"Good morning, Grandma."
Kyousuke Hojou stepped into the living room, where Mitsuha grandmother, Miyamizu Hitoha, was already seated at the low table.
She faced the garden, sipping a cup of rich green tea while admiring the bonsai trees and the serene morning scenery of Itomori.
"Good morning."
Hearing Mitsuha's voice, Miyamizu Hitoha turned her head, offering her granddaugther a warm, gentle smile.
"I'll go make breakfast."
After getting her nod of approval, Kyousuke headed toward the kitchen, which he had familiarized himself with last time.
Despite the kitchen's old-fashioned appliances, he quickly put together a pot of miso soup and three small side dishes using ingredients from the fridge.
'Knock, knock.'
"Yotsuba! How long are you planning to sleep?"
Kyousuke smirked as he knocked on the door.
A person as disciplined as him had been caught oversleeping by this little girl before—now it was time for some payback.
"…Sis?"
A drowsy voice came from inside.
Even without seeing her, Kyousuke could picture the little girl rubbing her sleepy eyes, still half-lost in dreamland.
"Breakfast is ready. Wash up and come eat."
Satisfied with his prank, Kyousuke's tone softened, his voice deep and slightly magnetic—Mitsuha's voice.
"Okay…"
Just as he was about to return to the living room, Yotsuba's voice called out again from behind the door.
"Aren't you going to braid my hair today?"
Ever since Mitsuha had promised to braid her hair, she had been styling it every morning.
Thanks to that, Yotsuba had enjoyed a fair share of attention in class.
'Hmph, this dumb sister is only good for things like this.'
With that thought, the little girl quickly called out again.
"You can't braid your hair every day, or you'll go bald!" Kyousuke blurted out without thinking, trying to get out of it.
'Actually, I'd rather you braid mine.'
Oh, right—the hair tie.
Kyousuke turned and stepped into Mitsuha's room, rummaging through her drawers.
'Got it!'
Opening a drawer, he found the hair tie Yotsuba had given him before—along with another braided cord.
Wait… this is called a kumihimo, right?
Kyousuke picked up the red-and-blue woven cord, examining it closely.
A strange, hazy feeling washed over him—like he had seen this before, but couldn't quite remember where.
'Must be that damn system messing with me again.'
Ever since his scientific abilities had been enhanced, Kyousuke's mind was usually sharp and clear.
If he ever felt this kind of foggy sensation, it was almost certainly the system playing tricks on him again.
'Switching bodies wasn't crazy enough? Now it's messing with my memory too?'
Sighing, he casually tied Mitsuha hair into a ponytail and stepped out.
Just then, Yotsuba appeared, rubbing her eyes.
The hem of her nightgown nearly dragged on the floor.
"Good morning, Sis."
"Morning, Yotsuba."
"You didn't braid your hair either?"
"Nope. See? I wasn't lying. Braiding your hair too often will make you go bald."
The two of them headed to the bathroom together.
Wash up. Eat breakfast. Leave for school.
"I'm heading out."
The crisp morning air of April, untouched by pollution, made Kyousuke feel completely refreshed.
He took a few deep breaths, savoring the sensation of his entire body waking up.
At the crossroads, he parted ways with his "sister" and slowed his pace, waiting for Mitsuha's two friends—Sayaka Natori and Katsuhiko Teshigawara.
"Yo, Mitsuha~"
A long, drawn-out greeting reached his ears.
Only today did Kyousuke finally notice the difference in accents between the people of Itomori and those in Tokyo.
Before, he hadn't paid attention—his own accent from Hokaido was slightly different from Tokyo's as well.
"Morning, Sayaka, Teshigawara."
He turned around.
Sure enough, it was those two.
"You went with a ponytail again today, huh?"
Sayaka hopped off the back of Teshigawara's bike, giving "Mitsuha" an appraising look.
"Yeah."
The "middle school girl" smiled casually.
"So, does that mean you're planning to beat up Yamaaka Shunya again? Or maybe Minami Manaka?"
Sayaka's eyes gleamed with excitement as she struck a playful boxing pose.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Teshigawara sighed, braking his bike to a stop behind them.
"But last time Mitsuha had a ponytail, she knocked Shunya flat on his back! And during the festival, didn't she say she was going to teach Manaka a lesson? I thought she tied up her hair as part of her 'battle mode'!"
"You're acting like a little kid." Teshigawara rolled his eyes.
Kyousuke chuckled, listening to Mitsuha's friends banter.
It was a new experience for him—back in his body, the only people who joked around like this were the duo from "Onizuka Explosion." But whenever they got too rowdy, someone would quickly shut them down.
'Come to think of it… Mitsuha should've written something in the memo by now, right?'
Kyousuke pulled out her phone, unlocked it with her fingerprint, and opened the notes app.
———————————————————————
"You bought leggings! Honestly, I was worried you'd be careless and let the boys see something they shouldn't, but turns out you're actually pretty modest. Good job!"
———————————————————————
…Are you sure the careless one isn't actually you?
———————————————————————
"If possible, could you please teach Minami Manaka a lesson? But no violence! No violence!!"
———————————————————————
Two big red Xs followed.
…Damn, Mitsuha is ruthless.
She's not even going for physical attacks—she's aiming straight for psychological destruction.
———————————————————————
"As thanks, I'll take good care of your body!"
———————————————————————
…Wow. Thanks a lot.
That was the end of the memo. Nothing too surprising.
It made sense—Itomori was a small town where everyone knew each other.
There weren't many places to go besides school and home.
If Mitsuha had more to say, she would've written more.
Judging by the cute little "sticking tongue out" emoji at the end, she seemed pretty satisfied with his body.
At school, the first class of the day was Yukari Yukino's lesson.
Despite being a full-fledged adult, her voice remained clear and sweet—like a child untouched by the harshness of the world.
Even though it was a notoriously difficult language class, Kyousuke found himself genuinely enjoying it.
He knew he wouldn't be able to take this knowledge back to his original body, but he could at least take good notes for Mitsuha.
Judging by the drool-stained workbook on Mitsuha's desk that morning, her grades were probably… not great.
Still, she was clearly putting in effort. As a first-year middle schooler, she still had plenty of time to improve. And based on her class notes, at least she was pretty good at language studies.
Time flew by. As the bell rang, signaling the end of class, Yukino put away her materials and walked out.
But before leaving, she… smiled at him.
Kyousuke blinked.
He glanced around. The students sitting in front of him had bolted out the door the moment the bell rang.
So… she was definitely smiling at him.
Before he could think too much about it, Sayaka and Teshigawara came over, striking up a conversation.
Kyousuke decided to keep his responses minimal—less talking, fewer mistakes.
But when Sayaka mentioned things that were specific to big cities or Tokyo, he couldn't help but chime in.
"Mitsuha! Did you sneak off to Tokyo without me?!"
…Technically, my body is in Tokyo almost every day.
That gave Kyousuke an idea.
'Should I try to meet Mitsuha in Tokyo next time we switch bodies?'
Reaching into his pocket, he dismissed the thought. Mitsuha was even poorer than he was.
'Maybe I should just wait and see if she leaves me a message about coming to Itomori.'
'She's probably having too much fun in Tokyo to bother.'