Breakfast concluded, Hozuki Nozomi wiped his mouth and announced, "I'm done eating! Grandma, we're heading out!"
Miyamizu Yotsuha, the energetic little loli, fell into step beside him as they descended the shrine's long staircase. At the familiar fork in the road, she waved goodbye and scampered off toward Itomori Elementary, leaving him to continue alone.
Hozuki Nozomi pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and flipped through it carefully. Miyamizu Mitsuha, lacking a phone, couldn't communicate remotely like modern people. Instead, she'd taken to recording her daily schedule and important notes in this notebook—presumably to prevent him from messing things up while inhabiting her body.
He appreciated the sentiment, even if it was a bit quaint.
According to today's entry, Mitsuha had class duties in the afternoon—cleaning rotation. Japanese schools typically paired one boy with one girl for such tasks, making the work lighter through collaboration. More concerning was the second item: after school, she'd arranged with Natori Sayaka and Teshigawara Katsuhiko to explore a haunted house together.
Hozuki Nozomi blinked. "Haunted house? Since when does Itomori Town have a haunted house?"
The phrasing suggested somewhere genuinely creepy—a place where unusual events had occurred. Were Mitsuha and her friends planning to court danger? Could this be what the shrine's deity had been trying to warn him about? Perhaps if he hadn't swapped bodies today, Mitsuha and her companions would have walked into real peril.
He flipped to the next page, where Mitsuha had written the full story in her neat handwriting.
Yesterday, while walking home, the three of them had encountered a strange little girl named Meow-meow. The child told them her mother was trapped inside "that house"—the one everyone avoided. She begged them for help.
Teshigawara, who knew every child in their small town, had never seen this girl before. Itomori wasn't large; unfamiliar faces stood out. And if her mother was truly trapped in an abandoned house... was the mother even human anymore?
Sensibly, the trio had decided to wait for the "divine envoy" to return before making any moves.
Hozuki Nozomi sighed. Mitsuha was really putting him on the spot. Fortunately, he had the power to deal with malevolent spirits—otherwise, this could get messy.
The situation felt wrong. A mysterious child appearing from nowhere, a trapped mother, an abandoned house... none of it added up to anything good.
"Good morning, Mitsuha!"
The familiar sound of bicycle wheels and cheerful voices announced the arrival of his inseparable companions. Natori Sayaka bounced off the back seat while Teshigawara Katsuhiko steadied the bike.
Sayaka studied him carefully, noting the hairstyle. "Mitsuha's look... divine envoy?"
Hozuki Nozomi smiled gently. "It's me."
Sayaka's face lit up. "That's great! Divine envoy, you have to hear about what happened yesterday!"
She launched into an excited, detailed account of the mysterious little girl and the haunted house. Hozuki Nozomi listened patiently, nodding at appropriate intervals.
"I understand the situation," he said when she finished. "We'll investigate tonight."
Teshigawara's expression shifted to something pained. "Why tonight? In every horror movie ever made, going at night is when things go horribly wrong!"
Hozuki Nozomi rolled Mitsuha's eyes at him. "Ghosts and such generally can't manifest during daylight. Night is our only option." He smiled confidently. "Think of it as an exorcism mission. With me along, what do you have to fear?"
His reassurance settled the matter. They would investigate tonight. For now, school awaited.
As Hozuki Nozomi walked through Itomori Town, he observed its unique geography. From above, the town appeared built around a circular depression—an ancient meteor crater. Itomori had been struck before, in ages past. Yet somehow, people had always chosen to rebuild here.
Perhaps the town existed in a cycle of destruction and rebirth, sustained by divine power. But divine power eventually waned. When people stopped believing, gods faded. And without that protection, destruction would claim everything permanently.
Lost in these thoughts, he soon arrived at school.
The moment he entered the classroom, greetings erupted from all directions.
"Yo, Miyamizu! Good morning!"
"Hey, looking at your hairstyle today—basketball later?"
"Miyamizu, are you interested in watching a friendship between boys?"
Hozuki Nozomi blinked at that last one. Something strange had definitely infiltrated the greeting committee.
He offered his standard awkward-but-polite smile and navigated through the well-wishers to his seat.
Then he felt it—a gaze heavy with hostility.
He turned.
Tano Ichiro sat several rows away, his expression twisted with barely contained animosity. The blond boy whose girlfriend he'd inadvertently cost.
Hozuki Nozomi's mind flickered back to his investigation results. In the original timeline, when the comet struck, only Tano Ichiro's family had survived. Everyone else—including the Miyamizus—had perished.
What role had Tano played in that tragedy? What secrets did his family hold?
Morning classes passed quickly. When lunch arrived, Yamauchi Mami approached his desk with obvious enthusiasm, several of her friends trailing behind.
"Miyamizu! Want to eat lunch together today?" She smiled warmly. "I've always wondered what a shrine maiden's meals are like!"
Hozuki Nozomi returned the smile easily. Extending goodwill cost nothing, and Mitsuha would benefit from these repaired relationships.
"Of course, Yamauchi. And Gouta, thank you for the invitation." He opened his bento box. "Though I should warn you—shrine food isn't particularly special. It's just ordinary home cooking."
As he chatted amiably with the girls, a dark presence lingered at the edge of his awareness.
Tano Ichiro watched the scene with barely concealed rage. His fists clenched under his desk, nails digging into palms.
Miyamizu... he'd make her pay for this humiliation. And Yamauchi Mami—dumping him like that, then cozying up to his enemy—she'd regret it too.
A faint, ugly aura flickered around Tano as his resentment festered.
Hozuki Nozomi glanced toward him, frowning slightly. Was that... something? A disgusting presence, barely perceptible but undeniably there.
Perhaps Tano Ichiro was more than just an envious classmate. Perhaps the destruction of Itomori Town involved forces darker than a simple comet.