Meanwhile, far from school, Natori Sayaka and Teshigawara Katsuhiko were struggling up the winding mountain road.
"Hey, Teshigawara, don't you think Mitsuha's been acting a little weird today?"
At their small-town public high school, the low university acceptance rate meant an easygoing and carefree student life.
Sayaka, empty-handed and carrying no books, walked with her hands clasped behind her back, kicking at a small rock as she spoke.
"Weird? More like possessed! Not just today—she was acting strange the other day, too. You remember when she knocked over Yamaaka Shunya?" Teshigawara Katsuhiko said as he pushed his bicycle alongside her.
"Exactly! And for the past two days, Mitsuha has just been throwing her hair into a simple ponytail with a hair tie. That's super suspicious! She never does that." Sayaka nodded vigorously, accidentally kicking the rock too hard and sending it flying over the roadside railing.
For those who knew Mitsuha well, her hairstyle was the biggest giveaway that something was off.
The three of them had been friends since elementary school, and the only time Mitsuha ever tied her hair so casually was right after swimming.
On all other days, including holidays, she meticulously styled it.
Her braiding techniques were so intricate that even Sayaka, as a fellow girl, felt overwhelmed.
There was a time when she had envied Mitsuha's beautiful hairstyles and wanted to learn, but she gave up almost immediately after realizing how complicated it was.
"Maybe she just overslept these past few days? It must take a lot of time to style her hair like that," Teshigawara suggested.
"No way! If that were the case, Mitsuha would rather skip school than go out with messy hair." Sayaka dismissed the idea without hesitation.
"…Good point."
The topic of Mitsuha's hair seemed oddly heavy. A brief silence fell between them.
In the past, they had speculated that Mitsuha's hair was a sort of ritual to keep herself composed.
With a father who was the town's mayor and the responsibility of inheriting an ancient shrine, she was constantly under the watchful eyes of the townspeople.
If she let her guard down even slightly, someone would notice immediately.
"Aunt Futaba taught her how to braid it," Sayaka said quietly.
"Yeah…" Teshigawara lifted his gaze to the distant edge of Itomori. The forest had already sunk into darkness, and Mars shimmered in the mountain sky.
"Mitsuha... she probably doesn't want to disappoint her mother," Sayaka added quietly
If her recent strange behavior was her way of coping with stress, they were fully on board with supporting her—no questions asked.
If she wanted to pick a fight, they'd be right there with her.
"Yukino-sensei came from Tokyo. I hope she can help Mitsuha," Sayaka murmured.
"Yeah, I hope so too."
That Evening: The Yamaaka Household
Yamaaka Shunya knelt, sitting upright as he faced his father's interrogation.
"So, you didn't end up having a conflict with Miss Mitsuha, did you?" his father asked.
"No, I didn't. I'm sorry, Father. I've embarrassed you!" Yamaaka Shunya pressed his forehead to the ground in apology.
"No, you did well," Yamaaka Ikki said, reaching out to help his son up and patting him on the shoulder.
"Huh?" Yamaaka Shunya was confused.
"That's the Miyamizu family we're talking about," an old man sitting next to them said.
It was Yamaaka Kento, Ikki's father.
"Right. She's the eldest daughter of the Miyamizu family," Yamaaka Ikki added, agreeing with his father.
"The eldest daughter? But isn't that just a nickname people use to mock her?" Yamaaka Shunya asked, puzzled.
"Heh, you young people have no interest in the past. You've never met Futaba-san, have you? Otherwise, you will understand why the Miyamizu family's daughter is always called 'Miss.'" Yamaaka Kento's eyes, clouded with age, appeared even more distant under the yellow light of the lamp.
"Futaba-san? You mean Mitsuha's mother?" Yamaaka Shunya knew this much at least.
"Yeah," Yamaaka Ikki agreed, looking wistfully at his father.
Before Yamaaka Shunya could ask more questions, the old man began telling stories from the past.
"Our town, Itomori, has been filled with believers of the Miyamizu Shrine for generations."
"Just like how your generation doesn't care for traditional religion anymore, we, too, were shaken by the influence of new culture. But when the Miyamizu Shrine's priests changed, even the most skeptical became devout."
