Chapter 6

Mitsuha and Yukino looked at each other in amazement for a few more seconds.

"Is that really you, Mitsuha? This is incredible, did you start this year? I'm sure we would've bumped into each other at one point if you'd joined at the same time as I had." Yukino still had her eyes wide with surprise, but she had recovered from the shock far faster than Mitsuha had. Finally Mitsuha managed to get out a reply.

"Ah, yeah, I only just started here last week. Before that I was in Ikebukuro for a while, after we moved from Hida. I didn't expect to meet anyone I knew here, let alone you, sensei." She knew many other former residents of Itomori had moved to Tokyo, but it was such a massive city that the chance of accidentally meeting someone was almost zero. For a teacher and student to end up at the same school, Mitsuha wouldn't have believed it until she saw Yukino walk into the room barely a minute ago.

"Me neither, I haven't kept in contact with many people so finding you here like this is an amazing coincidence." She sat down at the empty desk to Mitsuha's right. To her left, Kana was looking fairly confused and was making a face that very clearly read 'what's going on?'

Yukino, noticing Kana's inquisitive look, reached over and handed her the remainder of the paper forms she was supposed to be handing out. "Here, Kana-chan, you wouldn't mind handing out the rest of these, would you?" Kana nodded and slowly stood up, clearly confused by how Mitsuha and Yukino could possibly know each other.

"So, how are the family doing? Yotsuha must be in junior high…wait a minute, what year are you in? Shouldn't you have graduated already?" Yukino had lowered her voice at that last statement – it was very rare for students to be allowed to retake a year, so that fact should probably be spread around as little as possible.

"Normally I would have, but Dad thought it would be best to retake my second year so that I can be fully prepared for my third. I think it's helping, but it wasn't a very nice school and Dad had to move for work anyway, so I ended up enrolling here," Mitsuha explained. "Yotsuha is in another school as she's not old enough to come here."

"I imagine it must still be tough on Miyamizu-san."

"Yeah, he's moved away from politics now and he's managing a department store. It was pretty hard for all of us actually." Mitsuha paused for a second. "Grandma didn't seem as upset by it all as I expected she would, though…"

"I see. You probably didn't know this, but before I moved back to Itomori, I taught in another school not too far from here." Yukino looked slightly sad about this for some reason – something must have happened that had caused her to leave. "I never expected to come back, but here I am."

"So you know this area quite well, then? Do you have family here?"

"Actually, all my family from Itomori have moved to Osaka – not the city itself, just the prefecture. That's where most of my extended family has lived for a long time. I came back here because…well, I don't know really. I have some good memories of when I used to teach here. Bad memories too, but I prefer the good ones." She smiled a bittersweet smile, and noticing Kana returning to her desk with a few spare forms, Yukino stood up and smiled to Mitsuha. "Well, it's great to see you again. I'm glad you joined the club, you always were good with Japanese." She leaned in a little closer. "I hope you managed to sort out whatever was going on in those last couple of months in Itomori, you seemed a little bit…disconnected, back then. But it looks like you're making the most of your new school, so that's good to see!" And with that, Yukino turned and walked over to Erina, who was drawing something on the blackboard.

"What was that about?" Kana asked. "Do you know Yukino-sensei from somewhere?"

"Yeah, she was my literature teacher before I moved to Tokyo," Mitsuha replied. "I had no idea she'd moved here though, I really hadn't expected to meet anyone I knew when I came here. It was a real surprise for both of us." Mitsuha was still watching Yukino, who was discussing something with Erina. "Anyway, what's this piece of paper? Some kind of questionnaire?" It had some boxes and multiple-choice questions, so Mitsuha reached down to pull a pen out of her bag.

"It's to gauge the interests of the club's members," Kana explained. "This way, Erina and Yukino-sensei know which direction to guide the club towards, to make sure everyone is happy with what they read, but also to stretch and broaden our horizons a bit, you know? For example, there should be a question about a book you want to read but haven't started yet – whatever you put there will become a candidate for the book everyone reads together."

