A/N

I've always wanted to write a watching/reading type of fic. It's one of my faves. Anyway I am inexperienced with this sort of writing but I am completely familiar with it. Bare with me.

He woke up with cold sweat trickling down his forehead accompanied by the salty tears that flowed from his sad blue eyes. This wasn't something new for him, it kind of happens every now and then.

For the past 5 years he'll wake up crying for a reason he cannot remember. Only a sense of longing filled the void in his heart.

Unconsciously, he picks up his right hand, staring at it for a few moments. The horizontal stroke he found there now long gone, but the image of it, still burned in his mind. It was something sentimental to him, a memory of something... or someone he can't quite recall.

He stands up weakly and prepares to face the world again.

Standing outside his apartment, he watches the city skyline of the place he knew for his whole life as the familiar feeling of yearning in his heart faded into something he could only describe as hopelessness.

And with that, he goes for another day.

Φ

She woke up with cold sweat trickling down her forehead accompanied by the salty tears that flowed from her rich brown eyes. This wasn't something new for her, it kind of happens every now and then.

For the past 8 years she'll wake up crying for a reason she cannot remember. Only a sense of longing filled the void inside her heart.

Automatically, she picks up her right hand, staring at it for a few moments. The faded characters she tried to keep written on her palm now barely readable. It was something sentimental to her, a reminder of something... or someone she can't quite recall.

She stands up on trembling knees as she prepares to face the world another day.

Standing outside her apartment, she watches the city skyline of the place she called her new home as the familiar feeling of yearning in her heart faded into something she could only describe as emptiness.

And with that, she goes for another day.

Φ

Cramped in a small space beside the train doors, she stared aimlessly at the speeding view of the city. Building after building, road after road, station after station, they were all the same.

Nothing was significant to her. With an empty heart, she continued to live an almost routine lifestyle that centered on absolutely nothing.

For 8 years everything stayed the same. For 8 years she'd been the same. For 8 years she grew, and yet for 8 years she was still nothing but a sad girl.

A sad girl with a life which meaning ceased to exist.

Φ

Cramped in a small space beside the train doors, he stared aimlessly at the speeding view of Tokyo. Building after building, road after road, faces after faces, and he still couldn't find what he's been looking for.

Nothing was significant to him. With a hopeless heart, he continued to put blind faith onto something that he wasn't even sure existed.

For 5 years everything stayed the same. For 5 years he grew wearier. For 5 years he grew, and yet for 5 years his heart continued to shrink.

A hopeless boy with a life which meaning continued to wane.

Φ

In the middle of her empty staring, a train bound the opposite way blocked her line of sight. As the train dimmed her view and shielded her from the burning sunlight, her melancholic gaze turned into surprised, unbelieving ones.

The empty filling in her heart was filled with something. Something she had already let go off. The hole in her being was filled with hope.

There, in front of her, were blue eyes which burned longing.

Φ

In the middle of his resigned contemplation, a train bound the opposite way blocked the view across from him. As the train dimmed his surroundings and shielded him from the burning sunlight, his despaired gaze turned into surprised, unbelieving ones.

The painful feeling in his heart was patched with something. Something he always looked for. His wounded spirit was patched with hope.

There, in front of him, were brown eyes which found meaning.

Φ

Wheezing past clusters of citizens, he pushed his way out the train and onto the station. After their trains have separated, his mind went blank but was left with one more thought.

Find her.

He didn't know what happened or why it happened, but he, for some unknown reason, felt drawn to the girl across the train. He knew that she was the answer to all his unanswered questions from the past 5 years. He knew that he was too.

Abandoning all logical thinking, abandoning all proper judgement, to hell with the job interview he was supposed to attend to. If he could see her one more time, he knew that he'll finally be happy..

Φ

Squeezing in between clusters of citizens, she weaved her way out the train and onto the station. After he disappeared from her sight, her mind went blank but was left with one more thought.

Find him.

She didn't know what happened or why it happened and quite frankly, she didn't care. She was certain that the reason why she felt connected to the boy across the train was because he was the key to unlocking the mysteries of her life this past 8 years. And she knew that she was too.

Abandoning all logical thinking, relying on nothing but instinct, whether her clients would understand and wait or not, she didn't care. If she could see him one more time, she knew that she'll be complete.

Φ

Moving past crowded places, or sprinting along empty streets they searched the whole city, going to wherever their feet may take them.

