Unnamed

He’s so lucky. Mitsuha thought to herself as she cried into the mirror. Why couldn’t it have been me… I planned everything, he didn’t even want that relationship, hell, I- Her realization hit her like a bullet train through the heart. He didn’t even like her that much. I was the one who fell in love with her. I… I love her. I fell in love with Okudera, with Miki. She looked herself in the eye after wiping away some tears. This whole time I thought it was Taki I was falling for… but no, I’ve never even met him.

“It was her.”

“Who?” The nasally voice of Yotsuha asked from the doorway. Mitsuha just looked at her, stunned. “At least you're awake today. Breakfast!” She screamed before slamming the sliding door shut once more. Mitsuha looked back to herself, and clenched her fists. She knew what she was going to do today, and no one was going to stop her.

“I’m going on that date!”

<\hr>

It was hours before the train arrived. Tokyo was just ridiculously far from Itomori, hence why they hadn’t tried anything like this before. That didn’t matter though! Mitsuha was good at many things, and time management was one of them. She knew how to get to the right station after only a few minutes of research, and she was going to be there 30 minutes early! Hopefully she could catch Taki and talk to him about her realization before Okudera-san arrived. The thought made Mitsuha’s throat dry. Would she like her the same way? Mitsuha had hope, their connection felt genuine, and they did, technically, have a date today. Just… maybe not with the body Okudera might want on the other side of the table.

Mitsuha shook her head. She’d come this far, no backing down now. She stepped out into the station and… no one. Well, the throngs of Tokyo, but not the people she was looking for. That was okay though, it was still early. She walked between all the exits… still no one. Okay. That had only burned 15 minutes. It was still another half hour until the date was supposed to start. They both had work the day before, so maybe they were getting extra sleep, and didn’t feel like being super early. She… she had told Taki to be half an hour early though.

It’s fine. It… it had to be fine. She kept up her patrol, walking around the station while maintaining maximum visibility of everyone in the crowd. 10 minutes passed… 15… 20… Taki had better get here soon, or he wouldn’t have time to be there when Okudera arrived. Which… Mitsuha selfishly hoped in that moment that she would meet Okudera in his stead. Maybe they would hit it off and she could catch Taki up later. That could work… though she’d really prefer to talk to him first, it seemed more polite. She watched the crowd as time ticked on and… nothing. Still. The time of the date passed, and no one came. Mitsuha was getting pretty angry at this point. Had they both bailed!?

That’s when she saw it. An otherwise unremarkable shock of hair, but one she knew from the mirror. Not exactly her style, but very, intimately familiar, like the back of her own hand. She ran, not shouting for politeness’s sake, and caught up with him just as he got on the train. “Taki, you’re late, what happened?” She asked with a forced calm, her heart beating too hard to do it normally. The boy looked at her, and instantly she realized something was wrong. That was Taki, all right, but it wasn’t the same. His uniform was for a different school, he was a bit shorter, and his face was more rounded, childish. Then there was the confusion. He… he didn’t recognize her. It was confirmed a moment later when he asked, “I’m sorry miss, do I know you?”

Her heart sank, both from the social awkwardness and the feeling of betrayal that her… soul swapping partner? Friend? Brother? That Taki didn’t recognize her. It felt so fundamental, so crucial to her very existence that they recognized each other, and yet it was one sided. She mumbled apologies half heartedly as her eyes fell to the floor. This wasn’t her Taki. He was… different. She got off at the next station. In a moment of inspiration, she called his name one last time, and tossed her braided cord.

In a flash, as their hands grasped each end of the cord, she realized what happened. This was Taki’s past. She remembered the year on Taki’s phone, 3 years ahead of the current year. She remembered that while in her time, she saw news about the comet daily, in Taki’s time no one ever mentioned it. She stood on the station platform too shocked to even move. She had been time travelling. She didn’t know how, but it was the only explanation. That meant…

In this time, here and now… Miki had never met her. She nearly collapsed as she sat down on a bench, her face falling into her hands, full of tears.

Pain.

Hurt.

Ache.

Heartbreak. This is heartbreak, and she was feeling it for the first time.

But… why? Where was this feeling coming from? There must be someone important, someone worth coming all the way to Tokyo for, worth crying over. But who? What was their na-

“Excuse me, miss, are you alright?”

Mitsuha looked up to see the most beautiful woman she had even seen. Her hair was silky and wavy, the color of milk chocolate. Her eyes glistened with depth, her makeup was flawless. Her clothes were stylish but understated, the blouse exposing her shoulders and bra straps, short shorts revealing legs long and smoothe. Mitsuha gasped as she looked. “Um - *sniff* - sorry?” She just about stammered out.

“I asked if you were okay, but clearly not. Here.” The woman sat next to her and pulled a handkerchief from her purse. Mitshua gratefully made use of it, “Sorry, my makeup got all over i-” The other woman waved and interrupted, “No, no sorries. You were hurting, the least I can do is offer a cloth. Here, have one of these.” The woman then pulled out a makeup removal pad, one of the pre-moistened ones. Mitsuha quickly wiped off the offending runny mascara and dried off again with the handkerchief. Luckily they were right next to the trash cans, so she could toss the pad and return the cloth. “Thank you, so much.”

The woman’s smile was so radiant she couldn’t take her eyes away. Did she like girls? Wait, where did that thought come from? Since when did Mitsuha like girls? Since just now, she guessed, because this kind stranger was making her heart beat so loudly she could hear it. Somehow that fact didn’t surprise her as much as it maybe should have. “You’re welcome. Always happy to help a fellow woman in need. Take care! And cheer up, I’m sure things will look up soon.” With a last wave she was gone.

“Wait!” Mitsuha stood, but the woman was gone. She hadn’t even been able to ask her name…