"This kind of thing would be so much easier to do on our phones, just beam the results on the wall or something…" There were several apps made for the precise purpose of asking questions to groups and collating the answers quickly and efficiently, but one thing that never changed, no matter which school you attended, was the strict rule against the use of mobile phones. "Better get started then."

The questions were pretty simple – how much do you read, what's your favourite genre, author, form of entertainment and piece of literature, and so on. Mitsuha and Kana filled out the questions quickly and quietly, as judging by the constant conversation all around them, it seemed that everyone had already finished. As soon as Mitsuha put her pen down, Erina clapped her hands and spoke loudly.

"Your attention, please." The room instantly quietened, and Yukino began to walk around, collecting the papers as she went. Erina continued, more quietly now. "Thank you for filling out the questions. The answers you provide form the basis of what we plan for the club this following year, including any initial ideas for the cultural festival. It would be more efficient to do this as a sort of group voting activity, but some people," and here Erina smiled gently, "are a little shy about their interests, so we prefer to do it all anonymously."

For the next ten minutes, Erina and Yukino went through the answers everyone had given one at a time, asking various questions to the club's members and drawing up a list of possible books that could be enjoyed by everybody over the coming year, as well as some general shortcomings; for example, there was a strong poetry presence in the members but it was found out that not a single member had ever read a play. It was also hinted at that this initial discussion would serve as good food for thought for what the club would do for the cultural festival.

Eventually a book was decided upon – I Am a Cat by Natsume Souseki, a classic satire about the changes occurring during the Meiji period as narrated by a common house cat. It was an extremely famous and influential book, one of the must-reads of contemporary Japanese literature, but almost nobody had read it besides Yukino-sensei.

After the book had been decided upon, the club naturally segmented into several small groups, and the rest of the meeting was simply a time for everyone to get to know each other. Erina came around to see each student individually, and time passed quickly as Kana introduced Mitsuha to some of her friends. Before long it was time to leave, and the two girls left together. In the end, Mitsuha hadn't had another chance to talk to Yukino, but she would have plenty more opportunities in the coming months.

The corridors were fairly empty; with some club meetings still continuing and some having already finished, there were only a few students wandering around – Kana and Mitsuha walked slowly, so by the time they got to the main entrance, all the other club members had already left. As they exchanged their indoor shoes for their outdoor ones and left the main building, Kana began to speak.

"Mitsuha, about Yukino-sensei…" she began, a little nervously.

"What about her?"

"Well, you said she was your literature teacher, right?" Kana elaborated, her voice showing some signs of nervousness. "She used to teach here in Tokyo, but you only just moved here, which means she taught you at the school she worked at just before she started here." Kana looked up at Mitsuha with worried eyes. "She told us once…that she was from Itomori. Are you from there, too?"

At the mention of Itomori, Mitsuha stopped dead in her tracks, and Kana stopped with her. After a moment's pause, she managed to give her friend a reply.

"Yes, I am."

And then, entirely without warning, and with her eyes beginning to fill with tears, Kana wrapped her arms tightly around Mitsuha in a strong embrace. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "It must have been horrible…I saw the damage on TV the next day, it was so lucky everyone was evacuated, otherwise you might have…might have…"

Mitsuha was frozen, her body and mind in a happy state of shock. She had expected endless questions, not a heartfelt apology from a girl she barely knew. After being treated as a novelty in Ikebukuro, to actually be recognised as a victim was…not unpleasant. She'd spent a lot of time considering her choice to hide her association to Itomori, and while she still wanted it to be kept that way, it was strangely uplifting to have someone who was more upset about it than she was.

