"Mitsuha—Mitsuha!"
A familiar voice rang from the doorway. Still sitting on her bed, Mitsuha didn't move even after Yotsuha had left the room. For some reason, she felt strangely melancholic. Quietly, she looked toward the door.
Slide—
The sliding door opened, revealing a girl with twin braids—an all-too-familiar figure. Mitsuha's mood lifted just slightly as she looked up at her childhood friend, then sighed.
"Oh, it's Sayaka... Did you come find me for something?"
"I heard your brother came back. But I didn't see him just now—he's not home?"
"So you came all the way here just for that?"
Sayaka quickly realized she'd made her intentions too obvious. Embarrassed, she smiled awkwardly.
"Not just for that! It's been so long since the start of break, and I haven't seen you at all. I was wondering what you've been up to... And yeah, I haven't seen Haruto-nii in ages either, so I figured I'd stop by."
They'd known each other since elementary school—Mitsuha knew Sayaka way too well to not read between the lines.
Sayaka wasn't the only girl in Itomori who had a thing for Haruto. Mitsuha had long stopped caring about that kind of thing.
"He's not home?"
"I didn't see Haruto-nii. Well, I heard that Haruto-nii brought back two girls. They seem to be girls from Tokyo?"
"Oh, you didn't know yet?"
"What?"
"One of the two girls he brought with is his girlfriend. I think he told you about this when I came back to Itomori from Tokyo, right?"
Watching the faint hope vanish from Sayaka's face actually made Mitsuha feel a little better. Still seated on the bed, she undid the buttons of her pajamas, grabbed a fresh change of clothes, and slipped into them. Then she got up and put on her slippers.
Walking over to Sayaka, she gently patted her on the shoulder.
"Just give up. Their parents have already met. I think marriage has even come up. Once they're of age, they'll probably just get married and settle in Tokyo."
"I... I mean, it's not like I ever—"
Seeing Sayaka flounder with a flush of embarrassment, Mitsuha just turned toward the door.
"I'm gonna use the bathroom real quick. Be right back."
"...Okay."
Left alone in the room, Sayaka stood silently.
After using the bathroom, Mitsuha stopped by the living room and found Yotsuha snacking while watching TV. But Haruto was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's that guy?"
"Onii-chan? He left earlier with those two sisters while you were still sleeping. Said they were heading to Nagoya."
"Wait—Nagoya?! He never said anything about that!"
The thought of Haruto ditching her and Yotsuha to take two girls on a trip made Mitsuha bubble with irritation. But there was nothing she could do. After the frustration came a deep, empty sigh. She turned and went back to her room.
"What about Teshigawara?"
"Teshigawara? Probably holed up at home reading those weird magazines of his—or helping his dad on-site at the construction company."
Teshigawara was another classmate of theirs. The three of them had been in the same class for years. Since Sayaka lived close to him, they often went to school together and walked home in the same group.
"Must be rough, being the heir to a construction firm. Well, if he's busy, guess it's just the two of us today. Got any plans? Anything fun?"
"I was hoping you'd have something. Where's Haruto-nii, though?"
"Don't even bring up that traitor. He snuck out while I was asleep and went to Nagoya with his two girlfriends."
"Two girlfriends?!"
Sayaka covered her mouth in shock, staring wide-eyed at Mitsuha in disbelief.
"No, no—just one girlfriend. The other girl's her friend, that's all."
"Oh... I see."
Sayaka visibly relaxed after the clarification, though there was still a hint of unease in her eyes. Just how close must you be to tag along to your friend's boyfriend's hometown?
But she kept her doubts to herself and didn't say anything further.
"Ugh, it's so boring around here. Let's go buy some ice cream."
"Ice cream?"
Sayaka didn't have anything better to suggest anyway. If Mitsuha wanted to buy ice cream, then sure.
"Yotsuha—wanna come too?"
"Hmm... Okay."
TV had gotten dull for Yotsuha. She stood, put down her snacks, washed her hands, and joined the other two.
"So hot... I wonder what they're even doing in Nagoya. Seriously."
"Oh, and they're not coming back tonight. I overheard they'll be staying over. Might only return tomorrow afternoon."
"Ugh! Seriously?!"
Hearing that from Yotsuha only made Mitsuha burn even more with frustration. She bit her lip, angry and sulky, and stormed off ahead. Sayaka looked after her with a sigh but didn't try to catch up. Instead, she walked alongside Yotsuha at a slower pace, letting the fuming Mitsuha take the lead.
Back in Nagoya, the three travelers had settled into a restaurant after arriving. After ordering, Setsuna glanced at Haruto, a bit concerned.
"Are you sure it's okay, leaving Mitsuha and Yotsuha behind?"
"It's fine. Mitsuha might grumble a bit at first, but if we brought them along, I'd have to juggle five people. It'd just get chaotic. This way's simpler."
"We're not going back tonight?"
