Tokyo, Higashi Junior High School, Rooftop
'Kyousuke is amazing. To think that as a middle schooler, he earns so much! Now I can finally eat without worrying!'
With that thought, Mitsuha blissfully enjoyed the assortment of desserts and milk tea that Kisaki had brought her.
Kisaki sat to the side, not doing his usual routine of studying or solving problems, but instead looked at his older brother with a pained expression.
He remembered his older brother once saying that, for certain reasons, he usually avoided eating sweets.
But now, his boss was eating them with such joy!
Could it be that another personality was in control of the body today?
Thinking this, he suddenly spoke up, asking, "Is it really that delicious?"
"Of course! I've never had anything like this in Itomori…"
Mitsuha, completely caught up in the joy of eating, momentarily forgot where she was and thought that Sayaka or Teshigawara had asked her the question.
She was about to share her thoughts on the delicious food.
But then, as the words left her mouth, she froze. The cake she was about to lift to her mouth also stopped midair.
'What did I just say? Did Kisaki hear that? He didn't, did he?'
Mitsuha slowly turned her head to look at Kisaki Tetta, like a rusty robot.
"Itomori? What's that?" Kisaki asked blankly. Was it a place created by his older boss other personality?
"Itomori... Itomori is, haha…" Mitsuha tried to play it off, but she forgot she was using Kyousuke's body.
As her brother's alternate personality repeated the name, Kisaki felt it sounded familiar.
He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to get hung up on that. What mattered was correcting his older brother's alternate personality.
After learning about the personality split, Kisaki had researched how to treat it.
He understood that the focus should be on the coherence between the split personality and the original one.
If the alternate personality became too much like the original, could it still be considered a split personality?
It was this reasoning that, despite not wanting to buy the cakes, he went ahead and bought them, hoping that later he'd be able to talk to this personality more easily.
"I know all about you and Hojou Kyousuke," Kisaki said.
'Ehhhhhhhhhh!?' Mitsuha almost screamed in surprise.
She had already imagined what might happen if she were discovered, and now it seemed like the moment had come.
Thanks to Teshigawara being a fan of the occult, Mitsuha had access to expired magazines from various countries.
There were all sorts of odd titles like "Mystery," "Occult," and more.
Although she wasn't interested, she often overheard things like:
"Researchers found a new animal in the Hida Mountains and dissected it for study."
"A person with thirteen personalities, five hospitals fighting to study them."
Though she wasn't sure of the truth, just thinking about it sent shivers down her spine. Every time this happened, Mitsuha would comfort her frightened friends and scold the troublemakers.
But now, the focus was on her!!
What should she do? What should she do?!
'Think, Mitsuha, think! Use Kyousuke's smart brain!'
Mitsuha clenched her fist, the strength in her hand giving her a bit of confidence.
'Right! All I have to do is make Kisaki forget about it! With Kyousuke's strength, maybe one punch would do the trick, just like in that manga on his phone!'
She looked at Kisaki's serious face, and her right hand tightened and relaxed a few times, trying to gauge her options.
No, Kisaki invited me to a delicious cafe. Hitting him would be too cruel.
'Could I control my strength and just erase this memory of his? Yotsuba's TV dramas have something like that, right?'
Mitsuha clenched her fist again, feeling the varying sensations of pressure. Her eyes remained fixed on Kisaki's head as she considered her next move.
"Split personalities aren't that scary," Kisaki Tetta said, after thinking for a moment. "If you study Kyousuke's way of doing things, you can become just as capable as him. You can become a personality that's useful to society."
Wait… Did Kisaki just say "split personalities"? What's he talking about?
Mitsuha relaxed her hand, realizing the situation might not be as bad as she thought.
"I talked to Hojou about this yesterday. He doesn't mind your split personality and is willing to get along with you," Kisaki added.
'What?! Kyousuke told Kisaki about this?!' Mitsuha immediately thought that the reason he hadn't written it in the memo was to scare her.
Just as she was about to get angry, she remembered all the people who had come to her last night to unload their troubles.
Her grandmother had said that there had been three times as many visitors as usual.
She also remembered the scene from the last time they swapped, half asleep and half awake.
She felt a bit embarrassed. She had been enjoying herself in Tokyo, giving Kyousuke terrible grades, while he had been doing his job as a priest.
Sigh… He had it rough too.
While Mitsuha was lost in thought, Kisaki spoke again.
"Let's start with math. Hojou is really good at it. You only got those low scores because you didn't appear for long enough. But if you use the same brain, you'll catch up to me in no time."
He then pulled out a workbook from beside him.
Mitsuha glanced at the remaining sweets and then at the ominous-looking workbook.
She sighed in resignation, wiped her hands, and prepared to endure Kisaki's tutoring.
One problem after another, from simple to complex, filled page after page. Though it was painful, she kept going, remembering how badly she had performed in the past.
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After school, Mitsuha found herself practicing swordsmanship under Kisaki's watchful eye.
Why does a priest have to practice swordsmanship? she silently moaned, but her movements remained precise. She knew that she couldn't keep using "my older brother's face" to get away with things forever. So, even though she was reluctant, she practiced diligently to avoid embarrassing Hojou Kyousuke.
After a while, she said, "Kisaki, can we go eat now? I'm starving."
Usually, Mitsuha would slack off at school, but after all the mental exertion today, she was famished.
"Sure. After we eat, we'll start learning to ride motorcycles."
"Motorcycles? Sure!" Mitsuha liked this idea. She had been eyeing Kyousuke's motorcycle for a while.
"We'll go to an Italian restaurant. Hojou used to go there often for dinner."
"Ah? Is it Garden of Words? But…"
"Don't worry. It's not the one Hojou used to visit. It's the one run by his subordinate's family."
"Phew, that's a relief."
Mitsuha let out a breath of relief, but a small sense of disappointment crept in. While
Kisaki and the others were great friends, she still wanted to meet Kyousuke's female friends.
She was curious about the latest fashion trends in Tokyo, the popular styles.
Of course, she didn't dare write this in the memo.
Kyousuke had explicitly told her not to reply to messages in the memo, clearly indicating that he didn't want her meddling with his relationships.
But now, as she thought about the completely changed Itomori, Mitsuha felt a little eager to help Kyousuke out.
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