When Kyousuke opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of Miyamizu Mitsuha, both hands full of bags.
He'd already told her that several girls she knew were staying at his house and had enthusiastically invited her to move in too.
After all, Ochanomizu Women's University was just around the corner, making his place a very convenient base.
But on the phone, Mitsuha had firmly responded, "No way I'm squeezing in with that many girls," and added, "I'm rolling my eyes right now."
Still, it was obvious she was looking forward to reconnecting with those friends—her arms were full of souvenirs brought back from Nara.
"Welcome home," Kyousuke said with a grin, stepping forward.
"Don't act like I'm your tenant. I should be the one saying, 'Sorry to intrude,'" Mitsuha rolled her eyes at him.
Even though she'd already known from her fragmented memories—and that ridiculous slideshow he'd made.
That this guy was a greedy jerk, she hadn't expected him to be so shameless about it.
Kyousuke chuckled awkwardly but still reached out to take the bags from her.
Mitsuha had more than enough strength to carry them herself, but he knew how much girls cared about this kind of gesture.
Sure enough, even though she grumbled, she obediently handed them over.
"Are... are they all home right now?"
Just as she was about to step inside, Mitsuha hesitated.
What kind of existence was she to Eriri and the others?
If she told them the truth, how would they see her? A spirit possessing Kyousuke? A shrine maiden dabbling in the occult?
"What's wrong? Feeling nervous because there are too many people?" Kyousuke glanced back with a smile.
"No, it's just... I'm a little worried."
"Haha, don't be. You're not the only one who wants to see them—Shouko and Sakura actually went looking for you in Itomori, remember?"
"Besides, you're technically their senior now."
"I'm only three years older than you. You don't need to keep bringing that up," Mitsuha huffed.
She relaxed a little, but Kyousuke's wording still rubbed her the wrong way.
She was a vibrant, youthful college student—not some washed-up old lady!
"I didn't mean it like that~" Kyousuke laughed, intentionally teasing her to ease the tension.
After all, in a country like Japan, being the older one often meant having the upper hand.
———————————————————————
"Your fish are only good for eating. They have zero ornamental value. Who would just sit in the sun staring at them for hours?"
"Koi aren't for eating! Unlike your dumb dog—" Eriri started, but when she looked down and saw Momotarou peacefully sleeping at her feet.
The rest of her sentence caught in her throat. Her frustration built until tears welled in her eyes.
Then came the sound of the front door opening.
"Kyousuke! Tell her! Didn't you say during our walk that even when koi sleep, they're beautiful?"
"Kyousuke, wouldn't a writer rather have a loyal dog by their side while they're working?" Utaha countered.
Kyousuke glanced back and gave Mitsuha, who was frozen in place and unsure whether to enter or flee, a helpless smile.
"They're not usually like this... I swear."
Mitsuha paused, then forced a smile. "So lively, huh…"
'God, it's only been a few minutes... how did things turn chaotic so fast?'
Kyousuke slipped off his shoes and stepped into the living room.
He glanced around: Utaha-senpai had already showered and changed into a blue set of loungewear.
Shouko and Naoka sat on the couch, snacking on fruit and half-watching the TV—or more accurately, watching Eriri's argument unfold.
Eriri stood off to the side, clearly annoyed.
She was here to meet an "old friend" she didn't even recognize.
Shouko turned around and spotted Kyousuke—and the girl behind him.
Wait... she looked familiar.
That high ponytail... where had she seen it before? Mouth full of apple, Shouko blinked in confusion.
Utaha and Naoka, on the other hand, both visibly tensed at the sight of yet another new girl entering the house.
"Sorry to intrude~" Mitsuha said quietly as she stepped into the living room.
"This is Miyamizu Mitsuha," Kyousuke introduced.
"Mi-Mi-Mitsuha!?" Shouko's fork clattered into her plate.
Eriri turned and gave her a puzzled look.
If she didn't know Shouko better, she'd have thought she was mocking her.
It was just a name—what's with the overreaction?
Naoka didn't fare much better.
Though she hadn't gone to Itomori with Shouko and Sakura, she'd heard all about the experience afterward.
A ruined town.
A phone call from someone in the middle of the wreckage, happily inviting them to visit.
It had been creepy—almost surreal.
