Chapter 449: Meteorite

The saleswoman was a stunning young lady.

Long black hair tied back with a red ribbon, a smile that felt warm and genuine. The engagement ring on her left ring finger showed she was already engaged.

"I'm looking for a gift for my girlfriend for Christmas. Do you have any suggestions, Miss Miyamizu?"

(Miyamizu Mitsuha from Your Name)

"I see. Got it," she smiled. "We get lots of students around this time of year—especially today. It's Christmas Eve, so a lot of guys come here with their girlfriends."

As she spoke, she glanced toward Kaguya.

"Is this your girlfriend?"

Kaguya: "I'm not."

Rinji: "My standards aren't that low."

Kaguya: "Hey!"

"My apologies. So you're looking for something to express your feelings? We have some nice, budget-friendly items perfect for students," Miyamizu offered.

"Hmm... Price doesn't matter. What I want is something one-of-a-kind. Ideally, something truly unique—only one in the world."

Kaguya: "Could you please think before you speak? There's no way something like that would be in a department store's jewelry shop."

"Huh? Really?"

"Of course not."

"One-of-a-kind, huh..."

Miyamizu paused to think. Then she suddenly said:

"Actually, there is."

"Huh?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pendant.

Though called a pendant, it was just a plain-looking stone strung on a red cord.

Its only remarkable feature was its perfectly symmetrical five-point star shape.

"This thing... doesn't even count as jewelry."

"You're right," Miyamizu said, still smiling. "It's not. This is actually a meteorite."

"A meteorite?"

Rinji and Kaguya both froze.

Kaguya immediately thought of something and asked, "Is it from the small meteorite that fell in Gifu two and a half years ago?"

"Yes. It landed in Itomori Town in Hida City. I used to live there."

"I see... That was quite the incident."

Kaguya nodded.

"Good thing your mayor reacted quickly. Otherwise, the entire town could've been in danger when the meteorite fell."

"It was still a disaster. The people who lived there had to leave their homes. I moved to Tokyo because of that incident," Miyamizu said with a smile. "But life in Tokyo has been good. I'm getting married here next year."

"Congratulations."

Kaguya offered her congratulations, glancing at the "pendant" on the counter.

It was probably a shard from the meteorite that fell, picked up by chance.

As a gift, it was impressive. Meteorites weren't exactly common.

Rinji also looked at the meteorite on the counter.

He knew that back when IW tried to transport the fallen meteorite back to headquarters, they nearly clashed with the US military stationed in Japan.

At the time, Rinji had been curious. After all, meteorites were just space rocks—material that had broken off from their orbit and entered Earth or another planet's atmosphere without completely burning up.

There were tons of those in space. With IW's capability, collecting them in space wouldn't have been hard. So why go to such lengths for a single meteorite?

Probably the US military figured it wasn't worth the trouble either, so they let IW take the whole thing.

But Rinji also understood that Sousuke, the current president of IW, wasn't stupid. If he was willing to go so far, it had to be for a good reason.

Kaguya and Rinji both reached for the meteorite fragment on the counter.

Zzt—

"Ah!"

The moment their hands touched the stone's surface, it felt like an electric shock. They immediately pulled their hands back.

"Are you okay?"

Miyamizu looked at them in confusion, not understanding what had just happened.

"No, it's nothing."

Rinji frowned, looking at the meteorite shard, and asked Miyamizu,

"Miss Miyamizu, has anything strange happened while wearing this meteorite?"

"No, it's just an ordinary stone. I only kept it because I thought it looked pretty. I polished it a bit and made it into a pendant."

"I see…"

Sensing something odd, Rinji paused for a moment before asking, "Miss Miyamizu, could I buy this pendant from you?"

"Eh?"

"You can name any price. I won't haggle."

"Sorry, this pendant isn't for sale."

"I see…"

"But if you like it, I don't mind giving it to you." Miyamizu smiled.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Of course. It's not worth anything anyway. Just something I made for fun. If you like it, that's more than enough."

"…Thank you. If you ever need anything from me, just say the word."

Rinji picked up the pendant from the counter.

This time, there was no electric shock.

"Haha, it's nothing big," Miyamizu said, amused by the boy who looked to be around sixteen. "It's the thought that counts. I don't have much use for a high schooler's help anyway."

---

"Hot pot on Christmas Eve, not bad at all."

"Yeah… by the way, aren't we inviting little Rinji?"

"That kid's probably spending Christmas with his girlfriend. Young people have their own lives. Us old folks can have our own Christmas. The alumni of Jindai High's student council gathering again—definitely worth remembering~"

Out on the street, Sagara Sousuke and Rinji's father walked along the sidewalk.

Rinji's father was carrying a bag full of condiments.

"Sensei, there's something I've never quite understood."

"What is it?"

"Why did you tell me, over ten years ago, that a meteorite would fall two and a half years ago?" Sousuke asked. "Headquarters' satellites only showed it would pass by Earth. No one expected a chunk to suddenly break off and crash to the surface."

"Oh, just a random guess."

"But the fragment you gave me back then is definitely from the meteorite that fell two and a half years ago."

As he spoke, Sousuke pulled out a piece of stone from his pocket.

"You still kept that thing I gave you ten years ago?"

"Yes, because you told me it was important."

The stone in Sousuke's hand had a perfectly shaped star design.

One of its corners had a small, oddly-placed hole—just large enough for a string to pass through.