Rei Ao: "You can make a deal with me."
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
Currently You can Read 220+ Chapters Ahead of Others!
Chapter 898: Evacuation Plan... Seems like it's not gonna happen smoothly
A deal?
That single word made the group's mood turn tense and heavy.
Busujima Saeko: "As expectedthis will be a trade where he absolutely won't come out losing."
Couronne: "Yes absolutely no losing"
Couronne spoke from experience. She had traded only herself to secure peace for the human race.
Bibi Dong: "If Rei Ao acts personally, nothing will go wrong."
Rei Ao: "I can intervenedisrupt that exact moment, alter the meteor's trajectory, or shield specific groups of people."
Rei Ao: "I think you already understand the price of such a deal."
Rei Ao: "Treat this as the final insurance. I hope you won't need it."
His words were calm and unruffled, yet everyone in the group felt their weight.
No one doubted he could do what he said.
Miyamizu Mitsuha was stunned as well.
A deal a price
It sounded like the kind of bargain you'd make with a demon in a myth.
But
She looked out the window.
The sun was sinking into the distant mountains, dyeing Lake Itomori a warm gold.
Thin plumes of dinner smoke rose over the quiet town; everything looked so peaceful, so serene.
In twenty-four hours, that peace would be shattered.
To protect all of this
Mitsuha scrubbed the tears from her face; her eyes grew firm.
She drew a deep breath and replied in the group chat.
Miyamizu Mitsuha: "I understand Thank you, Rei Ao-san. And thank you, everyone."
Miyamizu Mitsuha: "I'll try firstdo everything I can to evacuate people! I'll give it my all!"
Miyamizu Mitsuha: "If if it really doesn't work then then I'll"
She didn't finish, but the meaning was clear.
Marcille: "You've got this, Mitsuha! You can do it!"
Couronne: "That's right! We're with you in spiritgo for it!"
Julis: "If you need concrete evacuation plans, say the word here. We'll brainstorm together."
Kasuga Hijiri: "May your courage bring a miracle."
Busujima Saeko: "Stay calm. Act decisively."
The chat flooded with messages of encouragement and well-wishes.
Reading those warm words from different worlds, Mitsuha felt a current of warmth rise within her, pushing back a little of the cold.
She wasn't fighting alone.
Miyamizu Mitsuha: "Thank youreally, thank you all! I I'm going!"
She left the chat.
When she slid the door open, her little sister Yotsuha stood there with her hands on her hips.
"Big sis, you're so slow! Dinner's going cold!"
"Yotsuha"
Looking at her sister's innocent face, Mitsuha crouched and hugged her tight.
"Eh? Sis? What's wrong?"
"Nothing"
Mitsuha's voice caught, but she tried to sound normal.
"I just suddenly realizedyou're really, really cute."
"Ugh! Saying weird stuff out of nowheregross!"
Face flushed, Yotsuha pushed her away and ran to the dining room.
"Grandma! Sis is acting weird!"
Mitsuha stood up. Her gaze swept over the familiar home and finally settled on Grandma andoddlyher father, who had come home today.
Her eyes hardened with resolve.
Time was short. She had to move now.
First, convince the family.
It was going to be a sleepless night.
The mood at dinner was heavy.
A traditional Japanese meal lay neatly arranged.
The aroma of pan-fried fish filled the air, but Mitsuha had no appetite.
She drew a breath and set down her chopsticks.
"Grandma, I have something very, very important to say."
Grandma lifted her lids to glance at her, then went on sipping miso soup at an unhurried pace.
Her father merely grunted behind his newspaper, eyes still glued to the politics section.
"I I had a dream," Mitsuha began, her voice dry with nerves. "A very real dream."
"I dreamed that tomorrow night a cometmeteorsplits apart and falls on Itomori, and the entire town is destroyed."
As soon as she finished
"Pfft"
Yotsuha couldn't help laughing. "Sis, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? How would a comet split and hit us? This isn't a manga!"
Grandma's hand paused over the soup. Her cloudy yet sharp eyes turned to Mitsuha, a slight frown forming.
Her father, Miyamizu Toshiki, finally lowered the paper, revealing a stern, rigid face. He pushed up his glasses, displeasure and scrutiny plain in his eyes.
"Mitsuha."
His voice was low and authoritative.
"This kind of nonsense has no place at the dinner table. Don't disturb everyone's meal. Is that how I raised you?"
"It's not nonsense!"
Mitsuha leaned forward, blurting out in panic.
