"What do you think Yukino-sensei wants to talk to Mitsuha about?" On the way ho, Sayaka asked.
"Maybe it's another heart-to-heart, like last ti? A lot has happened these past few days." Teshigawara pushed his bicycle along.
"It feels like Mitsuha is drifting further and further away from us," Sayaka said wistfully.
"Yeah," Teshigawara replied, glancing up at the Miyamizu Shrine perched on the mountaintop.
Mitsuha used to be just an unremarkable shrine maiden, only known as "the daughter of Lady Futaba."
Any little deviation from the norm would earn her criticism from the older shrine followers.
There were tis when they visited the shrine to play with her, only to find Mitsuha hiding inside, crying her heart out while thinking about her mother.
"But maybe it's a good thing," Teshigawara mused. "She finally achieved what she wanted."
Now, when people in town called her "Mitsuha-san," it was with genuine respect. She was slowly becoming just like Futaba-sama.
"Is it really a good thing?" Sayaka frowned. "Yesterday, she seed really stressed out."
Sayaka was more straightforward than Teshigawara, but maybe because of that, she could see things others missed.
"Sayaka nee-chan!" A bright, childlike voice interrupted their conversation. They turned to see Yotsuba Miyamizu bounding toward them, her pigtails bouncing with each step.
"Oh, it's Yotsuba! Hey there!" Sayaka waved enthusiastically.
"Hey!" Yotsuba ran straight up to Sayaka and grabbed her hand affectionately.
"There's soone else here too, you know," Teshigawara muttered, feeling left out.
"Oh, it's just Teshigawara," Yotsuba said, her tone instantly cooling. "Why are you still clinging to Sayaka?"
Teshigawara groaned. "Oof... direct hit."
"Sayaka nee-chan, where's my sister?"
"Mitsuha? She's talking with Yukino-sensei about sothing."
"Talking about what?" Yotsuba tilted her head in confusion.
"Probably about what happened these past few days..."
Then, with animated gestures and dramatic expressions, Sayaka launched into an exaggerated retelling of the things Hojou Kyousuke had done.
"No way! There's no way my dumb sister could be that amazing!"
Yotsuba knew her sister too well to believe such a story, no matter how much she trusted Sayaka.
"It's true!" Sayaka insisted. "You didn't see it—Mitsuha just did this—" she demonstrated on Teshigawara, "—and that guy, who was five tis your height, went down like a rock! Then she did this—" another exaggerated move, "—and his face was a total ss!"
'Five tis my height?! 'Yotsuba tried to picture it and instantly went pale. That was terrifying!
But Sayaka never lied to her. No matter what, Sayaka always treated her seriously, never brushing her off as a kid.
That was exactly why Yotsuba liked her so much.
"That's so cool!" Yotsuba gasped.
Raised by her grandmother to be as tough as a boy, she was in total awe. Her supposedly airheaded sister had taken down a giant?
"Right? So cool, right?!" Sayaka was thrilled that Yotsuba shared her excitent.
Laughing and chatting, the three of them continued their walk ho.
anwhile, Yukino Yukari and Hojou Kyousuke weren't heading to the office. Instead, they walked out of the school building.
"I saw what happened this morning from the window," Yukino said. "That was pretty intense."
She was talking about the mont when Mitsuha had been cornered by a group of girls at the school gate. The scene had stirred up painful mories for her.
Even though the circumstances were different and the kind of bullying wasn't the sa, she couldn't help but relate.
"You an Minami Manaka? That wasn't dangerous," Kyousuke replied with a laugh.
"Haha, well, I suppose not after all, Mitsuha is soone possessed by a god, right?" Yukino teased with a grin.
"That's just a rumor," Kyousuke said. "You're from Tokyo, Yukino. Do you really believe in that stuff?"
"I'm not from Tokyo, actually. My hotown is in the countryside of Shikoku. We have plenty of similar legends there. Besides—"
Yukino suddenly flashed him a mischievous smile.
"Do you rember what I told you after school yesterday?"
'Yesterday?' Kyousuke quickly searched through Mitsuha's mories but couldn't recall anything related.
"Uh... you told to get along with my classmates?" he guessed randomly.
"Haha, knew it! Are you really a god?"
Yukino's excited giggle was surprisingly endearing. She might look mature, but at tis like this, she was just like an innocent girl.
"Wait... does that an you never actually talked to yesterday after school?" Kyousuke realized.
"Bingo!"
"I'm not a god," he muttered, rubbing his temple.
He knew soone would eventually figure it out, but he never expected the first person to be Yukino Yukari—a teacher he barely interacted with—rather than his family or close friends like Sayaka and Teshigawara.
Was this so kind of detective story? Garden of Words?
