Back in the present, Hozuki Nozomi returned to Sakura Dormitory feeling thoroughly satisfied with the evening's resolution. Shinkawa Kyouji had been dealt with permanently, Asada Shino was safe, and justice had been served. What better way to celebrate than quality time with his fiancée?
Yukino Yukinoshita had just emerged from her shower, her fair skin carrying a healthy rosy glow, her hair slightly damp and fragrant. She looked utterly alluring—the kind of beautiful that made a man's thoughts wander in very specific directions.
Hozuki Nozomi was more than ready to demonstrate his skills tonight.
He pounced eagerly, wrapping his arms around her slender waist and pulling her close—
His fiancée fixed him with an annoyed glare.
"Why are you in such a hurry, you pervert?" She punctuated the question with a small fist against his chest. "I'm not going anywhere."
Hozuki Nozomi caught her delicate fist and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, grinning. "Can you blame me? My Yukino is too cute to resist." He nuzzled against her neck. "I missed you."
Yukino's cheeks flushed, but she maintained her composure, gently pushing against his chest. "Today... no."
His heart dropped. "Why?"
She hesitated, then murmured, "That... came."
"That?" Hozuki Nozomi blinked, processing. Then realization crashed over him. "Your period?"
Yukino nodded, her face now thoroughly crimson.
A wail of genuine anguish escaped him. "Yukino! You're here to torment me, aren't you? Dangling yourself in front of me but not letting me have anything—that's just cruel!"
She turned her face away, though a small smile tugged at her lips. "If you're so tormented, you can go to Mahiru's room. Or Mashiro's. Sumireko's been looking forward to your company too, you know."
Hozuki Nozomi pulled her closer, his expression softening. "Yukino, how could you suggest such a thing? Being with you makes me happy enough. I'm not always thinking about that." He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Tonight, just rest in my arms. I won't do anything else."
Yukino's heart warmed despite herself. She knew he was coaxing her, knew his silver tongue could charm anyone—but the sincerity in his eyes felt genuine. Still, she maintained her deadpan expression.
"Aren't you uncomfortable? Seeing but not touching?"
"As long as Yukino is beside me, I'm satisfied." His voice dropped to something serious. "In this life, I'll never let you go."
"Bah. Scoundrel."
But she didn't want him to suffer either. Those blue eyes, usually so confident, held a flicker of genuine discomfort. After a moment of hesitation, she slowly slid beneath the covers.
And lowered her head.
The next morning, Yukino Yukinoshita and Shiina Mahiru woke to movement beside them.
Bleary-eyed, they looked up—and found Hozuki Nozomi staring back at them with an expression they'd never seen on his face before. His cheeks were flushed a delicate pink. His eyes held shyness, panic, and something that might have been mortification. He looked like an innocent boy caught in a compromising situation.
Which, technically, he was.
Yukino and Mahiru exchanged a glance. Then, tentatively:
"Mitsuha?"
"Hozuki Nozomi"—the body nodded awkwardly, voice small—"it's me."
She—Miyamizu Mitsuha—quickly averted her gaze from their bare shoulders, covering her eyes in shame. "Wh-what's going on? I... we... I mean, what did that guy do to you?"
Yukino rolled her eyes, entirely unbothered. "I'm his fiancée. What's wrong with a fiancée being intimate with her fiancé?"
Miyamizu Mitsuha's face somehow burned hotter. "But... Yukinoshita, if you're the fiancée, then what about Shiina?"
Shiina Mahiru smiled at the flustered girl inhabiting her boyfriend's body. "I'm the girlfriend. What's wrong with a girlfriend being intimate with her boyfriend?"
Miyamizu Mitsuha's mind short-circuited.
Taken separately, their statements made perfect sense. The problem was the conjunction! They'd both slept with him! Together! At the same time!
Before she could formulate a response—how did one even ask about such things?—Yukino and Mahiru had already begun dressing with practiced efficiency. Within moments, they were properly covered.
Miyamizu Mitsuha stared blankly. "Are you... in that much of a hurry to get to school?"
Yukino shook her head, smiling. "School's still a while away. We're just worried that idiot will get jealous if you look too much."
Miyamizu Mitsuha's expression darkened. "I'm a girl! Would he really get jealous of me?"
"Yes," both girls answered in unison. "He's exactly that jealous."
Miyamizu Mitsuha pouted, thoroughly aggrieved. "Then he used my body and kneaded my chest! Who do I complain to about that?"
No one answered. She decided, then and there, that today she would eat and drink to her heart's content. It was that philandering man's body anyway. If she gained weight, he'd be the one dealing with it.
Breakfast arrived, and Miyamizu Mitsuha found herself utterly conquered by Mahiru's cooking. The meal was exquisite—far beyond anything she could prepare. Surrounded by several incredibly cute girls, all apparently devoted to the same man, she couldn't help but marvel.
That guy lived like a king.
Then Suigintou burst from her box, and Miyamizu Mitsuha nearly jumped out of her skin. A doll? A talking doll? With attitude?
She was beginning to understand that Hozuki Nozomi's world was far stranger than she'd imagined. Maybe he really was some kind of divine messenger. An extremely improper, thoroughly philandering divine messenger.
After breakfast, Yukino and Mahiru addressed her seriously. They requested—firmly—that she give them some warning next time she "visited."
Miyamizu Mitsuha wanted to cry. She'd love to give warning! But the soul-swapping happened without any notice whatsoever. She woke up where she woke up. It was just as embarrassing for her!
Waking up in the arms of two super-beautiful girls. Honestly. What had that guy done to deserve such treatment? Yukino Yukinoshita, Shiina Mahiru, Shiina Mashiro—even as a girl, she found them captivating. What virtue or ability did that philanderer possess to have them all?
Three years in the past, Hozuki Nozomi opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.
Mitsuha's ceiling. Mitsuha's room. Mitsuha's body.
He raised a hand—slender, pale, distinctly female—and pressed it against his chest.
Soft. Reassuringly so. The familiar sensation helped orient him.
Looking down, he spotted the braided cord wrapped around his wrist. Strange—he distinctly remembered not wearing it last night. Had the deity of Miyamizu Shrine intervened? Was there something important he needed to attend to?
While pondering this, his hands continued their work. Promoting the growth of his wife Mitsuha was essential, after all.
"FWUMP!"
The door slammed open with familiar violence. Miyamizu Yotsuha stood in the doorway, twin pigtails bouncing, hands on her hips.
"Sister! Get up and eat!"
Then she saw what her sister's hands were doing.
The little loli's mouth twitched. Her expression cycled through recognition, exasperation, and resignation. The strange sister was back.
"Time to eat! Hurry!"
Before Hozuki Nozomi could respond, she slammed the door and fled.
He sighed. No choice but to rise, eat, and figure out what was happening.
At breakfast, the television murmured in the background. A segment about the upcoming town mayor election played—he changed the channel immediately. The next segment caught his attention.
News of the Tiamat Comet. Its trajectory would bring it close to Earth in a few days. Scientists promised a spectacular celestial display, a once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity.
Hozuki Nozomi stared at the screen, knowing what those beautiful lights truly meant.
This was the countdown. In a few days, Itomori Town would be destroyed.