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 times in a row.

“Have you ordered already?! What did you even pick?” I barely had time 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 something weird?” Miyuki shrugged and handed me the tablet.

“We’re at a sushi place. Everything’s good here. Even if I get something 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 me out. Right, Iroha?”

“I mean… 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 met?” The rate at which we were placing our orders eventually slowed down, so I went for it. What happened with Miyuki when we first met… There’s gotta be more to it. If I can find out more, maybe I can learn something 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 mean.” 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 remember. 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 times 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 me? I don’t want to annoy you, but there’s still something I don’t understand.”

“You’re not annoying me. 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 time, 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 home.” Yeah… I knew it wouldn’t work. This was the same thing she told me 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 comes to reading other people. Unfortunately, I think I know which one is more likely.

“Then… did you see me go home? Like you actually saw me leaving?” I’ve never asked her anything after that first question, but I have to try something more today… If I can just find some kind of hint…

“I think so… You just walked off after saying goodbye, and I did the same. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, so I don’t remember it too well. Is it that important?” It’s important because it didn’t happen. She pushed me into the portal, and when I returned, she was nowhere to be seen.

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“And did nothing happen when we were eating? You didn’t notice anything strange?”

“No… You’re freaking me out now. Was there something I was supposed to have seen? Something that you saw but I didn’t…? Oh, I get it!” Miyuki realized there was a meaning behind my question, and she figured out something. Was she lying after all? Have I been too obvious? Ughh… I’m such an idiot sometimes… 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 messing with me?

“No no no no! I didn’t see any ghosts… If anything… I wanted to know if you remembered 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 mention it… I do remember chasing a butterfly at the time.” She remembers now? She never mentioned it before… I knew it… Something 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, remember? 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 remember. “But it was something important.”

“Important?” Wait! What?! What kind of answer is that? “What was it?”

“Ahahaha… I just told you I don’t remember… Maybe there wasn’t anything there… Why would there be something 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 remember what it is, why do you say it’s important? How was it important?”

“You should ask yourself that, Iroha. It was something important to you, not to me. Like, it was something that made you happy…” Miyuki resumed the bite from before and rested her head on her hand.

It was something important to me? Something that made me happy? I almost died because of the portal! How would that make me happy? It does make me happy in hindsight. I got the VISS Driver and everything that came 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 mean? Were her memories really modified? Maybe the idea that portals are dangerous is not completely wrong. It’s just that instead of harming people, it messes with their memory. That would explain why she seemed to remember more as we continued to talk. But then, why did she push me in? Wait… did she actually push me in? Maybe my memory has also been tempered with. But if that’s what happened, I know for a fact that my memory hasn’t been tampered with after that first time. And Carol’s memory should also be fine too. Does it only affect weak people? People without any training? Or does it have something to do with the different portals?

“Miyuki… I…” Can I trust her? If I tell her about how she pushed me in, will she remember? 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 something did mess with her memory, she has the right to know, right?

“Come on, Iroha. Don’t leave me hanging. Don’t you have anything else you want to tell me? 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 me what I wanted to know.” Seeing Miyuki stuff her face like that caused me 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 times, but sometimes it feels like she’s looking down on me… Am I just imagining things? Wait… Is this just an inferiority complex? She’s so much prettier than me that I start imagining she’s looking down on me? Is my self-confidence that low? I wouldn’t really put it past me… That doesn’t matter right now. I’ve learned two important things today. The portals may actually have something 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 something.

“You’re such a tease, Iroha… You start saying something, then you just leave me hanging. Do you enjoy torturing me or something?” Miyuki pouted again, which caused me 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 time I asked you about this, but thanks for playing along. You really helped me out.”

“Did I? What is it you wanted to know anyway? You don’t have amnesia, do you? Was there actually something 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 remembered about the portal and the other world.

I took a deep breath and steeled myself to come up with an excuse. I convinced her that I had a similar feeling but that I also couldn’t remember. 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…