Mitsuha was walking silently at a hurried pace, hand in hand with Taki, walking away from her work building. Taki was keeping pace with her, still a little dizzy from the whole previous incident, but especially from the unexpected and passionate kiss Mitsuha had just given him in front of her coworkers.

Mitsuha without thinking had taken the same route they had taken on Friday of last week when they were escaping from the building's guards.

Taki had been walking almost on autopilot following her, but he felt a strong déjà vu when he recognized the place where they were walking by.

"Mitsuha... are you okay? What are we running away from this time?" Taki asked, trying to pull himself together.

The girl slowed her pace to a stop, turned to Taki and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Is it true that they were the ones who approached you?"

"Yes, that's how it was. And they scared me a lot, because they asked me if I was expecting someone, then they called me by name, they told me they knew you and that you had told them about me... What did you tell them? Did you tell them anything... about our past?"

Mitsuha covered her face in confusion, somewhere between embarrassed and annoyed all in one.

"Aggh, I'm going to kill that Jessica!"

"Wait... were those women really your friends?"

"No... I mean, one of them, Kana-san, the black-haired one, she's a colleague in my area, she's an executive like me. Jessica-san, the blonde foreigner, she's a friend of hers, she's not my friend...

"Then you are not friends," Taki repeated, feeling relieved to be away from that place.

"Well, I know Kana-san and we get along well. She hangs out with Jessica. They usually go out every week somewhere after work. But about Jessica, I had only seen her from afar, but today they talk to me at the office, and I was waiting to hear from you, I was worried, and Jessica came with a gossip, about us!"

"How? She came to you to tell you some gossip... about you? That doesn't make much sense, you know?"

"She didn't know it was me. She's a secretary in the management office, and she told me about the story of a crazy girl from the company who was kidnapped and came to the office over the weekend with her yakuza boyfriend!"

It took a second for Taki to understand what Mitsuha was talking about, and then he burst out laughing.

"What, are you a crazy girl now?" said Taki laughing.

Mitsuha raised her head and looked angrily at Taki. She expected him to be angry or uncomfortable with being accused of being a gangster, but not that he would start laughing at her.

"Sure, it's easy for you to laugh because you don't have to go there every day. We're the gossip of the office! And I didn't realize it until now," said Mitsuha letting go of Taki's hand and crossing her arms, looking to the side in annoyance.

"Yeah, that's wrong, I know," said Taki, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "But only your boss or the guards know that is about you and me. For the others it's just an anonymous rumor, so we're safe, right?"

Mitsuha looked at Taki feeling like a fool. It was true, Jessica didn't know it before, and she wouldn't have found out if it weren't for her own revelation.

"I... I got angry because she said you were a delinquent, a yakuza... and I wanted to defend you, and I told them that it was us but that everything was fine..." said Mitsuha looking at Taki with panicked eyes. "But now the whole office is going to know!"

Taki opened his mouth to respond, but went blank, unable to say anything.

"Now I won't be able to go back to the office!" continued Mitsuha. "Everyone... everyone... is going to criticize me, talk bad about me behind my back..."

Mitsuha stared blankly at the ground as she tried to hug herself...

"No, that... That's not going to happen!" said Taki. He approached Mitsuha and grabbed her by the shoulders.

She looked at him in fright. A second later Taki hugged her tightly.

"You're not alone anymore. And whatever happens, whatever they say, you know... we do know what we did was right. Didn't your own boss tell us that? That's the truth, and that's what you have to remember."

Taki separated a little from Mitsuha and took her face with both hands. The girl looked at him still frightened, trying to pull herself together.

"Remember that we've been through even more difficult things," Taki continued. "And we got through them. You got through them, Mitsuha! Don't let people's gossip ruin your life. In Itomori you were just a young girl, and I did my best to put them in their place. But now you are a woman, a... a great woman, and I feel that now you can face that and much more. Can I count on you, that you will?"

Mitsuha closed her eyes and took one of Taki's hands with her own rubbing her face on it.

"Ah, Taki, you... you... you don't know how much I've been through, when I was weak, where I faltered. But now, with you, I feel that I can..."

Mitsuha felt the pressure Taki's hands on her face relent. She opened her eyes just barely to see how Taki had moved closer to her face and kissed her on the mouth for long seconds.

When they parted, Mitsuha felt like everything was different. As if she was on clouds.

"I feel the same way," said Taki, smiling.

They both started laughing and hugged each other.

"Hey, we should stop doing these things on the street," said Mitsuha, suddenly aware of where they were and what they were doing.

"Hey, so... then what about the kiss you gave me in front of your office a moment ago?" said Taki, laughing "Was it that you were... jealous?"

Mitsuha pushed herself away from him.

"I... it wasn't that!" Mitsuha protested.