That didn't sound like a mystery title, but then again, with how eccentric people could be in Japan, nothing would surprise him.
Otherwise, how else could Yukino Yukari be so sharp? And why was she enjoying this so much?
"Aren't you scared?" Kyousuke asked, puzzled.
Yukino wasn't from Itomori, didn't follow the Miyamizu Shrine's faith, and probably didn't even believe in gods.
So why was she so quick to jump to conclusions—and why was she so happy about it?
"Scared? Of what?"
"I'm an unknown presence inside Mitsuha's body. For all you know, I could get bored of her anyti and move on to soone else—like you, since you know my secret."
"Haha! Actually, I was possessed once too, when I was younger," Yukino said with a laugh, completely unfazed.
Kyousuke blinked. 'Wait... this isn't a detective story. It's an exorcism story?'
"Well, I don't know if it counts as possession exactly," Yukino continued as they stepped onto the schoolyard.
"Want to sit over there for a bit?" she asked, pointing at a nearby bench.
"Sure," Kyousuke agreed.
He was curious about her story—and he also needed to make sure this woman, who now knew part of his and Mitsuha's secret, wouldn't cause any problems for Mitsuha.
"In the eastern fields, the dawn rises. Turning back, the moon sinks in the west..."
Yukino recited, her voice rich and lodic.
"It's an old poem I saw in a classical literature class during middle school. It's from the Manyoshu."
'Manyoshu? Garden of Words? That Italian restaurant?' Kyousuke tried to connect the dots while Yukino continued reminiscing.
"Before I could even fully understand its aning, sothing strange happened. The printed text in my textbook started to blur and dissolve, and then... an incredible scene unfolded before my eyes."
"A vast field, bathed in the purple glow of dawn. In the distance, a small man on horseback."
"Surrounding him was a sky of soft pinks, yellows, blues—a breathtaking gradient. And at the horizon, where the sky t the mountain ridge, a lonely, silvery moon hung, as if painted into the scene."
Yukino's voice was srizing, like a master storyteller bringing an ancient tale to life.
Kyousuke could almost see the scene himself.
"I had never seen anything like it before. But the strangest part? My literature teacher, Hinako-sensei, drew exactly the sa scene on the blackboard with chalk.
When I told her about it, she smiled and said—'Perhaps the poet who wrote that verse, Hitomaro, possessed us both for a mont.'"
Her voice was tinged with nostalgia.
"So what? Even if you're so unknown being possessing Mitsuha's body, what's there to be afraid of? Everyone's a little abnormal in their own way."
Huh? Speak for yourself—I'm completely normal.
After hearing those words, Hojou Kyousuke finally understood why Yukino-sensei had accepted such an unbelievable truth so easily.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this."
Before Hojou Kyousuke could even say anything, Yukino Yukari reassured him.
"Well, thanks for that. Let's go ho."
Brushing the dust off his skirt, Hojou Kyousuke stood up.
However, the mont they reached the school gate, he froze.
Standing just outside was Miyamizu Toshiki—Miyamizu Mitsuha's father and the town's mayor. He stood stiffly beside the school gate's pillar.
The school grounds were nearly empty now, and who knew how long he had been waiting there?
Yukino Yukari recognized him imdiately. Worry flickered across her face as she glanced at the "divine being" beside her.
Then, understanding the need for space, she quietly stepped aside, leaving the two alone.
Though puzzled by why his daughter was lingering at school so late with a female teacher, Miyamizu Toshiki still nodded politely in greeting.
"Mitsuha." His tone was stiff, almost businesslike—just as it had always been between them.
"Father." Hojou Kyousuke smiled as he stepped forward.
Father?
Miyamizu Toshiki's brows furrowed instantly. Mitsuha had never addressed him so formally. But now wasn't the ti to dwell on that—there were more pressing matters at hand.
"What's this I'm hearing about you officially inheriting the shrine?"
"It's exactly as you've heard, Father."
How was I supposed to know? I was about to ask you the sa thing—Mitsuha never wrote anything about this in her notes!
Still smiling, Kyousuke answered without hesitation, completely unaware that everything was, in fact, his own doing.
"You..." Toshiki was about to press further when he caught sight of his daughter's face—so sincere, so calm.
In that instant, the blood drained from his face.
"Who are you?!"
It felt as if all the strength had been sucked from his body. He stumbled back a few steps, his voice shaking with fear.
The girl standing before him—identical to his daughter—was not his daughter.
No, this was sothing else entirely. Sothing wearing Mitsuha's skin.
At that mont, Toshiki felt as though he had finally glimpsed the true nature of Itomori.
The so-called deity that the Miyamizu family had worshiped for generations... The being that had taken Futaba's life...
