Part 2

Chapter 5: Taki Tachibana Dreams of Cinderella

While we've seen how Mitsuha has gotten to daily life in the quiet town of Morioh, that doesn't mean that the boy who was deeply tied to her, Taki Tachibana, has had an uneventful time. After the comet struck, Taki went about his life, without any kind of recollection of his body swapping experience with Mitsuha. But one day, he experiences a somewhat more bizarre day than he was used to…

Taki was walking home from school, with his two best friends, Tsukasa Fujii and Shinta Takagi. As they walk, Tsukasa raises his glasses and says "So, how did you think you did on the test today? I'm not sure myself…"

Taki smiles and says "You probably aced it, Tsukasa! I think I did okay, though."

Then, Shinta laughs and says "You've got that right Taki…"

As they walk, and continue to idly chat, the topic of girls comes up. Shinta pats Taki's back roughly, and says "Got any girls you like, Taki?"

Taki glares, and then says "What…? N-no…"

Tsukasa looks at Taki, with a surprised expression, as he says "Wait, do you actually like someone, Taki? Who is it?

After saying that, Taki touches his chin, and says "I never really thought about it… I don't think I really like anybody at school, though…"

Shinta raises an eyebrow, and says "Then what was up with that reaction?"

Taki shrugs, and says "Hmm… Not sure?"

After that conversation, the trio walked a bit quieter, until they pass a unique looking store front…

Shinta stops them, and says "Hey guys! Check it out! It looks like a relationship reader… I hear they make predictions on what kinda person you'll marry!"

Tsukasa scoffs, and says "That's all nonsense… And we're still in junior high. Who's thinking about marriage?"

Then Taki adds, saying "It's probably a scam…"

As Taki says that, he sees an advertisement in the shop's window that says 'Find the sweetheart that is linked to you, tied by a braided cord stronger than life itself!' Taki stared, as he felt like that blurb seemed incredibly familiar to him, but then Shinta grabs them both, and drags them inside, saying "Don't be so uptight…"

Once they get inside, the receptionist marks them down, and they are led into a counseling room. They wait about 15 minutes, until a woman walks in, who was wearing a fancy looking pink dress. She had dark blonde hair, and looked to be above average in height. She was also highly attractive looking, and the three young boys had a hard time not feeling intimidated by her.

Then, she sits down, and says "My name is Aya Tsuji. I take it you three would like some insight on your love life? You all look young, but it is never too early to think about these things… Think of me as the fairy godmother who will lead you to your true love…"

Shinta grins, and says "I'll go first!"

So Aya nods, and leads him to a private booth, as they remain inside for about 15 minutes…

Taki whispers to Tsukasa, saying "What do you think they're doing…?"

Tsukasa answers, saying "She's probably interviewing him, to give him some generic advice or something…"

Once Shinta exits, and rejoins his friends, they ask him how it went, so he says "Ms. Aya told me to focus on my natural talents, and to continue to be optimistic about things."

Tsukasa sighs and says "Nothing specific?"

Shinta smiles, and says "Nah… It was cool though. I'm gonna get going, so catch you guys later!"

Aya walks over to the two boys, and says "Who would like to go next…?"

Tsukasa stands, and says "I'll go. I hope you'll have something more specific in mind with me, because I'd rather this not be a waste."

Aya smiles, and says "That's up to you, so come along…"

Once he left, Taki was alone in the room, which gave him a chance to think about that advertisement. He thinks to himself, thinking 'What was with that ad…? And why did it sound so familiar…? I'm not interested in true love, or finding a soul mate, am I…?'

Another 15 minutes pass, as Tsukasa walks out, looking pale as a ghost. Taki looks at him, concerned, and says "What happened?"

Tsukasa takes a deep breath, and says "I was wrong, Taki… She told me some really specific things, about what could happen depending on what I do. It was scarily accurate…" Then, he fixes his glasses, and says "I've got to get going… I'll see you later, Taki."

Then, Aya smiles and leads Taki into the counseling room, and sits down at the desk in front of him…

She says "I can tell that you've actually met your soul mate, Taki… Are you aware…?"

Taki blinks a few times, and says "Wait, what…? When?"

Aya responds, saying "Consider it the intuition gained from years of being a love and beauty specialist. Now, remain still for a moment, so I can get a clear read of you…"

Taki doesn't understand what she was talking about, but then suddenly, a strange humanoid creature appeared out of thin air. It had feminine features, as well as strange mechanical-like arms, and an odd thing attached to its head. And it didn't have legs either, as its entire lower half was a large ball. And the whole thing was pink, and matched up with her dress.

Once he sees the strange entity, he jumps back out of his chair, and screams "Wh… what is that?"

Aya looks at him, rather surprised, and says "You can see it…? But, how…?"

Taki calms down, and says "Yes, I can see that thing! Did you do that?"

Aya nods, and says "That is a spirit that I can control, and it helps me read people and determine the paths they need to follow to find love. It can also alter a person's appearance, which I use for my beauty salon. I believe I was told they are called, 'Stands', and I call mine Cinderella. Although, I was also told that only other people who had them could see them. Do you have one of these spirits, Taki Tachibana…?"