"But when I saw you approaching, you were shooting sparks out of your eyes! I think you even scared your colleagues."

"It's that when I saw you, and they were there with you, I couldn't, I didn't want to..." Mitsuha got upset, not knowing how to continue.

"You didn't... want me to go with them? Actually, that blonde is, uh, pretty bold. She was inviting me to drink with them."

Mitsuha felt the very idea begin to make her blood boil.

"You... you... you weren't thinking of going with them, were you?" said Mitsuha, feeling a rage she didn't know rising in her gut.

"No! How can you think that?" said Taki, looking at the girl tenderly. "I was relieved to see you arrive, even though your face was not at all that of good friends..."

Mitsuha approached Taki, and rested her two arms on his chest, hands fisted, gently tapping him.

"... I don't want... you to go away. Forgive me if I'm selfish, but..." Mitsuha couldn't look at Taki, feeling herself blushing. "I want you... only for me."

Taki took the girl by the nape of her neck and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead, then hugged her.

"I'm not going to walk away either or leave you alone. Now that I've found you, I'd be crazy to do so."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

They continued in a hug for countless seconds, where Mitsuha felt her mind lost in the warmth of Taki's body, but suddenly Taki reacted and gently pulled her away from him.

"Hey, Mitsuha, I think we should go, we are getting late..."

"Ah?" Mitsuha pouted as she suddenly lost Taki's embrace. "Why...?"

"Because we have to get to the place that I want to take you to, and they'll close if we delay any longer."

"Oh... that's right!" said Mitsuha, remembering that Taki had promised to take her to a special place that afternoon. "But where is it?"

"Shhhh, it's a surprise," Taki replied with a wink and a smile. He took her by the hand and started walking. "Let's keep going, we are halfway to the station."

Mitsuha began to walk behind Taki, holding his hand. It was warm and large, and she felt the boy's strength being transmitted to her own smaller, weaker hand. And suddenly, seeing him from behind brought a sense of longing. Like when she was a child and walked hand in hand with her father on her way to school, in times when she felt safe and loved.

«Taki, thank you for finding me» thought Mitsuha, letting herself be led confidently as they approached the train station, each time more crowded with people returning to their homes, as the night lights began to turn on around them.

§

Yotsuha heard soft, slow footsteps outside her room. She took a quick glance at the wall clock. It must have been dusk a little while ago, she reckoned. She tucked in the blanket, hiding in her bed.

Soft knocks on the room's door confirmed her perception.

"Yotsuha, are you busy?" said Hitoha's voice from outside the room.

Yotsuha closed her eyes, thinking to pretend to be asleep, and she did not answer.

The sound of the door shifting told her that Hitoha didn't want to just give up for her lack of response. The lights turned on, which made Yotsuha shrink even more under the blanket.

"Yotsuha? Are you asleep already?" asked her grandmother in surprise.

A gentle tug on the blankets alerted Yotsuha that her grandmother was not buying her act. She suddenly found herself face to face with her grandmother, who was looking at her with a strange mixture of concern and doubt.

"I see you're not sleeping… are you sick?" said Hitoha, putting her hand to Yotsuha's forehead to check if she had a fever or something.

"No, Grandma, I already told you, leave me alone," replied Yotsuha, who settled down with her back to her as soon as her grandmother finished checking that there was no trace of fever.

Hitoha could only sigh at her granddaughter's rude response.

"You haven't eaten anything, have you?"

"For what it's worth, leave me alone!"

"Yotsuha, I don't know what happened over the weekend with your sister. I thought you were... sick on Monday and Tuesday, and I allowed you to stay home. I'm glad you're at least going to school now, but this is not healthy what you're doing. Please tell me, what did Mitsuha do to you or say to you?"

"I told you, nothing, it's... nothing!"

"Then what's wrong with you, Yotsuha?"

"You wouldn't understand..."

"I'm already many years older than you, young lady, and I've been through more things than you, seen more things than you, and known more things than you, so there's nothing you're telling me that I won't understand..."

"This is beyond your own life, Grandma! You don't know anything!"

Yotsuha took the blanket, and wrapped herself tightly, as if hiding from Hitoha, and began to sob.

Hitoha opened her mouth to speak, but she did not know what else to say. She struggled to her feet, sighing when she managed to stand up. The years were already weighing heavily on her, and she was finding it harder to move every day.

Not knowing what else to do, she made her way out of the room, but left the light on. But she stopped before leaving and turned to her granddaughter.

"Yotsuha, I may not have an answer to whatever happened to you over the weekend, but I'm going to prepare dinner. And you're going to get up and have dinner. Do you understand? If you don't, I'll have to call your father, or Mitsuha and..."

"No!" shouted Yotsuha, jumping up and facing her grandmother, "Don't call anyone!"

