Part 2

Chapter 4: The Supernatural Alleyway

Today, Mitsuha felt like walking around by herself, as most of her friends seemed to be busy today. And it was a beautiful day, so she wanted to experience the nice weather and maybe even check out some places that she never saw before. She decided to go to the Owson grocery, on the 2nd block in Morioh, and after she got herself a snack, she kept on walking, until something caught her eye…

Mitsuha looked at a weird looking alleyway, and mumbled "Was this here before…?" She looks around, and sees that no one else seemed to pay much attention to this alleyway, so she says "Huh… I kinda wanna check it out though…" So with that, Mitsuha walked into the alleyway to see where this area led to.

She walked along, seeing some weird looking sights. Mitsuha saw what looked like an old fashioned mailbox, to which she says "Maybe this is a fancy tourist place…?" Then, as she took a few more steps, she jumped back as she nearly stepped on some dog poo. She looks down, disgusted, and yells "What the heck? Why'd somebody just leave their dog's stuff here… So rude…"

Then, Mitsuha walked further, and went around the corner, and kept on walking. But, after walking a bit further, she saw a strange and unsettling sight. She mumbles, nervously, saying "Wait… Didn't I pass that mailbox…? And the dog stuff is there too…" And as she wondered what was going on, she saw someone who looked familiar, who's sight made her feel comforted and soothed.

This woman had long black hair, which went down to her shoulders, and brown eyes. She was wearing a simple looking blouse and skirt, as well as dress flats, but her attire seemed strangely familiar to Mitsuha as well. And this woman looked at Mitsuha warmly, as if she knew her, and for some reason, Mitsuha didn't find that odd. Mitsuha even sees tears form in this woman's eyes, which confuses her, but then she feels her cheek, and notices that she was tearing up as well.

Eventually, the woman wipes away her tears, and smiles, and says "You've really grown up… haven't you, Mitsuha…"

Mitsuha looks shocked that this woman knew her, so she says "Wait… who are you…?"

The woman smiles, and says "It's been so long, you probably can't really remember how I look… But I'm sure you remember, deep down…"

Mitsuha blinks a few times, and eventually says "Wait… no way…" She starts to tear up again, and then says "…Mom…?"

In another area of the alleyway, a young short light brown haired girl looks on confused, as she says "That girl's alive… How did she get in the alleyway? I need to do something!"

She then moves to the edge of the alleyway, and sends a spirit message to Rohan and Koichi, and says "Rohan! Koichi! I need your help! I think a girl just wandered into the alleyway, and she'll be in danger soon!"

The girl, Reimi Sugimoto, could only hope that her message made it to them, because she didn't want to see some innocent girl succumb to the dangers of this alleyway...

Back with Mitsuha, she was still staring at this woman, completely dumbfounded. She couldn't believe that she was looking at, and speaking with, her mother. Mitsuha laughs to herself, and says "I must be dreaming… And Mom looks so accurate too, but she passed away long ago. But I don't really want to wake up just yet…"

Her mother, Futaba, smiled and says "This isn't a dream, Mitsuha. I think I really did die, but somehow I can talk with you."

Mitsuha looks at her mother, even more confused, as she says "But… This can't be real…"

Futaba smiles, and says "Why don't we just let this strange occurrence happen? I'll bet you're still the type to not sweat the details, right?"

Mitsuha's eyes widen, and then she yells, "Huh? I'm way more mature now!" Then, she blushes, and the both of them start to laugh.

Then, Mitsuha tears up again, and says "It really is you…"

Futaba warmly smiles back at her, and says "It really is…" Then, she opens her arms, and Mitsuha rushes her, and tightly hugs her. She nearly knocks her mother down, but Futaba holds strong, as mother and child embrace. Then, Futaba says "I'm so very happy to see you, too… Are your father and Yotsuha well? And your grandmother?"

Mitsuha nods, while still holding on tight, and says "Yep! Dad's spending more time with us too! We moved to Morioh, a few months ago!"

