Feeling the fierce tremor of the delicate body in his arms and the fear welling up from her very soul, Rei Ao lowered his head and saw the tears and helplessness brimming in Mitsuha's eyes.

He patted her smooth back, a quiet, reassuring gesture. His voice stayed calm—so calm it steadied the heart, carrying the absolute confidence of someone in control.

"Don't be afraid," he said. "Now that I'm here, I won't let that happen a second time."

His words seemed to carry a touch of magic, easing the chill in Mitsuha's chest. Rei Ao raised his gaze to the meteor fragment about to bring disaster. His expression was indifferent.

To Itomori, that rock was destruction incarnate; to Rei Ao, it was no more than a speck of dust in the way. He lifted his free hand toward the night sky, toward that onrushing light of death.

His fingers spread slightly—then, as if casually, he closed them into a gentle fist.

In the instant his hand closed, an invisible, immaterial, and immeasurably vast power leapt across space, reaching thousands of meters up in a heartbeat and seizing precisely upon the plunging fragment.

In Miyamizu Mitsuha's stunned, speechless gaze, the meteor never struck the earth. It was as if an unseen divine hand had pinched it and—gently—crumbled it. Yes, crumbled.

The massive shard came apart in silence, disintegrating into countless tiny motes that glimmered faintly.

Friction in the upper atmosphere lit those particles at once, turning them into billions of points of light. They blossomed like the most magnificent golden fireworks, spilling across much of the night sky—brilliant, gorgeous, impossibly dreamlike.

In a heartbeat, the crisis that would have destroyed Itomori became a rain of romantic stars. The myriad lights drifted down, trailing crystalline lines across the deep-blue vault, bathing the town in a gentle, otherworldly glow.

Those in town who might have noticed the comet could only gasp and cheer. The sheer beauty contrasted so starkly with the hellish scene they had expected that Mitsuha was left utterly dazed.

Her lips parted as she tilted her head back, amber eyes reflecting the light like a sky full of fireflies. She forgot her fear. She forgot to breathe. She was lost in a miracle beyond imagining.

"Do you like it, Mitsuha?" Rei Ao's low, warm voice brushed her ear, threaded with the faintest smile. "Take this sea of stars as fireworks—my first gift to you."

It was a miracle that saved her hometown, and a romance that bloomed for her alone.

A surge of indescribable feeling crashed through Mitsuha, sweeping away every defense: the relief of surviving disaster, awe at such power, the flutter stirred by gentle protection—countless emotions knotting together until all that remained was an irrepressible pull toward this mysterious man.

She turned sharply, eyes brimming, and looked into Rei Ao's sea-deep, star-bright gaze. This time, it wasn't duty or repayment. It was pure, heartfelt, irresistible attraction.

Rising on her toes, she closed her eyes—trembling, but resolute—and offered herself to the kiss.

Rei Ao seemed momentarily taken aback; then the smile in his eyes deepened. He shifted from receiving to leading, deepening the kiss, answering her fervor.

Beneath the rain of starlight, their embrace became a tableau of breathtaking romance.

…

Meanwhile, far from Itomori, in the great city of Tokyo, Okudera Miki had just finished a long day's work and a hot shower.

Wearing a silk off-shoulder nightdress that traced a graceful, alluring figure, she let her long hair—black as satin—fall loosely over her smooth shoulders, the ends still damp.

She stepped to the window, pushed it open, and let the cool night breeze skim her skin and carry away a little of her fatigue.

Outside, neon flickered and traffic flowed—a world apart from Itomori's quiet, starry sky.

Leaning at the sill, she drifted into thought. Moonlight and distant streetlamps sketched the fine lines of her profile: a calm, gentle look in her light-blue eyes, a poised nose, lips softly pressed together.

Everything about her carried the particular charm of a mature woman—like a tender silhouette lifted from a spring fashion spread.

Yet beneath the beauty lay a thin, almost hidden thread of loneliness. Her job was steady, her life comfortable, and still something felt missing.

Friends and coworkers were falling in love, marrying, even having children. She couldn't say she wasn't envious.

A junior at work—Taki—seemed to like her; she could tell. He was a good kid, earnest and sincere. But… too young.

To her he felt more like a little brother. What she wanted was something steady and reliable, a love that could carry two people all the way to marriage—someone who made her feel safe, someone she could lean on.

She sighed. These things needed timing—fate. But when would fate arrive?

Her eyes wandered to the sky just as the tail of a comet was fading. A comet? Could it grant wishes?

She laughed at herself, a little embarrassed by the thought, but still couldn't help pressing her hands together and making a wish to that vanishing streak of light.

"Dear comet, if you really have a spirit… please bless me with a good match. Someone truly right for me—someone I can entrust myself to without worry."

She finished the wish and chuckled, shaking her head. Just a moment of girlishness; as if that could really come true.

She turned from the window to get some rest—never noticing that, at the very moment she wished, the comet's glow gave the faintest, fleeting flicker, as if it really had received a signal.