"Then get dressed and come to dinner!" said Hitoha, losing her patience and closing the door with more force than necessary.

Yotsuha was left gritting her teeth in the room, sitting on the futon. She didn't know how to explain to her grandmother the existential angst that had been consuming her all this week. And she had promised Mitsuha not to tell her grandmother anything about what had happened over the weekend, but knowing what she knew now made her feel empty. Why was she going to school every day for, suffering and striving to complete her life, a life that could be just an illusion, a dream where she could wake up at any moment or, worse, where there might not be a place for her to wake up to?

Hitoha walked slowly away from Yotsuha's room, walking through the small one-story house where they lived. She made her way to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner. As she passed the telephone at the end of the hallway, she paused thoughtfully.

Ever since Mitsuha had begun living alone in Tokyo, while working part-time and completing her studies, Hitoha had harbored the hope that her eldest granddaughter, the main heir to the Miyamizu tradition, would eventually return with her to resume her true responsibility to the family, although Mitsuha insisted again and again that there was no longer a shrine to take care of. But then Mitsuha finished her studies; she was now working in a Tokyo company, living a life completely removed from Shinto traditions. In Hitoha's eyes, her elder granddaughter had rejected tradition to end up working as a common office worker. And to make matters worse, Mitsuha showed no signs of even looking for a mate and thus giving the family heirs and, especially, heiresses who could carry on the family tradition. Hitoha felt that her own time was running out, and she could not pass on the family legacy of hundreds of generations, and that burdened her.

The old woman sighed and looked anxiously at the phone. It had been a long time since she had spoken to Mitsuha on the phone. All communication with her used to be through Yotsuha, but it was clear that right now it was not an alternative. She had no choice but to call Mitsuha by herself.

She picked up the phone book next to the device. She looked at the numbers and thought that if she called Mitsuha directly on her cell phone, the conversation would end badly as it had ended up happening more than once in the past. She looked at the clock in the kitchen and thought that maybe her granddaughter might have not arrived at her apartment yet. If that was the case, she could leave a recorded message on her answering machine, without opposition or arguments.

Hitoha dialed the numbers with trembling hands, and Mitsuha's home phone began to ring. After about 15 seconds with no answer, a recording with Mitsuha's voice inviting her to leave a recorded message was played. Hearing the prompt made her feel relieved; Mitsuha had not yet arrived, just as she had expected.

After the beep, Hitoha took a breath, and began to speak.

"Hello Mitsuha. It's been a while since we talked. I don't know what happened between you and Yotsuha, but she is acting very strange. I have never seen her like this and she doesn't want to talk to me. I need you to talk to her as soon as possible and fix whatever happened between you. And... it would be good... for you to come and see us this weekend. We have things to talk about. Come without fail, I'll wait for you..."

Hitoha paused for a second, hesitating. But she took a breath and gathered her strength to continue.

"And don't make me have to call you again! I really expect you to come this weekend, Mitsuha. You better show up."

Hitoha moved the device away from her face, looked at it for a second, and pressed the button that ended the call. A tired sigh came unconsciously from her throat.

"Ah, Futaba, I don't know what to do with your daughters anymore! What would you have done with them in my place...?" she complained bitterly, as she looked at the sky through the kitchen window, wishing for a sign that never came.

§

Mitsuha was looking at Taki out of the corner of her eye. He was trying to play it cool, staring at his phone as if the girl wasn't standing next to him. They were the only ones standing at a lonely bus stop near Kawasaki's Kuji Station. The stop was barely a sign indicating travel information, and a large rectangle painted on the pavement with text reading "BUS".

It was already half past seven and the night was advancing. The street was illuminated only by the small bulbs of the public lighting poles.

"Taki..." said Mitsuha nervously. "Seriously... where are you taking me?"

The boy kept looking at his cell phone for another couple of seconds. He nodded briefly smiling, relieved to find that his travel plan was still on schedule and put his cell phone away.

"Relax, it's a surprise, but we're already very close."

Mitsuha looked at him with narrowed eyes, weighing those words.

"Very close... but to what?"

"You'll see, trust me," said Taki, turning to the girl as the lights of an approaching bus illuminated them. "Look! Here comes our last transport."

They both clung to the wall. The small bus stopped near them and opened its doors. A middle-aged woman with a child of about four got off first, and then they got on and settled into a seat near the door.

"This trip will be short, it's only a few blocks," said Taki, trying to reassure the girl.

"I've never been to this part of Tokyo before," said Mitsuha thoughtfully, looking out the window as the bus began to move. "Why are you bringing me to this place?"

Taki smiled at the subtle trap Mitsuha was trying to set for him.

"I'm not going to tell you, because it would ruin the surprise. But I can tell you that I have come to this place many times... because of you."