Taki shakes his head, and says "I've never seen, or heard, of this kind of thing in my life!"

So Aya nods, and says "You are an interesting boy, but the purpose of this is for your love, so would you still like to get your reading…?" Now that Taki saw this crazy thing, her accuracy made a lot more sense, and after everything that she said, plus that strange ad, he knew what he needed to do.

A moment of silence passes, until Taki takes a deep breath, and says "I'll do it…"

So Aya warmly smiles, and says "Good. Now hold still for a moment while Cinderella performs the reading." Taki braces himself, as the stand's hands hover right in front of his face, moving around as if scanning his head. Then, it disappears, and Aya says "I see… You have an interesting love story, Taki. Would you like to meet your true love?"

Taki thinks for a moment, and then says "Yeah, I guess… I wasn't aware that I had one, but meeting her would probably be good."

So Aya smiles, and says "Good… Now, I cannot tell you too much, or it might have an adverse affect. But, if you have a moment where you think you are experiencing déjà vu, or run into someone who, in the back of your mind, seems to be someone who you know; act on those feelings! Try to go outside your comfort zone for these things, and I can guarantee to you that you will find your love, someday…"

Taki stares dumbfounded, and says "I can't believe you were so accurate… Every once in a while, I get the feeling that I forgot something, but I have no idea what that something even is…"

Aya smiles again, and says "It's okay Taki… It will work out for you in the end, as long as you don't stress too much over it."

Then, Taki stands up and bows, while saying "Thanks a lot, Ms. Aya! I'll head to the front desk to pay my bill."

But Aya smiles, and says "Don't worry about the payment, Taki. Consider it a first time customer's bonus…"

So, Taki thanks Aya for waiving the charge, and heads home. After dinner, he calls his friends, and when they find out that he got his reading for free, they became extremely jealous. Taki wasn't too sure why he was given special treatment, especially after hearing that Tsukasa and Shinta didn't receive any discounts, but he was just happy that he could get some guidance about those strange thoughts he's been having.

But he kept that thing about stands to himself, because he still couldn't really believe they were real…

Back in Morioh, at Rohan's house, he was working on his next chapter, when his phone rang. When he answers, he hears a woman say "Hello, Rohan, it's Aya… I have news for you, about the boy you asked me about…"

Rohan smiles, and says "Perfect… Go ahead."

Aya replies, saying "Alright. That ad that you suggested drew him to my store, and I could tell that he had a formative experience while body swapping with Mitsuha Miyamizu. I gave him advice, which should make him more willing to try to introduce himself to her, if they ever cross paths."

Rohan smiles, and says "Thank you for your work. I'll send your compensation over tomorrow morning…"

Then, Aya replies, saying "I do have a question, Rohan… Were you aware that Taki Tachibana can see stands? He could see mine clear as day…"

Rohan gasps, and says "I… I was not aware of this, but thank you for informing me. Good luck with your business…"

Aya laughs, and says "Thank you. If I can act as a fairy godmother, and provide those two youths their Cinderella ending, than I would be satisfied."

After that conversation, Rohan continues to work, satisfied that his plan was slowly heading into motion. Soon, he would be able to arrange a perfect moment for Mitsuha Miyamizu and Taki Tachibana to meet again, in this altered timeline. Finally, his perfect romance manga seemed to come closer and closer to fruition…

Author's Notes!

To explain why this is being released here, I basically thought that splitting the story into 3 separate parts only managed to split and confuse the audience. Since the story is all still connected, I'm going to begin releasing the Part 2 chapters here. I don't think I'll change anything on AO3, since there is a 'series' option there. The stuff below are my original notes for the chapter:

First, the name is a reference to the Cinderella arc in Diamond is Unbreakable (Yukako Yamagishi Dreams of Cinderella)

Second, I made a slight addition to Aya's stand (Cinderella). Normally, it was centered around beauty stuff, and could mainly alter the appearance of people. I added in an extra feature that lets her see the general overview of a person's love life, sort of adding to her fairy godmother theme.

Also, she knew about the body swapping more because of Rohan, than because of her own stand. The most she would see through Cinderella, would be that a girl named Mitsuha is Taki's soulmate, but that he never actually met her, even though she can see that a strong bond exists between them at some level.

Third, I felt like I wasn't giving Taki enough love in Part 2, so I added this chapter. It was pretty fun, adding an extra driving force, to help guide him along to rediscover Mitsuha.

Also, the reason why Shinta's section was pretty short, was basically because I forgot a lot about him from the film. He probably won't have a major role in this series anyway. Tsukasa will probably have a slightly larger role, though. I'll probably push the Tsukasa and Miki thing, since I felt like it was heavily implied in the film.

Fourth, I hope you guys like this chapter! Let me know what you think of it, in a review, if you have the chance. I'll try to update this more often, and I feel like Part 2 will be finished in a few more chapters, at most. I definitely want to do a chapter at Tonio's place, at some point.