61 Is Body-Swapping and Time Travel the New Trend?

Time moved forward, and the meeting had just started.

Kyousuke, feeling bored, looked at his subordinates below, who were excitedly treating Toman as a minor obstacle.

He really wanted to warn them—Toman's leader is someone who can go berserk, so they better be careful or they'll end up in trouble.

So boring... Can the meeting end soon so I can go for a ride with Celty?

This time, I'll be the one driving her.

Thinking about the thrill of it made Kyousuke's heart race, and he stretched lazily.

Yawn~

Before he even opened his eyes, Kyousuke realized something had changed in the environment.

Some light had already filtered through his eyelids and reached his retina, but the light at Nezu Shrine was never this bright.

He quickly calmed himself and cautiously opened his eyes.

"Mitsuha, what's wrong? If you're too tired, you can rest for now," a silver-haired old woman, dressed in a black yukata, spoke to him.

It seemed she was talking to him.

"Hm-hm, I'm fine." Kyousuke smiled and shook his head, pretending to get back to work.

As someone who had traveled to another world before, he was quite familiar with this type of scenario.

It was just another body swap—no big deal.

But, wait... did she just say "Mitsuha"?

This body is actually female?

Kyousuke looked down and easily noticed the chest of the brick-red yukata, which was propped up by his—her—body.

Then, as he focused on the sensations, he realized something was very off.

Is it trending now to travel into a woman's body?

He muttered to himself as he quickly scanned the surroundings.

In front of him were several weaving machines, and the thing they were weaving appeared to be something called "knotting."

He had seen one of them earlier in his hands.

Next to him, a little girl with two pigtails, dressed in a pink yukata, was wrapping thread around a spool, looking focused.

Kyousuke grabbed one of the spools to examine it more closely.

"Put it in the third slot on the opposite side, Mitsuha. What are you spacing out for?" The silver-haired old woman tilted her head slightly and peered at him through her glasses.

"Okay," Kyousuke smiled again and began to follow the instructions.

But looking at the weaving machine in front of him, he fell silent.

Third slot?

Should he count from left to right, or right to left?

Should he start from the blue or the red one?

"Big sis, you're so dumb! You said I should focus, but you're the one being a idiot. Grandma means this spot!"

The little girl, Yotsuba, dropped the spool and grabbed Kyousuke's hand, placing the spool in the correct spot.

So, this grandmother was Mitsuha's grandmother.

"Mitsuha, you should guide Yotsuba for a bit," the grandmother said.

"Yay!" Yotsuba cheered and squeezed past Kyousuke to sit in front of the machine.

This body is so weak... a little girl can shove me around.

Kyousuke silently knelt down to the side, surveying the room as he thought to himself.

Unsure whether the grandmother was trying to educate him or tell a story to keep her granddaughter alert, the old woman began telling a tale.

"To hear the voice of the knot, one must let emotions flow between time, people, and the knot," she said with a deep tone.

Kyousuke understood she was trying to educate him, but he kept smiling.

Yes, when you don't know what's going on, just keep smiling.

Yotsuba, however, piped up. "Knotting doesn't talk!"

"Yotsuba, you made a mistake with that thread!" the grandmother scolded.

"Ah!" Yotsuba quickly fixed it.

"I think grandma wants you to focus more," Kyousuke chimed in with a grin, shifting the blame.

As a pro at pretending, he knew that nodding along, agreeing, and applauding would prevent people from realizing he was a complete novice.

The grandmother continued her story.

"In the knots we weave, we inscribe a thousand years of history."

"Listen closely. The story goes back 200 years."

"The fire in the bathhouse of the Kewa Gorou family burned down the whole area."

"The shrine and ancient documents were lost. This is what we call the Kewa Gorou Great Fire."

A bathhouse fire? And it destroyed the whole area?

Kyousuke thought it was probably some sort of fabricated story made up to scare kids, especially since it was hard to find any historical records.

The Japanese love making up these kinds of cautionary tales, don't they?

Yotsuba directly responded, "Huh? They even used his name? Poor Kewa Gorou!"

Haha, what a cute little girl. Kyousuke couldn't help but laugh inwardly. See? It worked. If you don't want your name used for disasters, just behave.

"And my stupid son-in-law, not only did he abandon his priestly duties and run away, but now he wants to enter politics!"

"What does he think he's doing!" The grandmother fumed.

Oh, now it's about priesthood and politics.

This backstory is getting complicated.

Yawn~

Though he usually felt full of energy speeding down the roads, Kyousuke was already starting to feel tired.

"Mitsuha, if you're sleepy, you should rest for now."

"Just make sure you're numbered before the Kagura dance. Yotsuba, you should go rest too," the grandmother said.

"Okay, grandma. You rest too!" Kyousuke immediately stood up, feeling too tired to stay any longer.

He quietly followed Yotsuba out of the room.

The house was large, with different corridors connecting unfamiliar buildings.

"Big sis, why are you following me? Your room is next door," Yotsuba turned around and asked.

"Oh, I just realized I didn't say good night yet," Kyousuke said casually.

"Good night, dumb big sis!" Yotsuba said with a playful tone and slammed the door shut.

Shaking his head, Kyousuke entered the room next door.

He switched on the light, revealing a somewhat messy room.

A plush teddy bear sat against the wall, with scattered books, a hair dryer, and a jewelry box.

And then, there was a full-length mirror.

[Your Name: Miyamizu Mitsuha (Main Character)]

Weird, there's a cursor.

Does that mean I'm trapped in some kind of event?

Kyousuke thought of Celty, the Dullahan from Dullahan Chronicles.

If even non-human beings exist, then entering a girl's body named "Miyamizu Mitsuha" didn't seem that strange.

But she's actually a pretty good-looking girl.

Kyousuke stared at himself in the mirror, seeing the "Mitsuha" in a plain yukata.

I can't sleep in this yukata, can I? It'll get wrinkled.

He reached behind and tugged at the knot on the waist belt, loosening it slowly. The yukata loosened, and Kyousuke pulled it off, revealing the body beneath.

Staring at the glowing figure in the mirror, Kyousuke's throat tightened.

Since it was a yukata, Mitsuha wasn't wearing a bra.

So real...

He hesitated, then raised his hands, but quickly scolded himself.

No, no, I can't do this to someone else's body. Kyousuke scolded himself harshly.

Yawn~

He stretched, turned off the light, and lay down under the covers.

His hands naturally rested on his chest.

Huh? Does the owner of this body sleep like this?

I can't help it, Kyousuke thought, closing his eyes.