"Huh?" Mitsuha turned to Taki with a frown. "What are you talking about...?"

Taki put a finger to her lips and silenced her.

"Maybe for you it will be an ordinary place, but for me it became a special place thanks to you. When we get there, I'll tell you why."

Mitsuha gave up, and with a sigh continued to look out the window.

The bus was running along a road that skirted a narrow water canal. Suddenly the way made a sharp turn to the left, beginning to climb the slope of a hill, until it began to run along a narrow curving road that followed the curves of the hill.

Just a couple of minutes later Taki stood up and motioned for Mitsuha to follow him. The bus stopped and they got off in front of a small pedestrian bridge that ran elevated over a 6-lane highway. As they crossed to the other side, a sign announced their destination:

«Higashi-Takane Forest Park»

"You bring me to a park? At this hour?" asked Mitsuha intrigued.

"Uh... well, yes," Taki replied with a shrug.

"But... is it still open at this hour?"

"This park is always open. 24 hours a day."

"And how do you know that?"

"I told you. I've been here many times."

Taki took the girl's hand and started walking. The entrance to the park had some lamps lit every ten meters. At times the path became dark, but it was easily distinguishable. Because of the hour and the darkness, they were almost the only ones walking around the place, except for a few people who came across them, strolling late, walking with some pet, or running in sports outfits.

"Why are we here?" the girl could only ask for the last time, becoming more and more puzzled.

"This park is next to the Midorigaoka cemetery. That's where Mom is."

The girl opened her eyes, impressed.

"You bring me... to see...?"

"Oh, no, no, that's not it," said Taki, somewhat embarrassed by the girl's confusion. "It's for that reason that I've been there many times, and that's how I discovered the place we are going to. Since about 8 years ago, for 'some' reason, I started to feel more attracted to this place..."

"But... is it in the cemetery?" said Mitsuha, suddenly frightened at the idea of entering such a place at night.

"Don't worry, it's not in the cemetery, although..." Taki stopped and faced the girl with an evil smile, "Do you want to go for a walk there later?"

"For no reason!" Mitsuha interrupted him in exasperation, letting go of Taki's hand and resuming her walk. She stopped after a few steps.

"So where are we going?" she asked Taki again, getting more and more nervous and impatient.

"Come with me, it won't be long now," said Taki, taking the girl's hand again.

Mitsuha reluctantly began to follow him, but not before long she began to pay attention to the surrounding landscape.

The path was dimly lit but completely surrounded by trees, until the path began to open up, and suddenly they found themselves in front of a large grassy clearing, with two small clumps of trees in the center of the grassy area, and around the clearing was a dense circle of trees in all directions.

Mitsuha suddenly began to feel a strange pressure. Indeed, there was something odd about that place that she could not define. Startled, she began to walk towards the center of the clearing, followed by Taki.

"What do you think?" Taki asked once he saw Mitsuha stopped and turned around looking in all directions.

"I... I don't know. This place... why...?" said the girl, feeling her chest tighten.

Taki came up behind her and hugged her. And then he noticed that Mitsuha was shivering.

"Are you cold?" Taki asked worriedly.

"I don't... I don't know."

"Wait, I have an idea…"

Taki took a couple of steps looking carefully at the grassland, looking for a place that looked flat. After a few seconds he stopped. He pulled the small backpack he had with him from his back, opened it and took out a blanket which he spread out on the ground.

"Come here, Mitsuha, sit with me."

Taki settled in, and Mitsuha sat down next to him, taking off his shoes. The boy continued searching through his backpack and pulled out a small thermos, two small plastic cups and a small box of sweet pastries. He opened it and handed one to Mitsuha.

"I think it's a little humble, but this afternoon I had little time to prepare a more elaborate picnic," said Taki as he poured a portion of hot liquid into the cup, which began to spread the aroma of coffee.

"Thank you!" said Mitsuha as she received the coffee. She took a big sip. The warmth of the coffee and the sweet taste of the cake made her feel comforted.

"I guess this place doesn't mean anything to you..." said Taki, as he blew on his cup and took a sip of his coffee as well. "But, at the end of 2016, one weekend when I came to visit my mother's grave, I felt I wanted to walk around a bit and ended up coming to this park. And I stumbled upon this place. At the time I didn't know why, but I felt like... it reminded me of a place I had visited before, but I couldn't remember where... or when..."

Mitsuha looked at him quizzically for a second, and then a glimmer of understanding crossed her face. She looked around again, then up at the sky, closing her eyes.

"Of course!" said Mitsuha, who stood listening for a few seconds to the sound of the trees gently swaying in the breeze. Then she opened her eyes and looked at Taki intensely.

"This place... looks a lot like the clearings that were near the bus stop... in Itomori," said Mitsuha with a big smile, feeling that she had solved the mystery.

