm glad she did."
"Yeah, it felt nice telling the truth. Now, we don't need to keep any secrets."
"We still do have some secrets." Taki looked down at Mitsuha's ring. On it the words 'I love you.' were engraved. Taki's ring simply had a '-' engraved on it.
"I'd prefer those stay secret."