In the dead of night, all was silent.

Okudera Miki had long since drifted into deep sleep.

She didn't know how much time had passed when a strange sensation stirred her.

"Hm…?"

Her brows knit. That odd feeling forced her to pry open her sleepy eyes. Blurred vision slowly came into focus—on a face, impossibly handsome and far too close.

Iridescent, fathomless eyes. A straight nose. Thin, sculpted lips… Every line of his cheek was flawless, without a single blemish.

So handsome.

That was her first thought.

Her brain was still half-asleep, but in the next second she snapped fully awake.

What is happening?!

"Who are you?!"

He actually let go the moment he heard her.

Those bottomless dark eyes rested on her—no anger, no impatience at her sudden resistance. Only a cool, searching clarity, as if he already understood everything.

"Miss, please calm down first."

"I think this is an accident caused by your own will."

His voice was low and steady, carrying a strangely soothing force.

An accident?

Miki was shocked and furious in equal measure.

What kind of "accident" is this supposed to be?!

For a heartbeat she even thought of killing him and then ending herself.

Before she could erupt again, the man gave a casual swipe with his free hand. A delicate, mercury-sheen mirror appeared out of thin air and stood there in the air, perfectly steady. Its smooth surface reflected her current appearance with utter clarity.

In the mirror—

A face, slightly twisted by fear and anger… a young woman's face.

She looked to be in her early twenties: fine features, smooth skin. Big amber eyes brimming with tears. Long black hair spilling in disarray…

"What?"

Miki was stunned.

That wasn't her.

That wasn't Okudera Miki at all.

Her pupils contracted to pinpoints. Every scream and struggle jammed in her throat. Eyes wide, she raised a hand in front of her face—it was obviously younger and more slender than hers.

She touched her cheeks, trembling.

The feel was completely unfamiliar.

This wasn't her body.

In the mirror, the young woman mirrored her movements, the same shock and disbelief written across her face.

The blow was so great Miki's mind went blank. Was she still dreaming—some bizarre nightmare? Had wishing for love before bed left her with a ridiculous fever dream?

While her thoughts spiraled, the man—Rei Ao—spoke again. His gaze flicked over her stricken face, then to the mirror.

"It seems," he said, calm to a frightening degree, even faintly amused, "that my dear girlfriend Mitsuha's soul has, for some reason, swapped with yours."

"Right now, you—an unfamiliar lady—are in this body."

He paused, leaned in slightly toward the completely petrified Miki. Warm breath brushed her ear as he asked the question that made her soul jump out of her skin:

"So, given that you're using my girlfriend's body, and I was in the middle of… communicating with her—do you think I should continue?"

He tossed the choice lightly to Miki, whose brain had crashed entirely.

He was not, by nature, a one-woman man. He had no intention of letting either Mitsuha or Miki go.

Continue?

Stop?

The world reeled. Her entire worldview shattered. A soul swap? Something out of manga and movies was happening to her—now, of all times.

She looked at the man before her: handsome, commanding, and apparently unfazed by the supernatural. Under that deep gaze that seemed to pierce straight through her, Miki heard herself—using this unfamiliar young woman's voice—say, "Your call…"

"In that case," Rei Ao's eyes held the faintest smile, "I won't refuse."

And he really did as he said.

Have I made a terrible choice? That was Miki's last coherent thought before reason slipped away.

…

Far off in a Tokyo apartment, the real Miyamizu Mitsuha's soul slept on inside Okudera Miki's body, unaware of everything. Because of a wish and a bargain, fate's course had veered once again in a strange new direction.

~~~

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