Taki nodded and smiled back at the girl. With the thumb of his right hand, he gently wiped a tear from Mitsuha's cheek, which even the girl didn't notice was there. And then with his hand he continued to caress her face.

"I didn't know it, but this location reminded me of that place too. I felt that being here made me long for something, without knowing what it was. When I came here, I felt like I was back in a place that I had cared a lot about. This week, I remembered this place and then I knew why I had felt that way all these years..."

"Thank you!" said Mitsuha, taking Taki's hand on her cheek. This place is beautiful, though...

Mitsuha's face dulled, and without realizing it, she separated her hand from Taki's.

"But..." continued Mitsuha, "For me, it also brings back memories that..."

A shiver ran through Mitsuha's body, which visibly twitched.

"What's wrong? Was it something bad?" Taki asked worriedly.

Mitsuha looked at him, and with her mouth in a tight rictus, she wanted to smile at Taki to reassure him, but she felt that the tightness she had felt in her chest suddenly return, making her expression turn bittersweet.

"It's just that... in a clearing like this was where I was that night, when the comet fell and I..."

Taki opened his eyes in amazement. The thought had never crossed his mind that this place of his memory was also that place for Mitsuha. He put the cup down on the blanket, got down on his knees and hugged the girl carrying Mitsuha's head on his chest.

"Oh... I didn't know! I didn't want to bring back those memories... forgive me!"

Mitsuha pressed herself against his chest and hugged him around the waist.

"That's right! Now... that... is behind us... it doesn't matter anymore, does it?" said Mitsuha, trying to recompose her own emotions and also to reassure Taki, who was feeling overwhelmed by the sudden guilt.

Taki separated from her, sat down on his legs, and stood with his head level with hers. He held her face between his hands and spoke to her with energy and conviction.

"All that is over. It's over. You're back, and we're together. That memory is something that... happened, but it doesn't exist anymore. It doesn't exist in this new reality. In this new life we have that was just a bad dream, wasn't it?"

Mitsuha nodded. She sat up a little bit approaching Taki, and gave him a soft kiss on the mouth, then pulled away, watching Taki blush in amusement.

"Yes, we have a new life now."

The girl broke away from Taki and sat back down. She took another cake from the box and began to eat it with her eyes closed.

"Now I know I must enjoy my life while I can," she said, as she chewed the candy with pleasure.

Taki gawked at her for a few seconds, then sat with his arms straight and resting behind his back, his head thrown back, and his eyes closed, feeling the breeze.

"When I hear the sound of the wind in the trees now, I can't help but remember your home. I was privileged to be able to live in Itomori."

"Do you really miss my town?" asked Mitsuha intrigued.

"Yes. Before I only knew Tokyo. But seeing Itomori through your eyes opened up a new world to me. Now that I'm a landscape architect, I think I know where that yearning was born."

"So... so how did the interview go today? You told me it went well but you didn't tell me much more."

"Oh... right, it's just that, Tesshi did his own thing this time, that rascal..."

"Hey, did Tesshi play a joke on you? But wasn't it a real interview?"

"Yes, it was. It was a 100% real interview. But it was for a very small company, friends of Tesshi's. It was people from Itomori!"

Mitsuha's eyes widened in surprise.

"Really? -How did you know?"

"I recognized them. They were two former employees of Teshigawara Construction Company. I saw them once when they brought the materials and tools to the Itomori bus stop, the one where we built our log cafe, remember? And now when I saw them, I knew it was them: Gondō-san and Ouzumi-san. Did you know them?"

"I must have seen them when I went to pick up Tesshi at his father's work, but I don't remember them by their names. So… what did they say? Are they going to hire you?"

"Ah, about that..."

Taki took a big sip of coffee until the cup was empty, set it aside and settled back on the blanket, his eyes gazing up at the stars.

"…I showed them all my works and they liked them. And they asked me several questions that I think I answered well. One of them is now a civil engineer. But the interview was in the apartment of one of them, not in an office. At first, I thought I had made a mistake. And the company itself is very small, I don't know if they can hire me."

"Oh, I see," said Mitsuha, also lying down on the blanket perpendicular to Taki, resting her head on the boy's chest.

"So..." continued Mitsuha, "why did they call you, if they can't hire you?"

"There is a project, a public call for a tender they want to apply for. If they win it, they would have a guaranteed business for the next 10 years. To apply, they need an architect. It's to maintain and modernize parks like this one, but all over Japan."

"That sounds like a pretty big deal," said Mitsuha, mentally imagining the scope of the task.

"Yes, and as small as their company is, there's no way they could do it today. But the 10-year contract will start with a pilot project in Nagoya. They showed me some diagrams of 4 parks, and an architect's job would be to design changes and improvements to them. That's where someone like me would come in."