Yamaaka Kento's voice was thick with nostalgia, but Yamaaka Shunya listened intently.
Even his father, who knew these stories by heart, listened with rapt attention.
"I only saw Kotono-san, the former priestess, during festivals when I was a kid. But I was particularly close with Ichika-san; after all, we were classmates."
"Back when the new culture started to challenge old traditions, it was Ichika who became the priestess."
"You probably don't know this, but even before the townspeople had fully embraced their faith, they started becoming more devout."
"I had just come back from the city with all my head filled with new ideas, but I wasn't impressed by the Miyamizu Shrine, especially with a classmate as the priestess."
"But then, Futaba-san appeared, and everything changed. Before she arrived, the older folks might have had altars in their homes, but they attended the festivals more out of habit than true devotion."
"But every time I saw Futaba-san, I felt like believing in the gods was the right thing to do. There was something about her... like she was touched by a divine spirit."
"Yeah, I was also classmates with Futaba-san. There was this indescribable feeling about her, like she emitted a soft white glow. She was like a deity walking among us."
Yamaaka Ikki continued his father's tale.
"You don't believe it, do you? But it wasn't just the Yamaaka family."
"Anyone in Itomori who met Futaba-san became deeply devoted to the Miyamizu Shrine. Do you think everyone's just a fool?" Yamaaka Ikki's tone became slightly more stern.
"No, it's not that, but…" Yamaaka Shunya trailed off.
It suddenly dawned on him:
The people in town's devotion to the Miyamizu Shrine was more than just psychological comfort. As he reflected on everything, a chill ran down his spine.
"No matter what problem the townspeople had, they'd go to Futaba-san, and she'd solve it. No matter what the issue was!"
"Whether it was farming problems, illnesses, or even predicting changes in the weather, she was always spot on. There was no explanation—only miracles," Yamaaka Kento continued, his voice filled with longing.
Although it was strange for an elderly man to reminisce about a young woman who had passed away, Yamaaka Shunya understood that this wasn't some romantic longing—it was the way a devotee speaks of a deity.
At that moment, Yamaaka Shunya felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead.
He had never known that his grandfather, who had lived under the same roof for years, was such a fanatical believer.
"Yeah, Futaba-san seemed to carry a book with her—like it contained all the answers to the questions of the world."
"She just had to consult it to give the right answer," Yamaaka Ikki added, picking up where his father left off.
Yamaaka Shunya instinctively wanted to argue, to bring up the internet, smartphones, and Google.
After all, with a phone in hand, he could look up anything and everything. But seeing the fervent believers in his father and grandfather, he kept silent.
"I know what you're thinking. The internet, smartphones, Google probably have all of answer." Yamaaka Ikki said, as though he could read his son's mind.
Seeing his usually reserved father suddenly become so sharp, Yamaaka Shunya was startled.
"When we were young, we didn't have the convenient internet we have now. Besides, there are many things that can't be found in any books or article," said his father, Yamaaka Ichiki.
"Back in high school, I actually asked Futaba-san about a relationship problem."
At this point, Yamaaka Ichiki fell silent, his mind wandering back to the scene that played vividly in his mind.
It was a sunny afternoon, and Miss Futaba was sitting at the last desk by the window in the classroom, with a line of students waiting to ask her questions.
Some students asked about family matters—like how to revive a lethargic cow they were raising.
Others asked whether they should go to Hospital A or B for joint pain. But the most frequent questions were the typical teenage dilemmas about relationships.
They weren't like those elderly folks who would wait until the weekend to properly visit the Miyamizu Shrine for a full ritual before respectfully asking the shrine maidens their questions.
For these students, Futaba could answer any question immediately, even those about places she'd never been to before.
It was as if they were receiving divine revelations.
When it was his turn, Yamaaka Ichiki had a typical boy's dilemma: relationship issues.
There were so many people around, he was too embarrassed to speak up.
The students behind him grew impatient and started urging him, disregarding Miss Futaba's usually solemn presence.
Unable to speak, he was about to walk away with a defeated expression when Miss Futaba smiled at him, her beautiful face glowing with a holy radiance.
She pointed at a girl walking past the classroom door and said to him, "Ichiki, your son should be named Shunya, and he will grow up to be a healthy boy"
Yamaaka Shunya was still caught up in the magical story his father was telling about Miss Futaba when he heard that statement.
