[The author uses two different pronouns for ‘I’, watashi and ore, to indicate whether

Mitsuha or Taki, respectively, is narrating. Since there are no equivalent words in English, I will

use an italic I and a bold I

to indicate Mitsuha and Taki, respectively.]

A nostalgic voice and smell. A lovely light and warmth.

I am pressed right up against a very precious someone, with almost no gap between us.

Inseparably connected. Not a single fragment of anxiety or loneliness lingers in me, as if I were

a young infant again, simply drinking milk in the comfort of my mother’s breasts. A very sweet

feeling, the feeling of not yet knowing loss, fills my body.

Suddenly, my eyes open.

Ceiling.

Bedroom.

Morning.

Alone.

Tokyo.

-- I see.

It was a dream. I get up out of bed, and, in those mere two seconds, the warm feeling

that had enveloped my body already disappears. It leaves no trace, no lingering comfort. At the

suddenness of it all, leaving no time to think, tears begin to flow.

I wake up in the morning, and for some reason I am crying. This kind of thing sometimes

happens to me.

And I

can never remember what I

had been dreaming about. I ​stare at my right hand, the

hand which had just wiped my tears away. Only a small droplet still sits on my index finger. The

tears that dampened my eyes just moments ago have already dried up, along with my dream.

Once, in this hand…

Something very important…

-- I can’t remember.

Giving up, I get out of bed and head for the sink. As I ​wash my face, I ​feel like I

had once

been surprised at the warmth and flavor of this water. I ​look into the mirror.

An unsatisfied face stares back at me.

I do my hair as I gaze into the mirror, then pass my arms through the sleeves of a spring

suit.

I fasten my tie, which I ​have finally gotten used to knotting, then put on my suit.

I open the door of my apartment.

I ​close the door of my apartment. In front of my eyes…

The cityscape of Tokyo, which I have finally gotten used to seeing, spreads out in front of

me. Just like I used to naturally memo

rize the peaks of mountains in the distance, I can now

name a few of the skyscrapers before me.

I

pass through the crowded ticket gates of the station and go down the escalator.

I get on a commuter train. Leaning against the door, I watch the scenery as it flows by. In

every building, in every window, in every car, and on every pedestrian bridge, the city is

overflowing with people.

A faint, hazy white sky looms above. On a car carrying a hundred people, in a train

carrying a thousand people, in a city carrying a thousand trains, I

gaze.

And while gazing out at the city, like always,

I realize.

I am searching for someone, a single, specific person.

I realize.

An unfamiliar ringing.

That thought drifted through my still fast asleep head. An alarm clock? But I​’m still sleepy. Last night, I ​had become so absorbed in my drawing that I ​didn’t end up going to bed

until dawn.

“... kun… Taki-kun.”

Now someone was calling my name. A girl’s voice… a girl?

“Taki-kun. Taki-kun.”

The voice was filled with a sharp sense of urgency, as if its owner were on the verge of

crying. The voice quivered, like the lonely twinkling of a faraway star.

“You don’t… remember me?” the voice asked uncertainly.

I don’t know you.

Suddenly, the train stopped and the doors opened. Oh, that’s right, I​’m riding a train.The

moment I remembered that, I

realized I

was standing in a train car packed full of people. In front

of my eyes were another pair, a girl’s, open wide, staring straight back at me. As passengers

exited the train, her school uniform figure started to get pushed farther and farther away from

me.

“My name… is Mitsuha!” screamed the girl, then she undid the string tying up her hair

and held it out to me. Instinctively, I

stretched out my hand. The band was a vivid orange, like the slender rays of the evening sun shining into the dim train car. I

****** my body into the crowd and firmly

grasped it.

And then, I woke up.

The echoes of the girl’s voice still faintly lingered in my eardrum.

… name… Mitsuha?

An unfamiliar name, and an unfamiliar girl wearing an unfamiliar school uniform. She

seemed so desperate. I ​remember the look in her eyes right before the tears started to fall from

them. It was a serious, solemn expression, as if she gripped the very fate of the universe in her

delicate hands.

But, well, it was just a dream. A meaningless dream. I

already can’t even remember

clearly what her face looked like. The echoes in my ears have disappeared too.

But still.

Still, my heart is beating unnaturally fast. My chest feels strangely heavy. My body is

covered in sweat. To start off, I

took a deep breath.

“...?”

Did I ​catch a cold? Something feels wrong with my nose and throat. My windpipe is a

little narrower than usual. My chest feels strangely heavy. Like, physically heavy. I glanced

down at my body and saw my cleavage. My cleavage​.

“...?”

The morning sun reflected off those bulges, causing the smooth white skin to shine. In

between the two breasts, a deep shadow had gathered, like a blue lake in the valley between

two mountains.

Well, I

guess I​’ll give them a feel, I

thought suddenly. The idea sprung up so naturally

and automatically, like how an apple falls to the ground under the force of gravity.

……

…

…?

…!