"In Nagoya? That's far away!" complained Mitsuha, sitting up on one elbow and looking at Taki while pouting.

"Well, yes, it's several hours from Tokyo. But as an architect a lot of my work would be from here in Tokyo, I guess. The site visits are short, and once you have the surveys, photographs, and necessary material, you can work on the architectural designs from anywhere."

"Ah..." replied Mitsuha with some relief. "But what if they win and have to take jobs from all over Japan?"

"Well... in that case the architectural team would have to travel with some frequency to all those places..."

"I don't want you to stay away from me!" protested Mitsuha, pinching Taki's ribs out of sheer spite.

"Hey, what are you doing?" said Taki laughing, moving like a snake trying to dodge Mitsuha's surprise attack.

After a few endless seconds of hand-to-hand fighting, between laughter, contortions and counter attacks, Taki managed to neutralize Mitsuha by catching both her hands by the wrists, leaving the girl on her back on the blanket with her arms trapped over her chest, and him semi leaning on her, with their faces barely 20 centimeters from each other, both panting from the effort of the fight.

"Taki... -Taki-kun! Stop it! I surrender. I... don't..." weakly protested Mitsuha, blushing at the awkwardness of her position, and at the same time, feeling a strange sense of abandonment, as she felt Taki's body being so close to hers. As if her will to reject him suddenly disappeared.

Taki felt Mitsuha's agitated breathing on his face, and his consciousness began to waver. It took him a couple of seconds to realize the position he was in and seeing Mitsuha's frightened and at the same time expectant look, he let go and moved away from her a little embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Mitsuha sat beside him, fixing her hair, and looking at her own legs. A sea of mixed feelings washed over her.

"I... I initiated this, so it's okay, Taki-kun. This was my fault."

Taki saw the empty cups still on the blanket, and not knowing what else to do, he picked them up to put them back inside his backpack. Mitsuha noticed and grabbed his forearm to stop him.

"Wait. I know this place is important to you. I want to be with you a little longer... Is there any coffee left?" she said to change the subject and pass the awkward moment.

Taki nodded, and reached again for the thermos that was in his backpack. He poured the two cups and sat down in front of Mitsuha. As he took a sip of the coffee, he looked at her face, and was about to start talking, but he couldn't do it by looking directly at her. He concentrated on his cup.

"I, I'm sorry, but it's just that when I'm around you... there's something that... I feel like there's something that draws me to you. It's not just that... at some point, well, I was you. But now, being myself, seeing you in front of me, hearing you, feeling you close to me... it's like I want to get even closer to you, but... I know... it's just not appropriate..."

Taki looked at her, trying to find an answer in her. Mitsuha looked back at him tenderly.

"I know it's not appropriate, and what just happened was... dangerous because, because..." Mitsuha felt the blood rush to her face, and she couldn't look Taki in the face either. "Because... I feel the same way too."

Taki looked at her in surprise and burst out laughing in a mixture of joy and relief.

"So, you're not mad at me?"

"How could I? You fool!" replied Mitsuha, burying her face in the cup as she drank from its contents in embarrassment.

"Promise me that you will tell me if... if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable."

"I promise I will tell you."

They both continued in silence for a while. The sound of footsteps from a lone runner jogging along the path that ran along the edge of the clearing, about 30 meters away, caught the couple's attention. The jogger seemed to watch them for a few seconds and then continued running without making any indication of stopping or paying any further attention to them.

Mitsuha continued to look around thoughtfully, her eyes lost in the trees swaying in the breeze.

"Are you really leaving Tokyo?"

"Huh? I mean, it's a possibility, but this interview today may not mean anything."

"But someday... will you leave?"

"I don't know. But I wouldn't go anywhere if you were not there. Or if you don't come with me," Taki replied firmly.

The breeze gusted for a few seconds a little more intensely, which sent shivers down Mitsuha's spine. Taki noticed.

"I think it's getting late and cold; we should go back."

"Yes, that's a good idea, besides, I'd like to treat you to a bite to eat on the way, Taki."

"No, but I was supposed to invite you today..."

"Do you have something else planned near here? Or maybe another surprise?" asked Mitsuha approaching Taki to get a closer look at his face.

Taki hadn't really thought too much up to this point, so he wrapped his head around it, dodging the girl's gaze.

"This... no, I don't have anything else planned..."

Mitsuha's face lit up with excitement.

"That's perfect. We'll pass by Noborito station again, won't we?" said the girl with her eyes shining.

"Sure, we can take the Odakyu line again."

"Then let me check something..."

Mitsuha pulled out her cell phone, mumbling a few disjointed sentences, trying to remember a certain place, until she finally gave a little cry of victory. She put the screen in front of Taki's face.

"Look! We have to go here."

