We got to the sushi place and sat down at a table for two. It was one of those conveyor belt places with a tablet on each table for us to order and have it automatically delivered to us. The tables had separators between them, making this the perfect place for a conversation. This is it. I’m gonna find out what really happened during our first encounter.
“What do they have in here?” Miyuki sat down like she owned the place and grabbed the tablet on the table. “Do I even care?” After a quick glance, she tapped the screen at random several tis in a row.
“Have you ordered already?! What did you even pick?” I barely had ti to sit before she finished placing her first order.
“Couldn’t tell you. I’m just hoping for a nice surprise.” Wow… She’s so cool and wild… That’s just like her…
“Is that fine? What if you end up getting sothing weird?” Miyuki shrugged and handed
the tablet.
“We’re at a sushi place. Everything’s good here. Even if I get sothing really weird, one bite, and it’s gone. It’s not a big deal. Worst case scenario, I can always count on you to help
out. Right, Iroha?”
“I an… If it’s nothing too weird…”
It wasn’t long until our orders arrived. Miyuki was delighted with the variety of stuff she got, but I preferred to stick to the simpler types of sushi. The fatty tuna tastes even better than normal at half the price.
“Hey, Miyuki, can I ask you about when we first t?” The rate at which we were placing our orders eventually slowed down, so I went for it. What happened with Miyuki when we first t… There’s gotta be more to it. If I can find out more, maybe I can learn sothing about the portals. I bet Carol’s also doing her part, so I can’t let her down. “When we got ice cream together, I an.” I had to half whisper since I couldn’t be completely sure no one was listening.
“This again, Iroha? I already told you everything I rember. Do you really need to ask about it again?” Miyuki responded casually, completely disregarding the fact that I was whispering. If I hadn’t been so wishy-washy the other tis we went over this, I would have already gotten more information without having to annoy her by bringing it up so often. I feel kinda bad, but I really need to get to the bottom of this.
“Sorry… Can you just humor ? I don’t want to annoy you, but there’s still sothing I don’t understand.”
“You’re not annoying . It’s just a bit weird since there’s nothing else to talk about. But hey, I’ll play along. What do you wanna know?” Miyuki casually put another piece of sushi in her mouth.
“What exactly happened after we got our ice creams?” I never actively tried reading other people’s expressions much before, but this ti, I paid close attention to any signs that Miyuki might be lying.
“We talked while eating in front of the parking lot, then we went ho.” Yeah… I knew it wouldn’t work. This was the sa thing she told
before. She said it as a matter of fact while looking slightly bored. Not a single sign of a lie… If it is a lie, either she’s an incredible actress or I am completely incompetent when it cos to reading other people. Unfortunately, I think I know which one is more likely.
“Then… did you see
go ho? Like you actually saw
leaving?” I’ve never asked her anything after that first question, but I have to try sothing more today… If I can just find so kind of hint…
“I think so… You just walked off after saying goodbye, and I did the sa. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, so I don’t rember it too well. Is it that important?” It’s important because it didn’t happen. She pushed
into the portal, and when I returned, she was nowhere to be seen.
“And did nothing happen when we were eating? You didn’t notice anything strange?”
“No… You’re freaking
out now. Was there sothing I was supposed to have seen? Sothing that you saw but I didn’t…? Oh, I get it!” Miyuki realized there was a aning behind my question, and she figured out sothing. Was she lying after all? Have I been too obvious? Ughh… I’m such an idiot sotis… What do I do if she questions why I’m asking this? “It’s a ghost, isn’t it!? You saw a ghost, and you’re asking if I also did to make sure it’s not just you. Too bad, though… I didn’t see anything, so you might actually be haunted. I can go with you on your visit to the exorcist, so don’t be shy, okay?” A ghost?! What? Is that really what she thinks, or is she ssing with ?
“No no no no! I didn’t see any ghosts… If anything… I wanted to know if you rembered seeing a butterfly. A vivid, blue butterfly that flew into the parking lot. You even went after it… Does that ring any bells?”
“Now that you ntion it… I do rember chasing a butterfly at the ti.” She rembers now? She never ntioned it before… I knew it… Sothing weird is definitely going on here. “Why? Was that butterfly special? I didn’t know you were into that, Iroha.”