As these thoughts ran through her head, and her heart's feelings of resentment and fear were replaced by acceptance and understanding, Mitsuha did the only decent thing she could – return Kana's embrace, wrapping her arms firmly yet comfortably around the smaller girl's slim frame. "You don't have to be sorry," she whispered. "It was a long time ago now, and we've all moved on. I partly carried out the evacuation myself, so don't worry, I was there to make sure everybody made it out alive, including myself. We knew it was coming, so we were prepared."

Kana sniffed and looked up. "You…knew? But how?" There was a mixture of sadness and curiosity on her face, and Mitsuha must have looked much the same herself.

"Well…nobody really knows," Mitsuha explained, trying to divulge as few of the confusing details as she could – after all, she herself didn't really know for sure where that knowledge had come from. "Not even the person who ordered the evacuation could tell us that."

Kana let out a small laugh, her grip on Mitsuha slackening slightly. "Were they psychic or something?"

Mitsuha laughed back. "Yeah, maybe, she still isn't too sure herself." Kana's eyes had already dried, and their usual shine was back. This girl changes moods with the flicking of a switch. "Well, I guess you know now. You're the first one, actually. Apart from Yukino-sensei, of course."

Kana let go and moved a few inches away, giving back some of Mitsuha's personal space. "I guess you don't want me to tell anyone, right?"

Mitsuha smiled. "I'd prefer it that way, yeah." She took a step back and raised her hand in a wave. "Don't worry about it. I'm not exactly over it, but…well, it's easier if nobody makes a fuss. Anyway, I'll see you Monday, right?"

Kana smiled in return. "Yeah, see you then. Bye!"

The two girls separated, heading in opposite directions. Mitsuha was surprised to find herself more relieved than anything else – she felt she could trust Kana, and it was good to finally tell someone and not receive an interrogation in return. A small weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Perhaps she should tell the others – Taki, Hiraoka and Tsukasa. I'll think more about that later – for now, let's just enjoy this peaceful feeling. Actually, that reminds me…

〈◇〉

"Grandma, can I ask you something about Itomori?"

Mitsuha had arrived back home shortly before her dad, and dinner had been served and eaten. Yotsuha was studying in her room, Toshiki was watching the news and Hitoha was just taking out her knitting needles when Mitsuha approached her.

Putting down the needles, her face showed a little surprise as she replied. "Certainly Mitsuha. Although I'm not sure how much I can tell you that you don't already know – the Miyamizu family holds all the knowledge there is on Itomori, and I've told you much as you girls were growing up."

To be honest, Mitsuha wasn't sure Grandma could help her either. What she said was true – Mitsuha and Yotsuha had spent most of their lives under her care, learning about the traditions and history of Itomori in far more depth than anyone else in the small town. But it was worth a try anyway.

"I was wondering if anything at all survived the fire."

The old woman's face became serious. "The Great Fire of Mayugoro? I'm afraid not. Every single document the shrine owned, as well as the shrine itself, was completely destroyed. As it was told to me by my great-grandmother, there was nothing left but ash."

"There are almost no records that survived past the 1820s," Toshiki added, eyes on the TV but mind focused on the adjacent conversation. "All that survived the fire in that area were boring, mostly useless documents. Unless you want to look at old tax records or property deeds, it's a waste of time."

"Your father is correct. As mayor, he was partly responsible for management of any old documents, and as a prior shrine maiden myself, I too had access to those records. I'm afraid nothing of interest remains."

"Is it possible that any documents were copied and sent elsewhere?" Mitsuha asked, desperately clutching at straws – without a lead from Itomori itself, it would be extremely difficult to find any info on the comet that Itomori was founded on 1200 years ago. Above all, she needed to find out what she'd learnt that day she had come to Tokyo. "For example, journalists or historians might have visited and copied some, perhaps?"

"Those documents had restricted access; back in the day it was unheard of for someone not a member of the shrine to be allowed to see them. Only other holy people, from other shrines across the country, were permitted to read them. It's possible there are copies at some other shrine elsewhere in Japan, but unlikely."