Taki looked for a couple of seconds at the screen, then looked at the girl.

"Yakiniku? Do you want to eat meat?"

"Yes! I remember seeing this place on TV some time ago, it's very nice and... I'd like to get to know it with you, and try new things with you," said Mitsuha, with an excited girl scout smile.

"But it looks like an expensive place..."

"Don't worry, I'll invite you. When you find a job, you can invite me to another place like this."

Taki gave a sigh of surrender and raised his hands in peace.

"Fine! You win, but I'll take you to a better place than that as soon as I have money."

"Let's go, let's go!" said Mitsuha, standing up and taking the blanket to put away the improvised picnic spot.

§

Taki and Mitsuha decided to make the trip to the restaurant on foot. They retraced part of the path they had taken on the bus and then crossed the canal they had seen on the way. Armed only with the map guide on their phones, they made their way through the residential neighborhoods of Kanagawa prefecture, in Kawasaki.

As they walked, Taki began to explain to Mitsuha architectural details of the houses and buildings they were encountering, which surprised and greatly admired the girl, who had never imagined that such concepts even existed or that they were important to the point of being taught and studied by architects.

After a little more than forty minutes that passed for them in a blink, they found themselves in front of the door of the restaurant. A couple of minutes later they were already seated at a table reviewing the menu of the steak and grill restaurant.

"Wow, this place has cuts of meat you don't see everywhere," exclaimed Taki in surprise.

"Yes, that's what I meant, do you want to try something new?" said Mitsuha, giving him a wink. "Look, they have a selection of different meats to try. Let's order two sets!"

Taki turned the menu page to review the dishes listed by Mitsuha, and blanched when he saw the price.

"Mitsuha, but that is quite expensi-

"Taki-kun!" the girl sternly shushed him. "You said you would accept my invitation, didn't you? And you said that in the future you will invite me to another place like this, or did you lie to me?"

The boy decided that he could not win this cockfight against Mitsuha, so he assumed total defeat.

"No, I didn't lie to you. But I can't promise you when that will happen."

"I'll be patient. Because ours is not a temporary thing, is it?"

The boy smiled at her and nodded; now they had the future ahead of them. He felt that he really had a future with the girl he had searched for so long.

Mitsuha gestured to the waitress, who quickly came to them. Mitsuha placed the order, and she also added a bottle of sake to share with Taki.

As they waited for the food, Mitsuha grabbed Taki's hands across the table, and became serious all at once.

"Taki, about today... thank you for taking me to that place."

"Yes, but I think it will be better to come some other day, with more light, and more time. You will like it even more."

"It's possible. I could really remember the feeling of... of my old home. And that made me think..."

The girl squeezed Taki's hands tightly, encouraging herself to ask a difficult question.

"What if... what if the comet hadn't fallen? Would we be together today?"

Taki was surprised by the question. He had never thought of that possibility. His world had circled for years around the Itomori incident. What if it hadn't happened? He felt confused just thinking about it.

"I... I don't know. Everything would certainly be different. But… but we swapped bodies right up until before that happened. It would still have happened, wouldn't it?"

"I don't think so. I think our exchanges were connected to the comet, after all. And when you turned me down that day on the train... maybe I would never have sought you out again, and you weren't going to either, I guess."

"Of course, I couldn't! I didn't know you yet. But in 2016, yes! I would have looked you up, in fact, I travel to Itomori just to see you remember?"

"True, but without the comet you would have found... you would have found me three years older, and you were only seventeen."

"That's true, I would have been very surprised. Although... I think that... for me it wouldn't have been a problem, I wanted to find you no matter what, but… would that have been a problem for you?"

Mitsuha got silent, imagining a juvenile Taki arriving at the shrine gates. The idea struck her as a wild fantasy, and she burst out laughing.

"Hey, do you think that's funny?" complained Taki.

"No, sorry, it's not funny. I mean, yes, it is...! Can you imagine what I would have to tell them, to grandma and Yotsuha, to explain why you would be there?"

"Well... we already told Yotsuha what happened. And it was... very difficult. And by the way, have you said anything about us to your grandmother yet?"

"Uh, no. I haven't spoken to her. In fact, we talk very little. It's almost always Yotsuha who communicates with me. And now that I think about it, I haven't heard from them this week..." commented Mitsuha thoughtfully, just realizing that strange detail.

"We'll have to think of some way to tell your grandmother about us."

"Would you come with me to see her?" asked Mitsuha enthusiastically.

"I wouldn't want to miss that. And I'd really like to see Grandma Hitoha again. She was always very good with me, you know?" said Taki.

Mitsuha sighed. She realized that the boy was unaware of the changes that had occurred in her family relationship the past few years.