I was impressed. Oooh, I

thought. What is this? Taking it very seriously, I

continued to

fondle them. It was… how to put it… girls’ bodies are amazing…

“... onee-chan? (Onee-chan means an older sister with closeness and affection) What are you doing?”

Quickly turning towards the direction of the voice, I

saw a small girl standing next to the

opened sliding door. While still moving my hands about, I

offered my honest thoughts.

“Oh, you know, I

was just thinking how real this feels… eh?”

I looked at the girl again: a cheeky looking kid of about ten years old with twintails and

slanted eyes.

“... onee-chan?” I

asked the child, pointing to myself. That means… this girl is my little

sister?

“What are you doing? Get up! Hurry, it’s time to eat!” the girl said with a thoroughly

disgusted expression, then slammed the door shut.

While thinking she seemed like quite a violent child, I

got up out of the futon. Now that

the girl mentions breakfast, I

realize I​’m hungry. Suddenly, I

spotted a dresser in the corner of my eye. After walking a few steps on the tatami (In Japan 'Tatami' is similar to floor mat), I

stood in front of the mirror. I slipped the loose pajamas off my shoulders, leaving me *****, and began to stare intently at the body reflected in the mirror.

Long black hair like a current of water, with strands sticking up in various places from the

previous night’s sleep. On a small round face, large curious eyes and lips that looked somewhat cheerful. A thin neck and deep gaps above the collarbones. A healthy bulge at the chest. The

gentle curves of the stomach and hips, stretching down from below the shadow of the faintly

protruding ribcage.

I had never seen it in person before, but it was unmistakably a woman’s body.

A woman’s?

I am… a woman?

All of a sudden, the hazy drowsiness that had enveloped my body since waking up lifted

completely. In an instant, my head became clear, and, in the next, fell into confusion.

And then, not able to bear it any longer, I screamed.

Onee-chan, you’re late!”

As I slid open the door and entered the living room, Yotsuha confronted me with that aggressive tone of hers.

“I’ll make breakfast tomorrow!” I said in place of an apology.

This child has a bad habit of thinking she’s more reliable and grown up than her big sister, despite the fact that not even all of her baby teeth have fallen out yet. Must not show any

weakness by apologizing! I thought as I opened the rice cooker and piled the sparkly fresh

grains into my bowl. Ah, did I get too much? Meh, whatever.

"Itadakimaasu."

After pouring plenty of sauce on my fried egg, I stuffed a bite of it into my mouth along with some rice. Aaah, delicious. Perhaps this is true happiness… hm? I feel a pair of eyes watching me.

“You’re normal today, huh?”

“Eh?”

I looked over and noticed that Grandma was staring at me chewing my rice.

“Yesterday was really bad!” Yotsuha, also staring at me, said with a smile. “Suddenly screaming and stuff…”

Screaming? Grandma continued to stare as if she were carefully inspecting an unknown suspicious object, and Yotsuha continued to make fun of me with that grin.

“Huh? What, what? What is it!?”

What’s going on… both of them acting creepy and all--

Ping pong pang pooong.

The speaker by the door rang with a sudden, almost violently loud burst of volume.

The voice belonged to my best friend Saya-chin’s older sister, who works in the community life division at the town hall. Here in the sleepy little village of Itomori, population

about 1500, most people are either acquaintances or at least acquaintances of acquaintances.

Speakers like these are set up outside throughout the town as well, so the broadcast

echoes off the nearby mountains, creating a sort of round as the sounds all pile on top of each

other. Twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, without fail, this broadcast on

the wireless disaster warning system can be heard in every home and every street of town,

faithfully announcing things like the schedule for sports day, or who’s on snow shoveling duty, or

who was born yesterday and whose funeral is today.

The speaker by the door abruptly fell silent. Since she couldn’t reach the speaker itself, Grandma, over eighty years old and always wearing an old fashioned kimono, had simply

unplugged it in a silent display of anger. Slightly impressed, I followed up by grabbing the

remote and turning on the TV. A smiling NHK anchor started talking in place of Saya-chin’s

sister.

“In just one month, a comet which only visits once every 1200 years will at long last draw close to Earth. It will be visible to the ***** eye for a period of a few days. Research agencies

around the world, including JAXA, are busy preparing to observe this celestial show of the

century.”

Displayed on the screen were the words ‘Tiamat’s Comet: Observable with the ***** Eye in One Month’ and a blurry picture of a comet. Eventually our conversation stopped, leaving

only the sound of us three eating, a quiet rustling like whispers sneakily being exchanged during

class, mixed with the NHK broadcast.

“... get over it and make up already, okay?” Yotsuha ordered suddenly.

“This is a grown up problem!” I shot back sharply. That’s right, this is an adult problem. Mayoral election? Don’t give me that crap. Pii-hyororo. Somewhere off in the distance, a black kite chirped lazily.

Ittekimaasu. Yotsuha and I synchronized our voices, saying goodbye to Grandma before

we stepped out of the foyer.