Mitsuha, don’t! I scream.

From behind the mirror. In the peal of the wind chimes. As the wind that stirs her hair.

Mitsuha, no, you can’t go there!

Run! Get out of town before the comet falls!

But my voice doesn’t reach her. She doesn’t notice me.

On the night of the festival, Mitsuha and her friends look up at the comet, now closer than the moon.

The comet suddenly splits, and its shards shine, becoming countless shooting stars. One massive fragment of rock becomes a meteor and begins to fall.

Even then, gazing at it, her only thought is, It’s beautiful.

Mitsuha, run!

I scream at the top of my lungs.

Mitsuha, run, please run! Mitsuha, Mitsuha, Mitsuha!

And the star falls.

My eyes open.

In that instant, I know for sure.

I bolt upright, looking down at my body. Slim fingers. Familiar pajamas. The swell of breasts.

“It’s Mitsuha…”

The words slip out. This voice, too. This narrow throat. Her blood, her flesh, her bones, her skin. Everything about Mitsuha is warm and right here.

“…She’s alive…!”

I wrap my arms around my body, hugging myself. Tears spill over. Plump teardrops fall relentlessly from Mitsuha’s eyes, as though a faucet has broken. Their heat brings its own joy, and I cry harder and harder. Inside my ribs, my heart leaps. I bend my knees, pressing my cheeks against the smooth kneecaps. I curl up as small as I can, wanting to hug her entire body.

Mitsuha.

Mitsuha, Mitsuha.

It’s a miracle—one that might have been denied me forever, one that slipped through every possibility to be here.

“Sis, what’re you doin’?”

I raise my head at the sound of the voice. Yotsuha’s standing there in the open doorway.

“Oh… Little sister…,” I mutter, sobs strangling my words. Yotsuha’s still alive, too. She’s staring, dazed, at her older sister, who’s all tear-stained and snotty and feeling herself up.

“Yotsuhaaaaa!”

I rush at her, driven by an urge to scoop her up. “Yeep!” she gasps, slamming the sliding door in my face.

“Gran! Hey, Gran!” she yells, and I hear footsteps running down the stairs. “Sis finally cracked! She’s completely busted!”

Her voice echoes from downstairs as she runs wailing to her grandma.

…What a rude little girl. And after I crossed space and time to save this town!

The NHK lady is yapping cheerfully. I’ve just changed into my school uniform and come downstairs. It’s been a while since my skirt-clad lower body felt this vulnerable, and in order to shake the sensation, I’m standing tall and tough, glaring at the TV.

“Comet Tiamat has now been visible to the naked eye for about a week. It will be closest to Earth at approximately seven forty this evening, which is when it’s expected to be brightest as well. The astronomy spectacular that only comes once every twelve centuries has reached its climax, and various festivities will be held all around the…”