22 Claire

At High School.

The class in session was the Chinese language, and Claire was lying on her desk, fiddling with her water pen. Underneath the pen was a drawing.

If anyone saw the drawing, they would recognize it instantly—it was a sketch of "Your Name," obviously done by Claire with her water pen.

"Isn't class over yet..." Claire's legs shook with impatience.

Today was the release day of the new issue of Picca Comics.

She was eager to see what sparks would fly between the two characters who had switched bodies.

Just then, the bell signaling the end of the class rang.

The Chinese teacher assigned homework and then left the classroom.

Meanwhile, Claire's deskmate, a girl with short hair, leaned over and looked at Claire with a speechless expression: "Claire, you have to take responsibility for me."

"What do you mean?" Claire, who was jotting down the homework, looked up in confusion.

What responsibility?

"You've been shaking the whole time, I'm about to get motion sickness."

"Get out of here!" Claire, annoyed, smacked her forehead, "Eunseo, I'm telling you I won't take responsibility for you. Forget about it."

"Heh, tui, you heartbreaker!" Eunseo feigned anger. Just then, she noticed the drawing on the paper, picked it up, and marveled, "Claire, tell me, why aren't you pursuing art with your skills? Why stick with us in a humanities class?"

In Eunseo's opinion, Claire's drawing skills were only slightly inferior to the artist who drew "Your Name," but definitely better than many of the fan arts circulating online.

"I couldn't possibly." Claire waved her hand dismissively, "My family can't afford that..."

Speaking of which, her tone became a bit subdued.

Her family wasn't poor, but they were just an ordinary household. Studying art wasn't about affordability, but it would stretch their modest finances even thinner.

Her academic performance was quite good anyway, and she could get into a decent university through the standard route.

"That's true." Eunseo nodded in agreement, though she still felt it was a shame, "It's a waste, really. You could be an assistant to that 'Porter' with your skills."

"Being an assistant..." Claire looked thoughtful.

Unfortunately, that comic artist wasn't hiring assistants, and honestly, being a comic artist or assistant wasn't just about drawing skills but also involved layout and other technical skills, which she wasn't very familiar with.

"Let's go." Without dwelling on it any further, Claire grabbed her backpack and rushed out with her friend.

When they reached the bookstore, Claire noticed that Picca Comics had sold quite a few copies.

Clearly more popular than the last time she visited.

Her friend also noticed this and was quite amazed, "Wow, this 'Porter' really knows how to drive sales. He must be some big name's alter ego, right?"

Before, these comics would just pile up unsold, but now they were flying off the shelves in just a few days.

"It's the impact of having a pillar for the magazine."

Why hadn't Picca Comics been selling before? They lacked a pillar. The other comics were mediocre and didn't compel people to follow them.

Quality comics are available in any magazine, and those magazines also contain high-quality works, so why would anyone buy a magazine with only mediocre works?

"I'll head off first." After buying the comic, Claire couldn't wait to part ways with her friend, leaving Eunseo alone to mutter under the cold wind, irritated, "Pfft, heartbreaker, just yesterday you said we'd go home together, and now that you've got a new love, you've forgotten your old one!"

Back home, Claire changed into her pajamas and rushed to her room with the comic, inhaling deeply.

She was a bit anxious, afraid that the comic would start off spectacularly only to turn into a typical romance story later on.

This wasn't impossible; many comics and novels started strong but faltered later. Some authors just run out of steam after a few chapters and spend half an hour just to come up with a title.

She was very fond of "Your Name," so she hoped it wouldn't end up like that.

She flipped directly to the section where "Your Name" was featured.

Relieved, she saw that the artwork was as beautiful as before, calming her restless mind.

Seeing the scene where Taki wakes up in Mitsuha's body again, Claire couldn't help but laugh.

Taki, transformed into Mitsuha, sits up and instinctively goes to touch himself.

But just as he's about to, he stops, a sly smile on his face, "Never mind, it wouldn't be fair to her."

Saying so, he lets his hands fall to his sides.

Then, the scene shifts to Mitsuha's sister Yotsuha, who suddenly pushes open the door to Mitsuha's room. There, Taki, who had just decided against groping himself, is now vigorously doing just that.

"What's this? Hypocrisy?" Claire chuckled at the irony.

Especially when Yotsuha, looking resigned, says, "You really do love yourself, don't you?"

It was clear Taki probably did this every time he found himself in Mitsuha's body.

"Hmm? What's this..."

As Claire looked at the next panel, she frowned slightly.

The news on TV was reporting a comet soon to pass over Mitsuha's village—something she remembered being highlighted in the first episode.

Claire quickly fetched the previous issue of Picca Comics to confirm, and sure enough, there was that scene.

Moreover, it was even featured on the cover.

"This must be important!" she guessed silently.

Time ticked by, and each new frame left Claire in awe—the artwork was stunning. If such beautiful scenes existed in real life, she felt she'd definitely want to see them.

Engrossed, she read on until the end of the episode.

Taki, after making a date with a colleague named Ami, sees a memo Mitsuha left on his phone:

"When the date ends, you'll be able to see the comet in the sky."

"So, it's here? No other clues?" Claire was puzzled, but as she continued, she noticed something odd.

Taki seemed completely unaware of the memo and even called Mitsuha to ask about it.

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Make sure to give more power stones! Little Yueyue says so!

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