Kimi no Na wa. Rediscovering the Future

3. Memories of another yesterday

The girl who served the coffee shop was very nice to them. She felt guilty for having caused such an emotional havoc in the couple by turning on that television channel. She did not recall ever being near anyone who had come from the place where the comet fell. But seeing the girl's genuine and shocked reaction moved her.

When she saw that the couple had calmed down a bit, she made two cups of fragrant hot chocolate and brought them to the table.

"Courtesy of the house," she told them, when the couple looked at her with some confusion.

The hot chocolate worked magic on Mitsuha's spirits. She felt a pleasant warmth as she consumed it, and she felt more reposed.

Taki enjoyed it too, but his attention was more on her than the taste of chocolate.

When they finished, they decided to go for a walk and get some air outside. Mitsuha approached the girl from the inn, and thanked her for her kindness.

Once outside, they felt that the air had become very cold. It was already close to seven o'clock, and all the lights in the city were on. Mitsuha suggested to take a walk to a small park that she knew, which was a couple of blocks away. She began to walk with his arms crossed, feeling a bit cold. Suddenly she felt the weight of the boy's jacket on her back. She wanted to protest, but he asked her to please accept it. It felt warm and inviting, and there was a scent on it that gave her that strange feeling of having smelled it before. In some place. Sometime. She accepted it and they continued walking until they reached a small square with some benches between trees and children's games. They sat in one of them.

"It's been many years since I cried like this... for... Itomori. I don't like that you saw me like this, but I'm glad you could be with me," she lamented, with a weak smile. She felt tired.

"Why didn't you tell me you were from Itomori?"

She looked at her feet, swaying. It took her a while to respond.

"I haven't mentioned it to anyone in years. At first, every time I met a person and told them where I came from, I was bombarded with questions. I hated being the 'comet girl'. Every question they asked me forces me to remember things that I miss, but that it hurts to remember. It hurts to lose everything."

Taki felt guilty. He also felt a special emotion when seeing images of Itomori. And now that he was with her, he would like to know so many things about Mitsuha and Itomori's life. But he didn't want to hurt her.

"I also feel something special when I think of Itomori, and when I see images of that place. In the coffee shop, I swear that I almost... I felt short of breath when I saw some of those images, just when you came back from the bathroom. I have never known why. I went to Itomori once, like six years ago. I've never been able to get that place out of my head, isn't that weird?"

"Did you go to Itomori?"

"Yes. I went looking for someone, but I didn't find that person."

"Really? Who was it?"

"I do not remember her name. The truth is, I don't even remember who she was, or why I was looking for her."

Mitsuha was somewhat surprised by that answer. It was the first time she had met someone so genuinely interested in her old home, and had even gone there after the comet impact. But she didn't know how to help him, or what to do with such vague information.

"Well, at least you're from here, from Tokyo, and you have a city to return to, you have a home. The only thing I have left of Itomori are in my memory. I couldn't save anything from Itomori, nothing from my family, no belongings, no photos, no clothes. The only thing I was able to keep was the high school uniform I was wearing that day, and... this."