“It’s not the butterfly I’m interested in—it’s where it stopped. You followed it to an empty parking spot near the corner, rember? What was there?”
“I’m not sure…” Miyuki stopped just as she was about to put another piece of sushi into her mouth. She furrowed her eyebrows, stunned at how difficult it was to rember. “But it was sothing important.”
“Important?” Wait! What?! What kind of answer is that? “What was it?”
“Ahahaha… I just told you I don’t rember… Maybe there wasn’t anything there… Why would there be sothing important in the corner of a parking spot? But that was the feeling I got—that it was important.” Miyuki shrugged and smiled.
“If you don’t rember what it is, why do you say it’s important? How was it important?”
“You should ask yourself that, Iroha. It was sothing important to you, not to . Like, it was sothing that made you happy…” Miyuki resud the bite from before and rested her head on her hand.
It was sothing important to ? Sothing that made
happy? I almost died because of the portal! How would that make
happy? It does make
happy in hindsight. I got the VISS Driver and everything that ca with it, so I’m pretty happy about it right now. But how would she know about it? Is Miyuki a fortune teller? That’s a level of insight that goes far beyond a random feeling.
What does this all an? Were her mories really modified? Maybe the idea that portals are dangerous is not completely wrong. It’s just that instead of harming people, it sses with their mory. That would explain why she seed to rember more as we continued to talk. But then, why did she push
in? Wait… did she actually push
in? Maybe my mory has also been tempered with. But if that’s what happened, I know for a fact that my mory hasn’t been tampered with after that first ti. And Carol’s mory should also be fine too. Does it only affect weak people? People without any training? Or does it have sothing to do with the different portals?
“Miyuki… I…” Can I trust her? If I tell her about how she pushed
in, will she rember? Hmm… No… Just because I’ve been able to talk to Carol about it, it doesn’t make it a good idea to start babbling about it to everyone, right? But Miyuki… It involves her as well… If sothing did ss with her mory, she has the right to know, right?
“Co on, Iroha. Don’t leave
hanging. Don’t you have anything else you want to tell ? I’m curious now.” Miyuki poked my arm with a playful pout. It was just a silly gesture, but her eyes… Miyuki then grabbed another plate and plopped yet another piece into her mouth. Wait… How much has she eaten already? She’s gonna be too full for dinner… Is she gonna be alright?
“No… You already told
what I wanted to know.” Seeing Miyuki stuff her face like that caused
to calm down. I really don’t need to go into any more detail today. And I definitely don’t need to spill everything to her. I don’t know how much I can trust her… I don’t think I understand her that well. She’s friendly and wacky at tis, but sotis it feels like she’s looking down on … Am I just imagining things? Wait… Is this just an inferiority complex? She’s so much prettier than
that I start imagining she’s looking down on ? Is my self-confidence that low? I wouldn’t really put it past … That doesn’t matter right now. I’ve learned two important things today. The portals may actually have sothing weird going on, and Miyuki may be a good source of information if I end up gaining more of her trust. I’ll have to bring this topic up again and bother her again, but there’s not much I can do about that. I’ll make it up to her with another gift or sothing.
“You’re such a tease, Iroha… You start saying sothing, then you just leave
hanging. Do you enjoy torturing
or sothing?” Miyuki pouted again, which caused
to get flustered.
“N- no! I- I’m sorry… I really didn’t have anything else to say. I opened my mouth without thinking, but it was going to lead us in circles. I know it’s not the first ti I asked you about this, but thanks for playing along. You really helped
out.”
“Did I? What is it you wanted to know anyway? You don’t have amnesia, do you? Was there actually sothing important in that parking lot that you forgot about? If that’s the case, then I’m happy to be of help.” It’s good that she’s not bothered by my questions, but how do I answer hers now? I can’t just tell her I wanted to see if she rembered about the portal and the other world.
I took a deep breath and steeled myself to co up with an excuse. I convinced her that I had a similar feeling but that I also couldn’t rember. She left it at that. We stayed in the sushi place for longer than we should have, and the proper dinner hours had started. Miyuki was finally done, so we quickly got out of there. Miyuki can eat a surprising amount of food… I hadn’t realized she was that type of character… Just wow…
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