If there was one thing in common between them, its that they refused to let go of the hope inside their hearts.

With burning chests heaving up and down, the pair found each other.

One atop the staircase, one at the bottom.

With a decisive step, he starts to ascend the stairs.

With a hopeful step, she starts to descent the stairs.

In just a few steps, they'll be standing side by side, separated only by the railing.

In that moment, time seemed to slow down as they both hesitated... and let each other pass them by.

She bit her lower lip, her eyebrows furrowing as her eyes turned tearful with disappointment. She slowed down but didn't stop her descent as her heavy heart refused to believe that she was mistaken.

He arrived at the top of the staircase, silently berating himself for his cowardice. 'Was she not the one?' Was the fleeting thought that crossed his mind before he shook his head furiously.

"E-excuse me!"

She stopped her descent, as she heard his gruff voice call out to her as the flames of hope in her heart started burning once again.

"Haven't we,- Haven't I... met you somewhere?"

She turned to look at the brown haired man atop the staircase as her heart continued to be filled with warmth. Tears fell from her eyes but this time, it wasn't the tears of sorrow she had come to know every morning. These were tears of fulfillment, of joy.

"I-I thought so too!"

She smiled at him warmly against the blowing wind as he himself felt a teardrop fall from his eye.

"Can I ask you... your name?"

"Can I ask you... your name?"

Φ

Kataware-doki

A voice called, the words resonating in their heads. Paying no mind to it, the pair opened their mouths to tell each other their names, but no sound came out.

They tried to move but they weren't able to either. With panic stricken eyes, she tried to look around hoping for any semblance of sanity but all she could see was the orange tinted purple sky beyond the horizon.

When light and darkness become one. When something inhuman is said to happen.

He tried his hardest to move, trying to reach out to the girl he just met as his consciousness fades away.

He was frustrated. He finally found her, the missing link, and yet she was going to slip out of his grasp without him being able to do anything about it. He saw a tear escape her eye as the last thing he saw before he passed out was the untangling cord that lied on her hair, slowly encompassing the both of them in the pretty crimson color of the of it.

Tying thread is Musubi. Connecting people is Musubi.

She stayed conscious and watched in awestruck horror as her braided cord grew in length and hugged her and the frame of the man in front of her. A bright scope of colors blinded her for a moment then it disappeared.

A barren, nothing but white room met her eyes. She was afraid of everything and nothing at the same time. As the beating of her heart sped up, she noticed the single red thread on her finger, connected to the unconscious man a few feet away from her.

They were connected.

She didn't know why but she found comfort in that thought. Her rapidly beating heart slowed down its pace as she once again felt the bubbling warmth rising in her stomach. She was still afraid, but she thought that everything will be fine as long as she and the stranger were together.

Seemingly carrying all the burden in the world, she approached the unmoving frame of the man on the floor. With a heavy heart albeit her floating mind, she lowered herself to the floor and stared at his face. His face was eerily familiar, as if she'd seen it everyday although she was certain that she cannot remember any instance where they encountered.

Pushing his brown bangs away from his closed eyes, she was startled when he shot his eyes open, a number of emotions flashing in the oceanic blue dots.

From a restless one, his face finally settled into an expression of sad yearning. Unknowingly, his right hand came to rest on her left fist as his other hand moved up to touch her cheek.

"Please don't let this be a dream... again."

His pitiful gaze made her tear up as her right hand moved to hold his outstretched hand.

In that one moment, all her fears and all her worries were washed away.

With one touch, his bleeding heart was healed.

With one momentary touch, all the mysteries, the questions they had about their lives were forgotten. They considered completely abandoning all their forgotten memories if it meant they could somehow be together, one way or another.

In the arms of a familiar stranger.

They were snapped out of their mutual reverie when the faintest noises caught their ear. They surveyed the white void as they tried to look for wherever those sounds came from.

Acting on pure instinct, they stood up and stood back to back as their fingers intertwined. It was a comfortable feeling for them. The warmth of the other's hand were instruments of confidence for them.

They barely knew each other, but they felt like they knew each other best.

Their tensed shoulders relaxed onto each other as the sounds they've heard increased in volume and were now audible voices. Recognizable voices.

"Where the hell am I?"

"This isn't funny anymore!"

"Calm down Sayaka."

"I swear if Takagi is behind this, I will personally choke him to death!"

Reluctantly, they let go of each other's hand as they shouted into the void.

"Takagi! Okudera-senpai! Can you hear me?"

