On the other side.

Rei Ao didn't rush to claim anything. He truly did as he'd said—he started by "spending time together."

He was frighteningly good at leading a conversation, and so well-read it felt unreal.

From the customs of Itomori Town to tales of the far-flung starry seas—he seemed to know everything. In fact, he really did seem omniscient.

With the occasional tease or joke, he could stir Mitsuha's shyness just enough without ever making her feel embarrassed.

He'd prepared food so exquisite it felt unreal, and played stirring music she'd never heard before.

In this secluded, luxurious, private space, Mitsuha's initial nervousness and stiffness slowly melted under his guidance.

In their place rose a steadily warming ambiguity and an attraction that was hard to put into words.

She didn't know what was happening to her.

They'd only just met; she couldn't even claim to truly know him.

Yet under his gaze and murmured words, her heartbeat slipped out of control again and again. Her body loosened… even began, without her willing it, to respond to his nearness.

…

When the afterglow of sunset streamed once more through the floor-to-ceiling windows, tinting the room in warm hues, Mitsuha found herself—she didn't know when—curled in Rei Ao's arms on the soft sofa. His fingers were gently threading through her hair, movements so tender they were intoxicating.

The air was thick with a sweetness that felt a little dangerous.

"Are you afraid?" he asked softly, breath brushing her ear.

Mitsuha's body trembled.

Her heart thundered—yet she shook her head. Perhaps there was still fear, but more than that was a kind of acceptance, even a secret thread of anticipation.

He was the one who had saved everything—and the trade had been her choice.

Rei Ao chuckled, said no more, and lowered his head to kiss her: a gentle, irresistible kiss with the faint sweetness of fruit wine.

Mitsuha's mind went buzzingly blank.

All she could do was respond—awkwardly, passively—letting him lead her, step by step, into unknown territory.

…

Everything that followed seemed filmed through a soft-focus lens—blurred and yet clear.

Here, time itself lost its meaning.

…

She didn't know how long had passed. When everything finally calmed, Mitsuha's whole body was weak and boneless—she didn't have the strength to lift a finger. She lay curled in Rei Ao's arms, cheek against his warm chest, listening to that steady, powerful heartbeat. She didn't want to think at all—only to savor this moment of peace after the storm.

Just then, the room wavered slightly; that strange door appeared again.

Rei Ao glanced down at Mitsuha's still-dazed eyes and smiled. "Time's about up. We should get back to business."

He draped a soft, thin shirt over her, then lifted her in his arms and carried her toward the door.

Mitsuha gave a small gasp, instinctively looped her arms around his neck—then that feeling of passing through space swept over her again.

Her vision flickered.

Cool air and the scent of grass rushed into her nose.

They were back on the little hill overlooking Itomori.

Night had fallen. The deep blue sky was pricked with stars.

And at that very moment, a gorgeous streak of light was ripping across the heavens, trailing a long, glittering tail—

A comet!

Mitsuha snapped out of the lingering haze at once. Her body was still weak, but her mind went taut. She wrested herself upright from Rei Ao's arms, clutched the shirt tighter, and pointed skyward, nerves stretched to the breaking point.

"It's here, Rei Ao-san! It's here!"

Her voice trembled with tension, and fear seized her heart again. She had lived through Itomori's destruction once—she would never forget it as long as she lived. Panic rose in her by instinct.

Rei Ao, however, didn't seem the least bit flustered. He even took a moment to smooth the hair the night breeze had mussed, his tone lightly teasing: "Oh? You look much more nervous now than you were just now in bed."

At that blunt remark, Mitsuha's panic was instantly replaced by mortification, a blush racing from her scalp to her toes. The long, shame-tinged scenes of their "time together" surged into her mind unbidden, turning her legs to water.

She really had shared the most intimate act with a man she'd met less than a day ago—and she had been the one to propose the trade. The confusion left her thoughts in a muddle; she wanted to sink into the ground.

But the comet, shining brighter and beginning to split, wrenched her attention back.

It was splitting!

That was the split comet that had destroyed Itomori!

Fear crushed embarrassment again. She grabbed fistfuls of Rei Ao's clothes, her knuckles whitening with the force, her voice edged with tears and terror.

"That's it! That one! Rei Ao-san—please!"

She would never forget that hellish scene. She could not allow it to happen again.

Sensing her fear, Rei Ao glanced at the small hand fiercely gripping his hem; the teasing curve on his lips eased a little. He lifted his gaze to the comet breaking apart and shining ominously in the sky. In his deep eyes, there seemed to flit a faint, detached light—as if he were looking at dust.

In the night sky, the fractured comet loomed like a ferocious beast.

The largest fragment, trailing a burning tail flame, was plunging with unstoppable, annihilating force—aimed precisely at Itomori.

That ever-brightening light felt like Death's grin, dragging Mitsuha back to that hopeless night—

the night Yotsuha died.

Thunderous detonations, pillars of fire—

"No…!"

A stifled cry tore from Mitsuha. Her body shook uncontrollably as she clung to the only thing she could—Rei Ao's lapel, a lone driftwood plank in a raging sea. The great wave of terror washed away the warmth she'd just experienced, leaving her face as white as paper.

~~~

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