He was immediately struck with shock.
"You must have guessed it. The girl Futaba-san pointed to was your mother. At that time, we didn't know each other, and I only learned her name later."
"But we had no real connection back then. Over time, I forgot about this incident. Then, we got married, had you, and named you Shunya." Yamaaka Ichiki paused, looking at his son with pride.
"Futaba-san words have never been wrong!"
"So, does that mean... Miyamizu Mitsuha's change... is because of that?" Yamaaka Shunya asked cautiously.
"Yes," replied his father. "The deity that the Miyamizu family has served for generations is now using her body to walk among us in Itomori."
"She will continue to protect Itomori, just as she has done for countless years."
Yamaaka Shunya murmured to himself, trying to process this new information.
So, Miyamizu Mitsuha's drastic changes made sense now.
Her sudden skill in painting?
If she's a god, then there was nothing strange about it. After all, she was a god.
Everything from the day's events, including the lingering pain in his backside, now felt like a badge of honor.
That evening, in the open space in Itomori, a group of elderly people, who should have been asleep, gathered to discuss a serious matter.
After a tense discussion and verification through their own channels, they concluded that the Miyamizu family's shrine maiden seemed to have returned.
It wasn't the usual Mitsuha, who meticulously styled her hair. Instead, it was another Mitsuha—one with a ponytail.
In Tokyo, Higashi Junior High School:
When Miyamizu Mitsuha arrived at school, the first class had already ended.
Sitting at her desk, her body felt unusually light, not the least bit fatigued despite her intense run earlier.
Although she had already experienced this before, she was still amazed at her body's incredible strength.
How did this guy manage to do so well in his studies while still having so much time to train his body?
Inheriting the body but not the brains, Miyamizu Mitsuha was puzzled.
She had no idea how the genius world worked.
"Hojou, where were you this morning?" Kisaki Tetta asked, handing her an apple.
Thanks to some loudmouth, everyone knew that the president of the "Rampaging Angel" gang had been struggling with his finances recently, so every chance he got, Kisaki would sneak him food.
A chatroom had even been set up so that whenever the boss had a hunger strike, Kisaki would share it, and those members from wealthy families would eagerly fight over the chance to treat him.
This wasn't about charity. Everyone was happy to help out their young boss.
Even the time when Kisaki almost ended up staying in an Italian restaurant to work off a bill, it was actually one of their subordinates trying to cover the costs—but Kyousuke had refused.
Mitsuha casually took the apple, wiped it on her sleeve, and took a big bite, the juice splattering on her face.
'Ah, so refreshing!'
She had never eaten an apple like this before.
From the moment she bit into it, she couldn't help but moan inwardly.
Here, in Tokyo, using Kyousuke's body, she could completely let go of herself.
Unlike in Itomori, where every move was under intense scrutiny, in Tokyo, everything felt free.
She had come to realize that Kyousuke's life was exactly the life she had always dreamed of.
A vibrant city like Tokyo, cool motorcycles, top grades at an elite school, generous friends, and countless subordinates—no annoying father, no responsibilities to inherit, no one watching her every move.
Oh, sure, there were still plenty of people watching her, but they were all her loyal subordinates.
Whatever she said or did, they all supported her.
It was perfect!
'Gods, if possible, please let me stay in Hojou Kyousuke's body forever.'
Miyamizu Mitsuha chewed on her apple, lost in her thoughts.
After swallowing the juicy flesh, she finally answered Kisaki's question.
"I overslept."
"Eh?" Kisaki stared at her in disbelief.
His usually punctual boss had overslept?
In the past, even when he was tired, Kyousuke would just come to class and sleep on the desk.
"What? Is it wrong to sleep in?" Mitsuha replied with an exaggerated "big boss face."
"Well, it's not that... but we have our first quiz this Wednesday. Aren't you going to study?" Kisaki asked, puzzled.
Usually, when Kyousuke was feeling pressured, he would play the bossy act to save face, but today felt different.
And he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about Hojou Kyousuke today.
Not only was his accent a bit strange, but his movements also seemed more feminine.
Just now, when he had seen Kyousuke running toward the classroom, the way he was running was more feminine...