"Actually, that's not entirely correct," Toshiki interjected. He muted the volume on the TV and turned to face the two. "There is one interesting surviving record – a visit by an empress."

"An empress?! We had an empress in Itomori?" Mitsuha was rightfully surprised – Itomori was a tiny town and had been for over a thousand years since it had been founded. An empress visiting was truly incredible, especially as there had been less than ten empresses in Japan's almost three millennium long, very male-dominated monarchy. But Hitoha didn't seem so fazed.

"Hmm, yes, I had forgotten about that – Empress Go-Sakuramachi, if my memory serves. Truthfully, I did not believe it when my mother told me, so I never searched the archives for any records. Are there any?"

"Yes, a few. They were the ones kept in the town hall instead of the shrine, so they were mostly administrative in nature. However, if I'm not mistaken, those documents clearly mentioned that the Empress requested, and was given, access to some of the oldest manuscripts the shrine possessed. I'm unsure why she wanted to see them, or why she even came to a town like Itomori in the first place. Any information we had on her visit was either lost in the fire or destroyed when Itomori was."

Toshiki turned back to the TV and unmuted it, leaving the conversation on an unhappy note. "Your grandmother is right – there's nothing left of Itomori but ash." His voice sounded even, but Mitsuha could see the pain on his face as he said those words. For him, who had been mayor for so many years, it was still difficult to recover from the fact that the town had been destroyed while under his governance, even if there was nothing he could have done about it. To save everyone's lives – for him, that still was not good enough. It was at times like these that the extreme Japanese mentality towards work and duty did more harm than good.

So that was it, then. Unless said empress had for some reason decided to make copies of the documents, they were lost forever – no library or researcher would have any information on the history of Itomori.

Still, it was worth looking up this empress anyway. There must have been a reason she visited Itomori, so even if it was a complete shot in the dark, there may still be surviving records in some sort of imperial archive.

〈◇〉

The next day, Mitsuha hung back after last period – it had been a history lesson, and she hoped that the teacher might have some info on the empress her dad had mentioned the previous day. Slowly packing up and making small talk with Hiraoka gave her some time for the majority of students to disperse. Just as Kawasaki-sensei was about to leave, Mitsuha asked Hiraoka to go on without her and moved to the front desk. By then the last few students, Hiraoka included, were just filtering into the corridor, and Mitsuha gave her friend a small wave before turning to the history teacher in front of her.

"Excuse me, sensei, but I have a question about history that I thought you could help with," Mitsuha asked.

"Certainly, what do you need? Is it related to the work I handed out today?" she replied, walking to the door and shutting it to block most of the noise from the corridor. The woman was quite enthusiastic about her subject which made her easy to talk to, but unfortunately for her there just didn't seem to be that much interest in history in their class.

"Actually, it's completely unrelated about what we're studying now," Mitsuha admitted. They were currently studying the Meiji restoration, which occurred in the late nineteenth century, around a hundred years later than what she intended to ask about. "I was wondering what you could tell me about Empress Go-Sakuramachi."

The teacher looked surprised and said as much. "Well, this is unexpected. What would you like to know? I'm not exactly a specialist in that era of history, but I may be able to help you a little, if I know what exactly you need."

At this Mitsuha shuffled her feet awkwardly. "Well, it has to do with…a trip she made. I tried searching around online but couldn't find anything out, so I was wondering if you could help. Apparently, during her reign as Empress she visited Itomori."

"Itomori? My, this is quite a surprise. Where did you find that out?" She continued without waiting for a response. "Well, regardless…it would probably be best to ask Yukino-sensei as she is from Itomori herself, although I doubt she'd know anything about the empress if you can't find any mention of it online. Ah, you're not taught by her, are you? I'll take you to the staff room and introduce you."

"Um, well, I attend the literature club, which she supervises, so actually I do already know her." After this Mitsuha hesitated, but she knew she would have to tell her teacher if she wanted to get any real info. Spurred on by her drive to learn the truth, she spoke confidently. "Actually, I was taught by her before I came here as well, since I'm from Itomori too, so I don't think she'll know any more than I do."

