Thinking back, why did he come to Yomiyama in the first place?
Because he had swapped bodies with Kaguya, and after suspecting it was related to a meteor fragment, he asked his father. His father hadn't explained much but told him to visit Yomiyama himself.
That led to this month-long, wondrous journey.
Looking back now, it seemed his father must have remembered meeting him in his youth, and so when he saw the signs, he sent him straight to Yomiyama.
Almost as if it had been destined.
Early in the morning, Rinji woke up in his inn room. After washing up, he dialed his father's number.
His father was often in places where even satellite phones couldn't reach, so whether he answered was a matter of luck.
Ring—
"Hello?"
"What is it, son~"
"Judging from the fact you picked up, you're still on Earth," Rinji sighed. "The Yomiyama matter… it's been settled."
"Oh ho, so you've come back."
"So you really did know I'd traveled back twenty years, huh," Rinji chuckled. "Do you remember what you did to me back then?"
"Age makes one forget."
"Bullshit. Did you forget how you beat your obedient son until he coughed blood?"
"Oh… now that you mention it, I do remember," his father laughed. "As expected of my son, truly excellent."
"…."
Seeing his father had no intention of apologizing, Rinji felt helpless.
But overall, what he needed to resolve had been resolved.
The meteor fragment was sent back twenty years, meaning he and Kaguya would no longer swap bodies.
"Anything else?"
"No, that's all. You can hang up now, old man."
"That's really cruel."
Isaac father chuckled, then after a pause suddenly added,
"Oh right, son, from now on I might not pick up if you call me."
"Huh? Are you going to be busy?"
Rinji's father: "I'm going traveling with your mother. If you need anything, just call your Uncle Sousuke."
Rinji: "I feel like as a father you don't care about me at all."
Rinji's father: "Don't joke. Haven't you noticed that in this era I don't even deserve to have my name appear?"
Rinji: "Huh?"
Rinji's father: "I've retired from the stage. The road ahead can only be walked by you. I have full confidence in your future, after all you're an excellent child."
"…"
"Do your best, son. Go enjoy your youth."
With that, Rinji's father hung up the phone.
Rinji shook his head with a wry smile, put on his coat, and headed out of his room.
As he walked, he pulled out his phone and dialed another number.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Ai?"
"Rinji?" came the voice from the phone. "You should be out of town right now, right? Did something happen?"
"No."
Leaning against the wall, Rinji smiled.
"I just wanted to hear your voice."
"Eh?"
"It feels like it's been so long since I saw you, so I thought I'd call to chat a little."
"…It's rare for you to say such cheesy things."
Though her tone was as calm as ever, it wasn't hard to imagine that Hayasaka's expression must have been quite something when she said that.
Of course, what she didn't know was that for Rinji, it really had been a whole month since he last saw her, while for her, it had only been a few days ago.
"I'll probably be back tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll wait for you at home."
After hanging up, Rinji let out a long breath, then dialed Karura's number.
After that it was Shirogane, Momo, Ishigami…
---
"I remember it was right here."
On the mountain by the lakeside in the center of Yomiyama stood an inn. Rinji had just been here yesterday, so of course he remembered the location.
Of course, that was yesterday for Rinji. From the time he left that inn until now, twenty years had already passed. The old walls had been renovated more than once.
While circling the woods around the inn, Rinji deliberately looked at the spot where he had fought his father.
Back then, the trees had been burning and countless trunks cut down into stumps. By logic, twenty years should only have allowed partial recovery.
But…
Looking at the towering trees before him, grown so dense they blocked out the sun, Rinji suspected this forest had been restored by human hands.
Returning to the familiar yet unfamiliar inn, Rinji stood at the entrance for a long while.
Seeing a city's twenty years of change in just a day's time—this kind of experience felt strange indeed.
"Takamine, aren't you going in?"
The elderly voice came from behind him. Chibiki was standing there.
Turning around to see the white-haired old man, Rinji smiled. "No, it's just… it's been twenty years since I last came here."
"Hahaha, not coming to Yomiyama for so long, of course you'd feel nostalgic."
"Yeah."
Rinji nodded with a smile.
"By the way, Mr. Chibiki, can I ask you something?"
"Please go ahead, Takamine."
"You must have guessed my true identity long ago. Why do you believe I'm that transfer student from twenty years ago and not, say, his son?"
"Who knows. When you get old, you gain strange instincts." Chibiki answered with a gentle smile. "Come inside, the classmates are waiting."
"Alright."
Rinji walked into the inn with Chibiki.
Pushing open the door to a private room on the first floor, Rinji saw familiar faces.
But they were no longer the middle school classmates he had seen just yesterday. Now they were men and women in their mid-thirties.
Time had left its mark on every face. All of them had matured.
At the moment the door opened, the room, filled with laughter and conversation, went quiet. People put down their glasses and turned toward the doorway.
"Mr. Chibiki, you're finally here. Come sit, we were just—"
But as they turned, nearly everyone froze.
They looked at Rinji's face, and sealed-away memories surged up in an instant.
That classmate who had helped them survive the curse, then vanished without a word, was standing before them again. Twenty years had passed, yet his appearance was exactly as they remembered.
"Takamine…?"