Sekai, who had overheard the conversation between Haruto and Futaba back at the house, finally spoke up. She had wanted to ask earlier but had held her tongue.
"Nope. Neither of you have really been to Nagoya, right? One day isn't enough to see it all. Let's take our time and head back tomorrow."
Neither of the girls mentioned the topic of sleeping arrangements—though the question hung unspoken in the air. Sekai glanced sideways at Setsuna, who just so happened to glance back at her.
Their eyes met for a moment—then quickly looked away. No words were needed. They already understood what the other was thinking.
They sat in silence, waiting for the food to arrive.
Though Itomori was close to Nagoya, Haruto's own experiences there were surprisingly limited. Even if he caught the first morning bus, it took three to four hours to reach the city. And given his age, he was never allowed to stay overnight. He'd get a couple hours to look around, then have to rush back before dark.
Most of the time, he'd just stop by a bookstore, pick out a few books he liked, and then be on the return bus by mid afternoon.
"Somehow, coming to Nagoya always made me anxious. Even without anything urgent going on, I'd be watching the clock, timing the train and bus connections to make sure I got home before dark."
The streets were bustling. For Setsuna and Sekai, the local accents were noticeably different—slurred, oddly toned, and difficult to catch. They could only understand about half of what was said. The rest sounded like muffled noise.
Even though the words were technically clear, their meaning was lost.
"The dialects are different here than in Kanto. Even though Itomori's near Nagoya, they still have their own way of speaking."
"Really?"
Back at the Miyamizu home, everyone spoke pretty standard Japanese—except for Grandmother Hitoha, whose dialect was quite strong. Futaba, Mitsuha, and Yotsuha all spoke clearly enough that it was easy to forget this wasn't Kanto.
"It's different."
Haruto didn't elaborate on the details.
Looking around, then back at Haruto, both girls slowly began to understand.
Nagoya was one of Japan's three major metropolitan areas, its urban sprawl covering Aichi, Gifu, and Mie prefectures. With nearly twenty million people, it should've felt cosmopolitan.
But for a boy from a forgotten village in the mountains like Haruto, even Nagoya had always felt distant—both geographically and emotionally.
It felt more like the populations of the three prefectures were constantly flowing into Nagoya, rather than each developing in their own right. And that constant migration only seemed to stall growth elsewhere.
The glittering, bustling city of Nagoya—so different from the fading town of Itomori where Haruto lived.
He recalled the number of students in his middle school days. At this rate, in another decade or so, Itomori Middle School might only have single-digit enrollment.
A convenient life. Abundant educational resources. Everyone is abandoning their land, surging toward the big cities like waves. Eventually, won't every major city become like Tokyo—overwhelmingly competitive and pressure-filled, yet somehow people will still find it sweet, even addicting?
Haruto thought about it. Wasn't he the same? Planning to settle in Tokyo someday.
"I can survive in Tokyo… But what about my children? How will they live in this crowed city?"
Even for boys, if things got bad, they could try to rely on physical labor jobs. But in this society, girls had it far harder. Many women struggled to be treated fairly in the workplace. Some university graduates—even single mothers—were forced to take on side jobs just to make ends meet and care for their children.
Yoko had a family-owned restaurant and a stable income. Mai was brilliant and held a solid job. But many women in society… they strayed from the path as early as middle or high school.
No… Even being a single mother is a social stigma. A woman raising a child alone is often seen as a burden by companies. Naturally, they'd be rejected. In that environment, struggling to survive is the norm.
As his thoughts spiraled further—into wondering whether his future children might one day lose their way, or suffer enough to be driven to self-destruction by poverty and despair—he suddenly felt a soft grip tighten around his arm.
He looked down. Setsuna was clinging to him, her eyes filled with quiet anticipation.
"Haruto… are you thinking about the future?"
His other hand, held by Sekai, was suddenly gripped a little tighter as well. She had also picked up on the topic and showed concern in her own subtle way.
Meeting Setsuna's clear, sincere gaze, Haruto gave a slight nod.
"Yeah… I've been thinking a lot about the future. But maybe I'm just overthinking it. I can't even handle the present yet—how am I supposed to deal with the future?"
Having heard him mention "children," Setsuna found herself feeling complicated. She bit her lip. Was Haruto hinting that he wanted to have a child?
They'd talked about this before. Back then, both Mai her mother and Haruto himself had told her to be careful and wait until she graduated high school before thinking about things like that.
But now he was bringing it up again. Had something changed?
Setsuna wavered, her thoughts tangled with uncertainty. Should I…?
Meanwhile, Sekai—still holding his hand—also found herself in a complicated mood. Her thoughts turned to her own mother, Saionji Yoko, and the quiet conversations they'd shared about the future. She began to hesitate as well.
"..."
On the street, passersby noticed the unusual sight: a boy being clung to by one girl and holding hands with another. They couldn't help but silently sigh to themselves.
Ah… The decay of public morals. What's become of this generation?
~~~~~~~~~~
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