Futaba pushes Mitsuha away slightly, and says "Wait, you left Itomori…? What happened?" Mitsuha realizes that her mother missed a lot of what happened, so she explains everything that happened since she passed away. She told her about how Toshiki buried himself in his job, about the comet, about meeting her new and crazy friends, about moving to Morioh, and about how things have actually been improving in the family.

Futaba looks at Mitsuha, a bit overwhelmed, and eventually says "It seems like a lot has happened since I passed away, didn't it? But I'm glad things have been working out." Then, she grows a devilish smile, and says "Have you found yourself a boyfriend yet…? You've apparently met a lot of young boys lately…"

Mitsuha glares at her mother, and blushes, and says "N… no! They're all friends… Although…"

Futaba raises an eyebrow, and says "Oh…? Have you found a special someone…? You can tell your mother!"

Mitsuha coughs, and says "It's not like that! But, sometimes I feel weird, like I miss somebody that I've never met… I can't really describe it…"

Futaba wonders if her daughter experienced the same kind of body switching that she did, when she was younger. She never really remembered it when she was alive, but once she passed away, and realized that she was deceased, she could clearly remember the experience. It was technically how she first met her husband, although she doubts that he would ever be able to remember any of that.

But, she didn't want to tell Mitsuha, as this was something that she needed to figure out for herself. If Mitsuha knew, it would only make it harder on her if she ever met her sweetheart again, as he would have no conscious recollection of the experience. That didn't mean that she couldn't give her daughter a hint, so she takes a deep breath, and says "It sounds like you've fallen in love, sweetie…"

Mitsuha jumps back, and says "Wh… what?" Then she laughs, and says "Yeah right…"

Futaba smiles, and says "You'll understand someday, Mitsuha… For now, don't let it worry you. Focus on making memories in the present, okay?"

Mitsuha nods slowly, and says "Okay!"

Then, she goes to give her mother one final hug, before asking "Oh yeah, where are we…?"

Futaba looks at her daughter, with a concerned expression, and says "I'm not sure… I only remember waking up here a little bit ago, myself… Maybe I was drawn here because of your presence…"

Then, Mitsuha grows nervous, and says "So, if you don't know, how am I gonna get outta here?"

But before she had a chance to panic, she heard some yell her name…

A few minutes earlier, Rohan and Koichi were running toward the ghost alleyway, after hearing Reimi's spirit message.

As they ran, Koichi tells "Rohan, I think the girl that Reimi saw was my friend, Mitsuha!"

Rohan nods, and says "If she looks the way you said she does, then I could believe it. And if she can see stands, then that is all the more reason for her to be drawn toward that alleyway. I can only hope that we're not too late…"

Rohan had to act like he never met Mitsuha, as he hasn't gotten the chance to reintroduce himself to her, after speaking with her last time. And the last thing he wanted was for his potential masterpiece to be dragged away in that hellish alleyway…

Back to the present, Mitsuha turned around, and saw her friend Koichi, and someone else who looked familiar, but who she couldn't exactly identify. Koichi yells to her, saying "Mitsuha! Why are you over here?"

The other person, walked up next to Koichi, and says "You must be Koichi's friend, Mitsuha. I am Rohan Kishibe, a local manga artist."

Before Rohan could continue, Mitsuha's eyes lit up, as she yells "Y… you're… You're Rohan Kishibe!?" Rohan was surprised, as he forgot that she was a fan, so Mitsuha continued, yelling "Me and my friends in Itomori read your stuff all the time! I love Pink Dark Boy!"

Rohan smiles, filled with pride, and says "I'm always happy to meet fans, but this is a serious situation."

But before Mitsuha could say anything else, Reimi walks up and says "You should not dwell here, girl… This is an alleyway of the dead, and it is dangerous for the living to loiter here."

Mitsuha looks at her, and says "Umm… Are you also deceased, like my mom…?"

Futaba looks surprised, as Reimi nods, and says "That is correct. I believe that your mother was drawn here by your presence. These two here can help you leave, as they have already done so in the past."