"The dream was too real!"
"And the news said there'll be a meteor shower tomorrow!"
"The timing and place are too much of a coincidence!"
"What if it's true? We should at least get people to take sheltergo up into the surrounding hills!"
"Absurd!"
Toshiki slammed the table; the dishes rattled and clinked.
"Evacuate the entire town over a dream?"
"Do you have any idea how much chaos and damage that would cause?"
"Is spreading alarmist rumors all you've learned as the Miyamizu Shrine's Miko? Maybe we should just abolish the shrine maiden altogether."
He had never liked the shrineor the so-called miko.
"It's not a rumor! It's"
Mitsuha wanted to say it was a prophetic dream, confirmed by friends from other worldsbut she knew that would be even less believable. The words stuck in her throat.
"It's a possibilityone we have to take seriously!"
"A possibility?" He let out a cold laugh. "A 'possibility' based on a dream?"
"Mitsuha, you're a disappointment."
"Looks like the shrine really does lead people astray."
He didn't bother sparing Grandma's feelings as he sneered at the shrine's very existence.
"This conversation is over. Don't bring it up againand don't you dare spread it outside. Understood?"
His tone brooked no argument; it sounded like a final verdict.
"Dad!"
"Eat."
Toshiki raised the paper again, sealing off any further eye contact.
Mitsuha's heart sank.
Her father's reaction was even harsher and more dismissive than she'd expected.
Counting on official channels to evacuate people clearly wasn't going to work.
Chapter 899: Planning to make it happen no matter what...
Mitsuha Miyamizu turned her pleading gaze to her grandmother.
Grandma Hitoha Miyamizu kept eating in silence for a long while before she spoke slowly:
"Dreams are the knots that tie gods and people together."
"What matters isn't the dream itself, but the message it conveysand the intent it awakens in you."
There seemed to be something deeper in Grandma's words, but she didn't state outright that she supported Mitsuha.
"Grandma, you mean"
"Do what you ought to do. Work hard for what you believe in."
With that, Grandma fell silent.
What she ought to do what she believed in
Mitsuha clenched her fists.
Yesshe couldn't just give up.
If her father wouldn't believe her and the official route was blocked, then she'd do it her own way.
She hurried through dinner, then excused herself, saying she didn't feel well, and left the table early.
Back in her room, she locked the door and grabbed her phone.
First, she called her best friend, Sayaka Natori.
"Hello? Mitsuha? What's up?" Sayaka's lively voice came through the line.
"Sayaka, listenwhat I'm about to say is really important. You might think I'm being weird, but please, you have to believe me!"
She spoke at a rapid clip, laying out the prophetic dream and the meteor.
There was a few seconds of silence.
"Mitsuha, are you okay?"
"Have you been overdoing it getting ready for the autumn festival?"
Sayaka sounded worriedclearly unconvinced. And honestly, who would believe something like this?
"I'm serious, Sayaka!"
"Please! Even if you don't believe me, tomorrow nightaround eightcould you find some excuse to take your family up into the hills a little ways away? I'm begging you!"
"Mitsuha, I"
"Please, SayakaI'm begging you!"
Maybe it was the unprecedented desperation and earnestness in her voice, but Sayaka hesitated, then said:
"Okay, okay. I'll try to persuade them tomorrow night. But Mitsuha, are you sure you're all right? Want me to come keep you company?"
"No! I'm fine! Thank you, Sayaka!"
After she hung up, Mitsuha let out a breath.
At least she'd convinced one friend to try.
Next was Katsuhiko Teshigawara.
"Tessie! It's me!"
"Oh? Mitsuha? This is rareyou calling me first." He sounded amused.
"No time for jokes. Listen!"
She repeated the whole story again.
"Huh? A meteor hitting Itomori?"
"Mitsuha, did you watch some weird sci-fi flick or something?"
His reaction was the same as Sayaka's.
"I knew you wouldn't believe me, but it's true!"
"Tessie, you mess around with gunpowder and stuff, right?"
"Could you, tomorrow night, try making a really big commotion up on the mountain?"
"Like set something off so people will go take a look?"
Her ideas tumbled out in a rush.
"Hey, hey! That's illegal! And doing all that over a dream is a bit"
He sounded torn.
"Please, Tessie! This is the one and only request of my life!"
"If nothing happens, I'll take all the blame."
"If it does happen, you'll be the hero who saved the whole town!"
""
A long silence.