"Tessie! Saya-chan! Yotsuha! It's me, Mitsuha!"

Mitsuha... Each syllable of her name felt good as it rolled off his tongue. Smiling, he turned around and faced the woman across him as he ignored the warm yet bittersweet feeling creeping up his chest.

"Taki. Tachibana Taki."

Despite her complicated emotions, she smiled as he told her his name. His name sounded awfully familiar, though she swore it was the first time she heard of it.

"Taki? Hey buddy where the hell are you?!"

"Taki! It's Tsukasa, I'm with Miki!"

"And who is Mitsuha?!"

"Mitsuha! Where are we?"

"Nee-chan? Dad and grandma's here with me!"

"I hear other people too!"

The chorus of loud voices were gradually getting nearer and yet nothing, no one was still in sight. Drops of sweat fell to the floor as the pair found solace in each other's presence. They had no idea what was happening, they could hear numerous other people yet all they had was each other and the strangely glittering red thread.

The red thread.

These braided cords are the representation of time itself.

Taki felt a tug at his fingers as he noticed Mitsuha tugging at seemingly nothing, but he felt his own finger being pulled.

"W-what are you doing?" He gave her a questioning look as she tugged at the air for one last time as the weird pressure on his finger disappeared.

"Here hold this." She held out her right palm and all he saw were faint characters that read 'I love you'. He stifled his laugh as he gave her a cute smile.

"That's incredibly cheesy and I thought I was cheesy."

She gave him a weird look as she looked at her palm and saw nothing but the red thread.

"I see nothing cheesy there."

"Well I only see somethi-"

Patience wearing thin, she grabbed her hand and let him hold onto the red thread. He gasped in surprise as the red thread materialized in front of him.

"Woah, how did you do that?"

She slapped her forehead in frustration. It's not really a good thing that her first impression of him was now goofy and childish.

"I did nothing."

"I'm certain you did."

"I di-"

"Nee-chan!"

She was cut off by the sound of a twin-tailed high school girl calling out to her. Turning around, she found her remaining family holding on to the increasing length of the red thread.

She ran to her sister and grandmother and gave them both a hug. Though her relationship with her father had become better over the past 8 years, all they gave each other was a smile and a nod.

"And who's this guy?" Her sister eyed the tall man that followed Mitsuha.

Mitsuha introduced her family to him and vice versa as he noticed Yotsuha examine him from head to toe and her father give him a skeptical gaze. But the one he noticed the most was the look of recognition that Hitoha Miyamizu gave him.

"I... have seen you somewhere. Haven't I?"

He himself felt it, he'd definitely seen these people before. He shifted uncomfortably but before he could give her an answer of denial, he heard a new voice call out from the empty room.

"Taki?"

"Dad?"

"Son? Where are you? What is this place?"

"I don't know either Dad!"

He paced back and forth, questions plaguing his mind. Why was he here? Just who exactly is Mitsuha? And why was his family and friends here?

He turned to look at the comforting gaze Mitsuha gave him. He saw in her eyes that she too had the same questions in her head. He calmed down and leaned onto her soft touch.

"Taki-san's friends and father, can you hear me?" Taki averted his eyes and looked at Hitoha's small frame as she called out to the void.

A chorus of yes and yeps met their ears as the old woman stood firm and strained her broken voice.

"You cannot see it, but there should be a thread in front of you. Take hold of it and blink."

"You sure ma'am? I'm not going crazy am I?"

"No Takagi. Because if you are, then so are we."

"Then maybe we're all just mad?"

The calm woman sighed in rare frustration as she heard the pointless bickering of the unseen. Taki couldn't help but chuckle at how similar Mitsuha and her grandmother looked when annoyed. Much to his dismay, Mitsuha smacked his head as she noticed him giving her a funny look.

A few moments later, a few figures appeared before their eyes. The man named Takagi stared at them in disbelief as he kept on convincing himself that he's either dreaming, or went completely bonkers.

Needless to say, Tsukasa bonked his friend on his head.

"So, what's this place?"

Taki's father, who made his way beside his son, voiced the question on everyone's mind. They were currently standing, forming a circle looking at each and everyone in the room.

"I'm not quite sure but..." the eldest one of the group spoke, her voice demanding attention. She held everyone's gazes as she gave a lingering look at Mitsuha and Taki who stood side by side.

"This too, is Musubi."

"What is Mu-" Okudera attempted to ask but was cut off as the crimson red string that they all held onto began to expand.