Naoka had been glad she hadn't gone. She would've probably had a panic attack.
And now, standing right in front of her, was the ghostly "shrine maiden" from a rift in time—Miyamizu Mitsuha.
"Shouko—what if this is that Miyamizu Mitsuha? The swordswoman from the legends!" Naoka whispered, grabbing Shouko's hand in alarm.
"No way... that person didn't even know Kyousuke..." Shouko's lips trembled.
She remembered that afternoon so clearly.
The phone dropped on the ground.
The voice on the other end shouting her and Sakura's names.
The desolate ruins around her, the harsh cries of birds... even the rustling of leaves on the way down the mountain had scared her.
Even Utaha forgot about her argument with Eriri, now fully focused on observing Mitsuha.
First of all—of course she was pretty.
Any girl connected to Kyousuke had to be.
Mitsuha wore a high ponytail, a yellow T-shirt under a pink jacket, slate-gray straight-cut pants, and white sneakers.
Simple. Plain. Nothing that would normally—
Wait. That hair tie?
Utaha's eyes narrowed, flicking between Kyousuke's wrist and Mitsuha's head.
Didn't Kyousuke once say that was his good luck charm?
Had he given it to her? Or was it something she gave him that he called a charm?
Why had he never mentioned her before?
Even childhood friend Yamauchi Sakura had come up in conversation now and then.
Her instincts blared like a siren.
Eriri, too, stared at Mitsuha intensely, trying in vain to find any memory of her.
"Ha ha, don't be scared, Shouko. Mitsuha's a real, live person—not some ghost," Kyousuke chuckled.
He'd already told Sakura about Mitsuha moving in, and Sakura had likely shared that info with Shouko—so he could guess what had spooked her.
"Ghost?" Mitsuha looked confused.
Everyone's odd reactions were starting to make her feel incredibly uncomfortable.
"Anyway, come on in and sit. I'll explain everything properly."
Kyousuke set the bags down and gently pulled Mitsuha to the sofa near the kitchen—next to Shouko and Naoka.
Eriri and Utaha sat across from them.
"I told you before, remember? Shouko and Sakura once went to look for you."
"They were standing on the old Itomori High School field, staring down at the ruined town when you, using my body, called them. You invited them to visit Itomori and kept saying how beautiful it was..."
"Body-swapping?"
"Itomori?"
"You're really Mitsuha?!"
The girls all gasped in surprise.
After a brief moment of confusion, Miyamizu Mitsuha quickly realized why Shouko and the others looked so spooked.
The version of herself who had swapped bodies with Kyousuke still lived in that peaceful, if boring, town of Itomori.
But to Shouko and the others, Mitsuha was supposed to be living in Nara, attending Tezukayama High School—a girl with no connection to Kyousuke at all.
To them, Itomori was already a ruin.
And here she was, cheerfully talking about how she still lived there and inviting them to visit.
No wonder they were scared—it probably felt like a ghost was beckoning them to another world.
Just like when Kyousuke had been spooked by Mitsuha's grandmother's words on Mount Ryūjin.
"Hehehe~" Even though she knew it wasn't the right time, Mitsuha couldn't help but laugh.
"What do you mean 'body-swapping'? Hurry up and explain!" Eriri pouted, clearly annoyed that this strange girl in front of her was laughing so happily.
"To put it simply, when I was in first year of middle school, I'd randomly switch bodies with Mitsuha. That time we went to that doujinshi event?"
"That was actually Mitsuha accompanying you."
After explaining everything—including the body-swapping, time travel, and how he saved Itomori—Kyousuke turned to senior Utaha.
"The reason I told you it was 'another personality' using that account was because of all this."
"So that's why you were into shoujo manga back then!"
"Sayuka..."
"Mitsuha, I'm so glad..." Shouko suddenly stood up and sat beside Mitsuha, clutching her hands tightly.
"It's okay. I'm sorry I scared you back then," Mitsuha said with a gentle smile.
"I don't remember much about the night the comet fell, but seeing the pictures Kyousuke drew... even I was shocked."
Though it still felt a little unreal, Eriri chose to trust Kyousuke.
After all, he was stupidly honest—even about living with a bunch of girls.