At last he sighed, half-annoyed, half-resigned.
"Tch. Can't say no to you, can I. I'll set off some extra-large fireworks that might 'accidentally' go off."
"Thank you, Tessie!"
With those two calls made, Mitsuha felt a faint glimmer of hope.
But relying on just two friends wouldn't be nearly enough.
She sat at her desk, opened her notebook, and started hammering out plans.
Anonymous letters to every household?
No timeand no one would buy it.
Post online?
In a rural place like Itomori, internet use is low, and it would just look like a prank.
Use the shrine's broadcast system?
The key was with her father, and he would never agree.
Idea after idea surfaced only for her to cross it out herself.
Minutes slipped by. Outside, the sky went fully dark.
Anxiety and fatigue washed over her like the tide, but she didn't dare stop.
She remembered Rei Ao's words
"Create some disruption or incident to draw people to the high ground."
Disruption incident
How could she get people to spontaneously move en masse to higher ground?
Her eyes fell on the calendar.
Tomorrow night was supposed to be the autumn festival rehearsallots of townsfolk would be up at the shrine helping out.
A boldborderline crazyplan began to take shape.
At dawn the next day, Mitsuha got up early with heavy dark circles under her eyes.
Her father had already left for the town assembly.
Grandma was sweeping the courtyard.
Yotsuha was still sleeping in.
Mitsuha finished breakfast quickly and told Grandma, "I'm not going to school today. I don't feel wellI want to go to the shrine to clear my head."
Grandma looked at her deeply, then simply nodded. "Go."
Mitsuha changed into her miko robes and hurried to the shrine.
Her heart was pounding; her palms were slick with sweat. She knew she was about to do something very risky.
At the shrine, she didn't start cleaning as usual.
She went straight to the storage shed where festival supplies and records were kept.
She rummaged around for what she neededold loudspeakers, wiring, some tools
Then she found her target
a set of smoke bombs and smoke flares that had been used long ago for festival atmosphere, now a bit shabby but seemingly usable. They'd been phased out for safety reasons.
Her plan was simple, but dangerous:
At dusk, when the rehearsal drew people up the mountain, she would stage a "divine sign" or an "accident."
Light smoke flares to create a haze.
Use the loudspeaker to issue warnings.
Guide people farther up the mountain, and keep them on the high ground until after the meteor fell
She knew it was clumsy, easy to see through, and might even get her punished.
But given the time and resources she had, it seemed the best way to save the most people.
All day long, she hid in the shed and the woods behind the shrine, quietly setting things up.
She tested the speaker batteries, chose good spots for releasing smoke, and rehearsed again and again what she'd say when the time came.
Her heart never stopped racing; her nerves were strung tight.
She checked the time over and over
wishing it would slow down so she could prepare better, yet wishing it would speed up so there'd finally be an outcome.
Occasionally, messages popped up in the group chatmostly friends checking in and asking for updates.
She only replied briefly, "I'm working on it," and didn't dare read more.
She was afraid that seeing all those encouraging words would make her break down
and afraid that seeing Rei Ao's name would make her lean on him, shaking her resolve to do everything she could herself.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
Currently You can Read 220+ Chapters Ahead of Others!
Chapter 900: Meteor Strike Down... Some survive but most of them are Dead...
The sun dipped westward.
The sky was slowly washed in orange-red afterglow.
Townsfolk began drifting toward the shrine in twos and threes.
The autumn festival rehearsal was about to start.
Mitsuha hid behind a big tree behind the shrine's main hall, clutching the pull-cord for the smoke flares and a megaphone. Her palms were slick with sweat.
She could hear laughter and chatter out front.
Her father was making some boilerplate remarks about the festival arrangements; he didn't sound the least bit enthusiastic.
He was the mayor of Itomori, yet he had an inexplicable dislike for the shrine and the community activities everyone took for granted. He still had to organize them, but he never wore a pleasant face.
Yeshe despised the shrine. The Miyamizu Shrine, to be exact.
As for why, Mitsuha didn't know.
Time was running out
8:20 p.m.
8:30 p.m.
The sky darkened; the first few stars appeared.
8:35 p.m.
Mitsuha's heart climbed into her throat.
Now!
She yanked the cord in her hand
Fssssst!
Several pre-placed smoke flares spat out thick white smoke, which quickly spread across the shrine's plaza!
"Whoa! What's happening?"
"Is something on fire?"
"Noit's smoke! Where's it coming from?!"
The crowd rippled with alarm.