It was standing right in front of him.
mories ca rushing back—Futaba, lying pale and lifeless in a hospital bed. The town's indifference to her passing. His wife mother, Hitoha, accepting their daughter's death as divine will...
The pain was suffocating.
By the ti he ca back to his senses, the creature that had taken Mitsuha's body was gone. Toshiki returned ho in a daze, his mind in turmoil.
"Well, if you're okay, I'll be going now."
Kyousuke cast a puzzled glance at his "father," who had suddenly gone pale. He had no intention of lingering—best not to say too much and risk making things harder for Mitsuha.
After waiting a few seconds and seeing that Miyamizu Toshiki wasn't responding, he signaled to Yukino-sensei and swiftly made his exit.
"Are you sure about leaving like that?"
After walking a short distance, Yukino glanced back at the mayor, still standing there in shock.
"What else was I supposed to do? It's not like they were close."
Now that they'd shared such a bizarre secret, Kyousuke felt comfortable speaking more casually with her.
"Fair point." Yukino Yukari chuckled.
Kyousuke gave the beautiful teacher a curious look. For so reason, she seed... younger. More carefree.
Before, she had always worn a gentle smile, but there had been sothing weighed down in her eyes.
And truthfully, he wasn't wrong.
Now that Yukino Yukari knew there was a deity inside this girl's body, she felt like she could fly with happiness.
If it was truly a divine being, then surely it was free from all the filth of the human world. Even the mountain winds of Itomori, even the air itself—nothing could compare to the sacred purity of an actual god.
She had fled from Tokyo to her hotown in Shikoku because of malicious rumors, only to be chased out again. She had co to this small, isolated town hoping to escape it all.
Over ti, countless worries had piled up in her heart. She had forced herself to grow up, to abandon the childishness she once had in Tokyo.
When she first arrived in Itomori, she had heard about the mystical legends surrounding the Miyamizu Shrine and the miraculous stories of Futaba.
Desperate, she had climbed the shrine's mountain, cleansed her hands, made offerings, and prayed with all her heart—hoping that the gods would take away her pain.
That was why so many turned to faith, wasn't it?
When life beca unbearable, people sought comfort in the divine. They put their hopes in sothing unseen, longing to forget the pain of the past.
But in the end, all she found was a hollow shrine.
Futaba was long gone. The only ones left were an aging priestess, Hitoha, and a serious-looking shrine maiden, Mitsuha.
Her hopes had been shattered.
But at least the rumors from Tokyo hadn't followed her here.
At the ti, Yukino Yukari had thought—perhaps ignorance really is bliss.
But now, she owed the gods an apology.
Because it wasn't ignorance.
There really was a deity watching over Itomori.
The people of this town... were truly blessed.
And so was she.
She laughed softly at herself, rembering how she had once planned to be Mitsuha's ntor—to guide her through life.
Back when I was a student, Hinako-sensei saved . Now that I'm a teacher, I get to et a real god?
This is too much happiness for one lifeti.
Walking beside the divine being, she wanted to pour out all her worries, to share everything in her heart.
But she held back.
Have so restraint, Yukari. You can't just bombard a god with prayers the mont you enter the shrine.
You haven't even offered any tribute yet. That wouldn't be proper.
And yet, even just walking side by side like this, she felt her long-stifled heart grow lighter.
"Mitsuha, isn't your house in the other direction?"
After so hesitation, Yukino Yukari decided to stick with that na.
"Yeah, but I feel like taking a little detour today. I'll walk you ho first."
Kyousuke had been to Itomori many tis now, but he realized that he had never gone anywhere besides school and ho. Even Mitsuha had used his body to explore. It felt unfair.
"Ohh, sure~"
Yukino Yukari replied cheerfully.
Any excuse to spend more ti with the divine was a gift. She automatically translated his words in her mind—He wants to see more of the land he watches over.
But as they kept walking, Kyousuke started to notice sothing off.
"Wait... isn't this the edge of town?"
"The house I live in belonged to an elderly couple with no children. The town let stay there for free as a teacher."
"Oh, that's pretty nice."
"They also gave a plot of land, but I've never fard it."
"Why not?" Kyousuke asked, suddenly intrigued. He could feel a tiny spark of interest—maybe it was his dormant farming instincts awakening?
"Because I don't know how."
Yukino Yukari raised her arms, pulling back her sleeves to reveal her delicate, unblemished wrists—completely untouched by manual labor.
Yeah, she definitely didn't look like the farming type.
"I'll help you plant sothing next ti."
Spoken like soone whose only experience with farming was growing cherry radishes in a lunchbox.
"You'd really do that?"
"It's settled, then."
By the ti they reached the railway tracks, Kyousuke knew they were almost at Yukino Yukari's ho.
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