She had assumed Mitsuha was just some random stranger, but to think they had known each other years ago and gotten along so well…
Eriri turned away, not quite sure how to process her emotions.
But if anyone's feelings were complicated, it was definitely Utaha.
She had first gotten close to Kyousuke thanks to "Sayuka"—a devoted reader who had cried over her novels, who had stayed up talking about characters until they both fell asleep.
Even for a light novel author, this was unreal.
And yet, even knowing the kind of threat Mitsuha could be, Utaha couldn't bring herself to feel even a hint of hostility.
"Just how many secrets are you hiding, Kyousuke?" She glanced at him—now outside, cheerfully playing with the dog in the courtyard.
Without Kyousuke by her side, Mitsuha suddenly felt awkward.
This wasn't the kendo club, where she could bark strict orders.
It wasn't the community center in Itomori, where she could comfort people with kind words.
But she had grown a lot since then.
She quickly composed herself and turned to Eriri to chat about anime, congratulated Utaha on her new best-seller…
She'd been through so much already.
Sure, this scene was a little unusual—but she could handle it. She knew that if she wanted to be with Kyousuke, this kind of thing was part of the package.
No one could say how long the peace would last.
One day, she might have to fight tooth and nail—like in a tournament match—to hold onto Kyousuke and never let go.
"Oh right! I have to tell Sakura!" Shouko suddenly shouted and pulled out her phone.
The silly girl hadn't picked up on the fact that Sakura already knew about all this.
She was still eagerly waiting to see how Sakura would react when she got home and saw Eriri and Utaha.
Inside the house, the girls quickly grew familiar with each other, the atmosphere surprisingly harmonious.
Out in the garden, Kyousuke stroked Momotarou's head while watching the koi fish swimming in the pond.
He was thinking it might be time to thin them out a bit.
Unlike people, koi were fragile—too many in one pond would only lead to death until there was enough space to live comfortably again.
Each girl was adding her own touch to the house.
Naoka's handmade cushions and seat covers, Eriri's manga scattered all over the place, portraits drawn for Shouko and Naoka, the soap bubble commander…
Utaha's stockings mysteriously showing up in his room, the growing collection of books in the tea room… Momotarou…
Even Shouko had left her mark—perhaps more than anyone else.
Not that she was trying to, but she had somehow become the heart of it all.
In the courtyard and garden she loved, someone was always admiring the flowers or asking how to plant something Shouko had brought home.
Soft-spoken, rarely raising her voice above a whisper, yet her presence was the strongest of them all.
On average, every half hour, Kyousuke would hear someone—Eriri, Utaha, even Naoka—calling out to her.
Not because they needed anything, but because they just wanted to share things with her.
He walked to the left side of the garden and looked up at the cherry blossoms in full bloom.
Tomorrow was going to be special. Sakura would finally be coming home.
They'd all sit under the trees and enjoy sakura mochi together.
Kyousuke had been studying how to actually incorporate real cherry blossoms into the mochi.
The pickling of the leaves had just started today.
Despite the name, most sakura mochi didn't actually include cherry blossoms—just a pickled petal on top and a cherry leaf wrapped around.
But for Kyousuke, who was just a few steps away from creating glow-in-the-dark gourmet dishes, even a tree branch could probably be turned into something Mr. Bean would dip in peanut butter and eat.
———————————————————————
Hospital Room
Sakura sat on her bed flipping through the admission handbook for Soubu High.
It had been mailed to her home, and her family had brought it to her.
Beside her, her mother was packing.
Though she'd been cleared for discharge for a while now, the Yamauchi family had spared no expense to ensure she had the best possible recovery.
Her phone rang.
Shouko's face popped up on the screen, and Sakura smiled instinctively.
"Moshi moshi~" Thinking of seeing everyone—and especially Kyousuke—tomorrow made her voice noticeably lighter.
"Sakura, Sakura! You won't believe who I just saw!" Shouko's excited voice came through.
"Hmm, let me guess… Aunt Mikiko?"
"Nope! It's—"
"Kihara Saki?" That was one of Shouko's voice acting seniors—someone she deeply admired and had raved about for days.
"No, no! It's—"
"It's Mitsuha, right? Haha!" Sakura interrupted again, laughing.
"Sakura—!" Shouko whined, dragging out her name, realizing she'd been played.