The next thing on Hojou Kyousuke's mind was the people he truly cared about: his parents, all the way in Hokkaido.
Before he could even open the email, he received a call from his mother, Hojou Mikiko.
"Kyousuke! Do you think the cot will fall near you? I saw that the cot split, and it looks like it's headed toward Tokyo!"
Alright, it's clear now: his dear mother was safe.
"Don't worry, Mom, the cot's still pretty far from . If anything, I'm more worried it might fall in Hokkaido."
"Phew, you scared ! Why didn't you call earlier to reassure ?" Hojou Mikiko grumbled.
"Sorry, sorry. I was about to make a late-night snack with the beef you sent ," Kyousuke replied, trying to lighten the mood.
"Ugh, why are you eating so late? It's not good for your health," his mother chided.
"It's not dinner, it's a late-night snack. I'm pretty exhausted today."
"Really now... you need to take better care of yourself! And what's this about you being the leader of a delinquent gang?" Hojou Mikiko couldn't hold back her curiosity, asking about the thing she'd been wondering about for days.
Kyousuke knew his mom worried about him, so he decided to explain.
"I went to the kendo club the other day..."
Kyousuke spoke slowly, adding a touch of flair to the events that had happened, making sure to keep it entertaining.
His mother listened intently, occasionally gasping in surprise.
"That sounds so thrilling! A biker gang, huh? When I was younger, I even dread of riding a motorcycle on the streets myself," Hojou Mikiko mused with a bit of envy.
Kyousuke could hear his father's laugh, then her mom frustrated voice.
"Hah? What are you laughing about?"
"Is it my fault I can't ride a bike?"
"Who said I can't learn to ride a motorcycle just because I don't know how to ride a bicycle?"
And then, Hojou Ichirou's voice could be heard, trying to calm things down.
After a while, the phone switched hands.
"Hello, Kyousuke," ca the deep, commanding voice of his father.
"Father," Kyousuke replied respectfully.
He always spoke to his father more seriously than to his mother—not out of formality, but out of respect.
"Delinquents are nothing to be afraid of."
"Youth is the most valuable ti in a person's life."
"If you want to do sothing, go ahead and do it."
"You're a Hojou, so even if you choose the delinquent path, you should aim to be the best in all of Japan!"
"But always be careful, and call ho if anything happens."
Hojou Ichirou's voice was steady, and Kyousuke could clearly picture him in his mind.
Standing tall at 1.8 ters, his father was a rare sight in Japan.
He always wore a navy-blue yukata, the sa one he wore when he ca to Tokyo to pick up Hojou Mikiko.
Kyousuke's face mirrored his father's strong features, but his eyes took after his mother's—gentle and soft, almost like a tranquil spring.
It was only when he got angry that his eyebrows would furrow and his eyes would turn sharp.
"I'll rember, Father. Thank you."
"Take care of yourself. Your mother worries about you," Hojou Ichirou added.
"I know, and you take care too. You and Mom should get to work on giving a sibling soon," Kyousuke joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Hah, I am thinking about it..." Hojou Ichirou coughed a bit, then laughed.
The phone was quickly snatched back by Mikiko.
"Honestly, always talking nonsense with my precious son. Kyousuke..."
"Hmm?"
"You better keep an eye on those potential daughters-in-law of mine. Don't let anyone steal them away!"
Kyousuke chuckled.
Over the remaining months of elentary school, Nishimiya Shouko and Ueno Naoka, who often visited the Hojou ho, had beco close enough to Mikiko to be included on her daughter-in-law watch list.
"I know, I know. Goodbye, Mom."
"You don't love anymore..."
Kyousuke hung up, knowing that if he didn't, Mikiko would keep talking well into the morning.
Phew. It seed like the important people were all safe.
Hmm? What's this?
After ending the call, Kyousuke's phone automatically brought up the call history.
He saw an unread call from Hida City.
Looking up at the sky, he noticed that direction... that must be Hida, right?
———————————————————————
Itomori, Hida City, Miyamizu Shrine
Miyamizu Mitsuha wore a beautiful blue kimono, decorated with Yotsuba grass patterns.
"How beautiful! Will I be as pretty as you when I grow up, sis?"
Her younger sister, Miyamizu Yotsuba, finished putting the last decoration in Mitsuha's hair.
She looked at her stunning sister in the mirror, her voice filled with admiration.
"You will. You two are sisters after all." Their grandmother, Miyamizu Hitoha, adjusted Mitsuha's kimono and smiled.
Hitoha couldn't help but rember when she had done the sa for her daughter, back when she was young.
Ti had passed so quickly, and now Mitsuha was all grown up.
Mitsuha looked at her reflection and silently thought, 'I wonder if Hojou would like to see like this.'
Since returning to Itomori from Tokyo, she had been unable to get through to him on the phone, and the connection kept dropping.
"Yotsuba, can you take a picture of ?" Mitsuha asked, handing her phone to her sister.
"Cheese."
Yotsuba's voice echoed, and Mitsuha gave a faint smile, her lips slightly pressed together.
Her expression was serene and composed, her eyes shining with a quiet elegance.
She took the phone and saw the call history—another failed attempt to reach Hojou.
Mitsuha sighed, but still sent the photo.
The notification read, Failed to send.
'Kyousuke, what's going on?' Mitsuha turned toward the window.
Itomori, surrounded by mountains, was quiet and remote, but the night stars shone the brightest here.
Mitsuha wondered if she should go back to Tokyo to find Kyousuke.
She had spent all of her allowance just on the first trip, but she didn't regret it.
However, with the festival preparations going on in Itomori, she, as the shrine's miko, couldn't just leave now.
"I'll go to Tokyo next weekend," she decided, then left to et her friends.
The cot appeared, its brilliant blue tail shimring in the night sky, weaving between the stars.
Mitsuha ran up the mountain, the night wind blowing, and the grass rippling around her.
Her sleeves fluttered gently in the breeze.
'What's happening?'
It seed the land of Itomori was especially blessed by the cot.
Even if she didn't stop, it would leave sothing behind.
The cot... split.
Mitsuha saw the most beautiful yet cruel sight of her life.
teorites, falling from the sky, plumting between the mountains and straight toward her.
———————————————————————
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