At this statement the eager teacher was truly floored. "You're also from Itomori?! Wow, that's incredible! And to think she taught you there as well! She may still have information you don't though, having lived there longer than you," she suggested.

"I don't think that will be the case, since the only reason I even know about the Empress' visit is because my father was the mayor, so he had access to historical records others didn't. They were all destroyed though, when the comet hit…"

Kawasaki-sensei froze for a moment, before her eyes went wide with revelation. Her voice excited, she spoke to Mitsuha in a rush. "I just remembered – something amazing happened during Go-Sakuramachi's reign that might be relevant. It was during Meiwa 7 that the brightest comet ever sighted in human history passed Earth. It was notably observed here in Japan; there are still old written records of its passing." Her voice lowered, and Mitsuha had to lean in to hear the next part. "It might just be possible…that the comet observed then was the same one that destroyed Itomori."

Mitsuha opened her mouth to say 'that's impossible' but decided against it. It was pure conjecture that Tiamat was the comet involved both in the collision eighteen months ago and in the one that founded Itomori over a thousand years ago. If it was true that both were the same, then it was unlikely that it would return in the eighteenth century and simply pass by another opportunity to wipe her town off the map…but that was almost like admitting it was sentient, and it was all a hypothesis anyway.

However, this comet might be the reason why Empress Go-Sakuramachi had visited Itomori. If she heard that Itomori's lake was created by part of a passing comet falling to Earth, it was only natural to investigate – after all, back then the Japanese knew little about astronomy, and it was often treated with mysticism rather than as a science.

It was worth a shot.

Mitsuha thanked her teacher and began her journey home. She had agreed to keep her updated on anything she found out in exchange for not telling anyone she was from Itomori, which seemed like a pretty fair deal to both parties. She may not have got the exact information she needed, but there was a chance it would be useful. Besides, when it came to astronomy, she already knew exactly who to ask.

〈◇〉

Once Mitsuha arrived home, she greeted her grandmother before making a beeline straight for her sister's room. After a short knock, she heard a muffled 'come in' and entered, closing the door behind her.

Yotsuha was lying on her bed, playing around with her phone. She sat up and looked over to Mitsuha as she came in, slightly surprised – it wasn't often that Mitsuha came to her for anything. "What is it, nee-chan?"

Mitsuha decided some sort of lead in was in order. "You're interested in astronomy, right? You said you'd been learning about it since Itomori."

Yotsuha put down her phone to reply. "Yeah, I got really interested ever since Tiamat destroyed Itomori." Her face didn't flinch at all as she spoke, a vast improvement over last year when even mentioning the event would cause her face to fall, much like the comet itself. "I joined the astronomy club at my school. I want to buy a telescope soon as well, but for now I'm just using the ones the club has."

"I wanted to ask about a comet. Not Tiamat, a different one. How much do you know about them?"

Yotsuha's face brightened. "That's the thing I know the most about! For example, did you know that a comet's tail always points away from the sun?"

Mitsuha made a face. "Really? But then wouldn't it change direction as the sun rose and set…?" As far as she remembered, Tiamat's appearance hadn't changed in the slightest while it was visible…until it broke apart, of course.

Yotsuha sighed dramatically. "Honestly, nee-chan, I thought you were supposed to be good at science. The sun only looks like it's moving 'cause the Earth is rotating, you know. So the tail will always point in the same direction."

"But then wouldn't the tail move as well? Since the sun seems to move, the tail would too, right?" Mitsuha countered.

"Um…yeah, but…" Yotsuha stopped to think for a moment, and just as Mitsuha felt safe in her victory, Yotsuha turned her argument on its head. "No, that wouldn't make just the tail move, it would make the whole comet move. It's why the comet looked like it was moving across the sky, just like how the moon rises and sets." Feeling smart, she took a moment to smirk and show her pride, puffing out her chest. "Honestly, nee-chan, this is basic stuff."

