“We’ll never get the people around here to move without committing a crime,” I tell her coolly, sweeping away the chocolate drops I’d scattered over the map. That’s right. As long as it gets the people inside this circle to leave, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a crime or not.

“Y’know, Mitsuha, it’s like you’re a different person.”

I grin and take a big bite of melon bread. When I’m in this body, I unconsciously start talking a bit like a girl, but I’ve completely abandoned trying to act like Mitsuha. As long as these guys are still safe when everything’s over, nothing else matters. As long as we’re all alive, things will work out.

“…So. You’re the one in charge of the broadcast, Saya,” I tell her cheerfully.

“Why?!”

“Well, you’re in the broadcasting club, right?”

“Plus, your big sis is in charge of the Town Hall broadcast. Get her to tell you the wireless frequency,” says Teshigawara.

“Huh? I can’t just…”

Ignoring Saya’s protest, Teshigawara happily points to himself. “I’m the explosives guy!”

“And I’m going to go talk to the mayor,” I say, pointing to myself.

“Huh?!” Saya is speechless, and Teshigawara picks up the explanation.

“We can probably set up the evacuation on our own with the plan we just talked about. But if the town hall and firefighters don’t come out at the end, there’s no way we’ll get everybody in all one hundred eighty-eight families to move, y’know?”

“That’s why we need to persuade the mayor,” I tell her. “I’m his daughter. If I can explain it to him rationally, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

Teshigawara folds his arms and nods, patting himself on the back. “It’s a perfect strategy!” That’s exactly how I feel. True, our methods are a bit rough, but I don’t think there’s any other way to do it.

“Haaaaaah…” Saya watches us with her mouth agape, though I can’t tell whether she’s amazed or appalled. “Well, I’m impressed you thought it through that far, but… This is all just in case something happens, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

I hadn’t expected that question this late in the game, and I’m at a loss for words.

“Uh… not exactly…”

If Saya doesn’t get on board, this plan won’t work. I don’t know what to tell her, and I search for something to say.

“That ain’t necessarily so!” Abruptly, Teshigawara jumps in, thrusting out the screen on his phone. “Do you know how Itomori Lake got made?”

Saya and I squint at the screen. It’s a site that looks like the town’s home page, with a header that says The Origins of Itomori Lake. Then the words A meteoric lake from twelve hundred years ago, and Incredibly rare for Japan.

“It’s a meteoric lake! This place already had at least one meteorite strike!”

As Teshigawara says this, a triumphant look on his face, something clicks in my mind. I start speaking before I even know what it is. “That’s right—he’s right… That’s why!”

That’s why there was a picture of the comet in a place like that, I realize. Comet Tiamat has a twelve-hundred-year cycle. Itomori Lake is a twelve-hundred-year-old meteoric lake. The meteorite strikes every twelve hundred years, when the comet passes. A presaged disaster. That means it should be avoidable. That picture was both a message and a warning.