They watched in awe, amazement, and horror as the thin string enveloped them, replacing the white void with red as it climbed onto the bodies of each individual up to their faces as it covered their eyes.

No amount of struggling helped them as they could do nothing against the sheer force of the red thread.

"Ow! What the hell?!"

"Ack! I think it slapped me on the face!"

"Please calm do-"

"Ah! I've read too many inappropriate mags to know what's happening!"

"What the hell Takagi?"

"Watch your mouths, I'm under aged!"

"Please calm down everyone!"

Mitsuha caught everyone's attention as they all settled down. She felt a familiar hand pat her on her shoulder as she too relaxed.

A few moments and maybe a few tugs later, the blindfolds untangled themselves from the eyes of each individual. They blinked the soreness away as they beheld the sight in front of them.

Cushioned chairs stood in front of them all lined up to a few rows with an irregular number of columns. To both sides of the chairs were tables of fresh country foods and mouth-watering city treats blessed their eyes. It only took them so much restraint and discipline to keep themselves from devouring everything on the tables.

The thing that caught each of their eyes were the strings that connected them to the chairs, as if telling them where to sit. They all instinctively sat on their respective chairs.

Taki's father and the 2 elder Miyamizus took the 3 furthest seats. Directly below and in front of them were 6 seats wherein three young adults of Tokyo took the seats on the right side and Yotsuha and the engaged Tessie and Sayaka sat on the left.

"You go Taki!"

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend Mitsuha!"

They ignored their friends catcalling as the two sat on the 2 lone seats at the front. They were fine being close with each other earlier, but now that they were in close company, they couldn't help but be a blushing mess of awkwardness.

The best thing was, they just met not even an hour ago.

"Greetings."

A loud yet gentle voice echoed throughout the theater-like room. They all turned their attention to the blank, white screen that occupied the entire space in front.

"I assume you are all familiar with movies?"

Though no one seemed to speak, the faintest "Who doesn't?" echoed in the silent space.

"My apologies for it has been a long time since I have encountered humans personally. Anyway, who I am, or what I am, is unnecessary. You were brought here by the string of fate as the connection between two of your friends and family, have finally come to fruition."

The two felt the burning stares of their companions and they shuddered in nervousness. If they could've went redder than they already were, they probably did.

Again, they found comfort and peace when their hands met each other.

"The two of you were connected through space and time. You two changed each other's lives and the lives of those around you."

Instead of getting answers, the remarks of voice just added to the piles and piles of questions they had for each other. They knew they were connected somehow. But to which extent, they had no idea.

"The details are fuzzy as the two of you broke the universe's rules itself."

Everyone in the room gasped as they thought of just how special those two were. The hairs on their skin stood up in anticipation of whatever they might learn.

"So, you are gathered here today, in a place where the rules of time and space does not exist, to watch how the story of the country girl and the city boy unfolded."

Taki and Mitsuha covered their faces in embarrassment as they had trouble coping up with the situation at hand.

Their brains were just being overflowed with new knowledge and mixed emotions and they just didn't know how to deal with it. Mitsuha felt the hand of her sister over her shoulder as she raised her eyes and met Yotsuha's comforting gaze. Her shoulders slumped as she thanked her sister silently and turned back to Taki who was being teased by his friends.

"You have been accommodated with all the necessities you will need. The film is not that long but, I give you free will to do whatever you may want to do with your time here. Food is on the table and comfort rooms are at the back. The screen also runs on voice commands."

"I suggest you that all of you take time to know each other in a deeper sense before you start watching. You are now all connected make the most of it."

For some reason, they felt like giving an applause, to which they did. This was definitely the strangest moment of their lives, but it might just be the most memorable one.

"I am quite busy, and cannot be here for any longer. I will be back before you leave. For now, I will entertain one question."

Hitoha Miyamizu was a proud woman. She held herself to a pedestal of knowing more than most, and so she let her hand rise up as she voiced out her question.

"Could you... possibly be..."

A rush of cold air blew on everyone's faces as they closed their eyes. Each and every one of them saw a gentle smile cross their minds as the voice spoke again.

"I must go now."

And with that, they were left with a blank screen as they tried to hold their excitement in.

A/N

Most of the things I wrote here in the prologue were done with little to no research. It'll get better soon.

This will be a fairly short fanfic and if I end up cutting the story to more than just 1 chapter, expect the first chapter to be done by this week.