Futaba looks surprised, and says "So that's why I suddenly found myself here… Please be careful, Mitsuha!" Then she winks, and says "I don't want to see you to join me for a very long time!"

Mitsuha embraces her mother one final time, and then says "I'm happy I got to see you again, mom!"

Then, she turns to Koichi, and says "Thank you for coming to help me!"

Then she turns to Rohan, and says "You too, Mr. Kishibe, sir!"

Rohan laughs, and says "You can call me Rohan!"

Then, Koichi says "Okay! We need to get out of here! Thanks Reimi!"

Then, he turns to Mitsuha's mother, and bows, before saying "Please take care, Ms. Miyamizu!"

Futaba smiles, and says "Thank you both for helping my daughter…"

After the three of them left, Futaba turns to Reimi, and says "Thank you too, Ms. Reimi… I hope you can find peace someday soon…"

Futaba slowly fades away, as Reimi smiles and says "Yes, maybe someday…"

Then, Rohan and Koichi lead Mitsuha to the end of the alleyway, but then Rohan stops her and says "When we pass this corner, you cannot look back, no matter what!"

Mitsuha swallows nervously, and says "Got it!"

But then, Rohan grins and says "Allow me to use my stand, Heaven's Door, to help us!" Suddenly, his stand appears, looking like a young boy dressed in a white suit and hat. Rohan says "I'll use my stand to temporally render you blind and deaf. The spirits hear like to play tricks on you, so if you can't see or hear them, you'll be fine!" Mitsuha couldn't believe that a stand could do something so crazy.

Then, his stand touches Mitsuha's forehead, and her world quickly turns black and silent. She was in shock for a moment, before realizing that Rohan was right, and once she calmed herself down, both Koichi and Rohan led her through the hallway. And they reached the end without any trouble, and once they were in the clear, Rohan undoes his stand's effect on her.

Once Mitsuha could see and hear again, she shouts "That was crazy!" Then, she sits down, and sighs, before saying "Thanks a lot guys… That was really intense…"

Koichi smiles, and says "I'm just glad that you were alright! It must have been nice getting to see your mom again, though."

Mitsuha smiles, and says "Yeah, it was…"

Then Rohan helps her up, and says "Well, Mitsuha, you've just discovered one of the more strange landmarks in Morioh." Then, he checks his watch, and says "Well, I need to get going and work some more on this week's chapter! It was good meeting you, Mitsuha."

Mitsuha nods, and says "You too! I'll look forward to the next chapter, Rohan!"

Then, Koichi says "I'm glad you're alright, Mitsuha! I need to go walk Police, so I'll see you later!"

Mitsuha waves Koichi off, and then heads home herself, feeling much happier in general. She also felt like a weight had been lifted off of her, and she was sure that seeing her mother again helped with that.

And so, another day ended as Mitsuha grew to know the crazy, noisy, bizarre town of Morioh…

←To Be Continued

Notes

Again, I'm releasing the chapter here, to consolidate everything regarding the whole story. I'll probably just delete the old Part 2 once all of these are uploaded here. Below are my (mostly) old notes from when I first released the chapter:

1) There's been a big delay with this chapter, and I apologize! I actually had a pretty good schedule going for a bit, but then I got really busy one day, and it threw everything off. And I hadn't felt motivated to work on this story since, as I've been distracted with video games (Trails of Cold Steel 1 on PC is great!) and other stuff.

2) This was a fun chapter to write. I had the idea one day, and it just grew from there. I thought that giving Mitsuha a chance to talk with her mom again would be nice, and Morioh had the perfect location for that to occur.

3) I also experimented with changing the scene now and then, and I hope you guys liked it.

4) Police is Koichi's family dog, if any of you forgot or didn't know.

5) For that spirit message, I think it works since Koichi, Rohan, and Reimi are connected the most.

6) And now for review feedback! Feel free to leave reviews if you liked or disliked (telling me why would be awesome!) the story, or just found a part particularly interesting!