Mitsuha was getting pretty tired of hearing her younger sister say 'honestly, nee-chan' so decided to actually get on with what she was there for. "Alright, you're right, I get it. But I didn't come to talk about comet tails. I wanted to know the name of a specific comet, or the code or whatever they come up with to identify these things."

"Which comet? I mean, you don't know the name, but do you know when it was last sighted?" Yotsuha had picked up her phone again and seemed to be opening some sort of planetarium app.

"Kawasaki-sensei said Meiwa 7, which would be…um…1770?"

"'Kay." Yotsuha tapped away for a second, before stopping and lifting her head. "Wait, did you say 1770? It wouldn't be a super bright comet, would it?"

Mitsuha recalled what the teacher had told her. "Apparently it was the brightest comet ever sighted. Even to the present day, I think." As soon as she finished speaking, Yotsuha put down her phone and looked at Mitsuha with confidence.

"Well, that's easy. That must be Lexell's comet. It's a lost comet, so it's only ever been sighted once, and apart from some tiny asteroid that isn't even big enough to see with most telescopes it's the closest and brightest a comet has ever gotten to Earth. It must be that one."

"Lexell…" Since Kawasaki-sensei had specifically mentioned that the comet was sighted in Japan she had expected a Japanese name, but of course it must have also been sighted elsewhere in the world. "Lexell sounds…European?"

"I don't know. Why are you interested?"

"Oh, it's just…something to do with Itomori," Mitsuha feebly responded. "I thought it might be related to Tiamat."

"Probably not, since Tiamat has been seen at least twice but Lexell's comet is lost and probably won't ever be seen again." Yotsuha offered her expert advice, before going back to her phone.

"Well, thanks for the help." Mitsuha left the room, unsure if it would've just been faster to search it up on the internet, but still impressed by her sister's knowledge. Returning to her own room and taking out her own phone, she looked up some more info.

Lexell's comet: Discovered by Charles Messier in June 1770, named after Anders Johan Lexell, who computed its orbit… Last perihelion: August 14, 1770. Next perihelion: unknown/lost… Records show it was observed in Japan and Arabia…

So Yotsuha and Kawasaki-sensei had been right. Mitsuha had no idea what perihelion meant, but the subsequent words were obvious: nobody had any idea of if or when it would return. It was discovered by a French astronomer – there was a portrait on the webpage, complete with the white curled hair that all the upper-class Europeans seemed to like back in those days.

However, looking up Empress Go-Sakuramachi yielded far less information. It seemed that she abdicated in favour of her nephew, which made her reign short, its only interesting feature the endless supply of natural disasters that occurred near the end of her sovereignty. There were a few mentions of the comet but nothing linking the Empress either directly or indirectly to it, other than the fact that it occurred while she sat on the throne.

Mitsuha grimaced. The fun was over – it would be all work and no play from here on out.

A/N

I ended up doing a lot of research for this chapter – one thing lead to another and I'd accidentally found a reason for an empress to visit little old Itomori. Of course, the Empress didn't actually visit Itomori in real life, but 99% of what I say here (and in future chapters) will be true to real history.

Not much Taki lately – I'll be remedying that soon. And for those of you who want more interactions between our two lovebirds, well, things will get going soon enough. I know it's a slow burn, but please bear with me. I've been trying to come up with more excuses to have them hang out but nothing seems plausible; a few more chapters and things will begin to really move, on multiple fronts.

In other news, my free time is going to be murdered – one and a half degrees worth of lectures, some mega coursework, learning Japanese through an optional uni course, and I'm in a play…hopefully I'll just write more on the weekends and get stuff out on time. These last three chapters have just been so difficult to write, but we're still on schedule…somehow. As usual, leave a comment if you have any feedback. Thanks for reading!

Talndir