"The little time you knew her may have been good. But she is very demanding. And she is, or was, very picky about the shrine tradition. Now we no longer have one, and I was able to come to Tokyo to fulfill my dreams. If that comet had not fallen, you really would have found me there, in 2016: a 20-year-old girl living at the Miyamizu shrine, because that was the only destiny that awaited me."

"And I would have been happy to find you."

"But my grandmother wouldn't have accepted you as a suitor for me. A 17-year-old boy courting a 20-year-old girl? That would never have caught on in that town, much less with my grandmother!"

"Well, but I'm still three years younger than you. Will your grandmother accept me now?"

"She is no longer with me as she was before. I used to be her eldest granddaughter, the heiress of the Miyamizu shrine. Now there is no shrine, nor am I heir to anything, but Grandma wanted me to stick to the old traditions. I refused, and I'm making my life in Tokyo as I always dreamed, but she doesn't accept that. When we talk, we usually end up arguing."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that. But then, do you think she will accept... me?" Taki asked worriedly.

"Now that we know who we are, what happened to us and that we know what we lived through, believe me she has to accept you. And if my grandmother doesn't accept you, that will fall on her head because it's not her who will choose and accept you, it's me!"

Taki smiled, feeling his chest light up at those words.

"Are you going to choose me, even if your family rejects me?"

"I will choose you over any family tradition. It is a promise."

The clatter of glasses and dishes distracted them. The waitress left a bottle of sake, two glasses, and the dishes they had ordered.

"If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call me, enjoy!" said the waitress, and left.

Mitsuha took the sake bottle, poured the two glasses and offered one to Taki. She took the other and raised it in front of her.

"This week has been wonderful, and it has filled me with life. Finding you has filled me with life. Now all that's left is for you to find your dream job. And then we can... walk together."

"So… for our future!" said Taki, tapping his glass gently on Mitsuha's glass.

"For our future, together!"

§

After dinner they returned to Shinjuku, and had to say goodbye at the train station, each taking the road to their respective homes. Neither of them had any desire to be separated. She wanted to be with him longer, but the next day was Friday and she had to work, so with barely concealed bitterness she had to let him go, not without first giving him a long kiss goodbye.

After 11 p.m. Mitsuha entered her apartment, tired from the long trip, but satisfied and happy, still feeling a bit intoxicated from the generous bottle of sake she had shared with Taki.

She left her purse on the couch and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. As she drank, she saw the answering machine light up to alert her to recorded messages. She approached the machine, operated the buttons to check, and saw that there was only one call, from her grandmother's house. She guessed that Yotsuha was finally showing signs of life. She operated the device and picked up the handset to listen to the message.

Forty seconds later Mitsuha felt as if the temperature in the apartment had suddenly dropped at least 5 degrees. She put the recording back on and listened to it this time with his eyes closed, trying to understand what was going on.

When she finished listening to the recording the second time, she put down the device and picked up her cell phone. She saw the time and knew it was too late to call Yotsuha, who should already be sleeping to go to school the next day.

Mitsuha debated for several seconds whether to call her or not, but at the end she gave up, opened the messaging app, looked up her sister's contact and wrote her a message.

«How are you, what's wrong and why are you fighting with Grandma? She told me to go see you this weekend!»

To her surprise, the «connected» indicator light up showing that her sister had indeed received the message, and Yotsuha's «writing» indicator began to blink.

After seconds that seemed endless, a message from Yotsuha appeared.

«Why do you care? Worry about being happy with your new boyfriend».

Mitsuha felt her face turn red with anger, and her stomach clenched. What was going on with her sister? Without hesitation she looked up Yotsuha's cell phone number in the directory, and started a direct voice call, only to receive an automatic "Mobile off or no coverage" recording. After 4 attempts with equal results, she returned to the messaging app, and saw that Yotsuha's account now appeared offline. She then understood that her sister had simply turned off the phone.

Not knowing what else to do, she thought about calling her grandmother's home landline number, but it was clear that Yotsuha wasn't going to answer her, and she also knew that her grandmother probably would, and Hitoha was not only going to be grumpy about the late hour call, but after the message she had left her, the conversation would most likely end in an even worse fight.

She sat down on a chair in the dining room and held her head trying to think of what to do. The next thing that popped into her head was to call Taki. She figured that surely the boy must be just arriving at his apartment, and on second thought she realized that there was nothing he could do about it either; she preferred not to worry him about a Miyamizu family problem for which he was not responsible.

Feeling defeated, Mitsuha convinced herself that she had no choice but to take the simplest course of action: doing nothing for now. There was no point in making any more calls and it would be better to think about it overnight, and maybe call her grandmother on Friday morning.

That night Mitsuha slept fitfully, feeling her week of bliss was suddenly clouded by storm clouds she hadn't even imagined were already there.

Next chapter: tentatively on November 1st. Rough month ^_^