“Where is she…? She should be around here somewhere.”
Today, I’m stepping into another battlefield. This is the one that scares me the most because I have never been this poorly equipped before. I have faced hordes and powerful foes, yet my stomach is churning with anticipation.
Today’s the day I’m going to confront Miyuki and squeeze everything she knows out of her. It’s scary because I don’t do well with her. She does things for me that make me really weak in the knees, but I can’t allow that today! I’m going to stand strong, and I won’t accept any of her excuses!
There’s no school today, so I asked Miyuki to meet me just before lunch. I’m making my way to the shopping district near my school while being bombarded by the early summer sun. No matter how light the clothes I’m wearing are, I can’t seem to stop sweating. Though that has probably less to do with the sun than with who I’m about to meet. Like always, there’s barely anyone out in the street. I guess there’s a bit more than usual since people need to eat. I pass by a couple more stores, and the mysterious blue radiance oozing off the silvery hair of a certain beauty comes into view. “There she is…”
“Miyuki!” I hasten my pace and call out to her when I get close.
“Iroha! There you are!” With bubbly and energetic motions, she waves her hand while waiting for me.
“Miyuki, you have a lot you need to exp-” As I got into talking distance, I got to see her outfit, and I was reminded of her unusual fashion sense.
This is what I was scared of. She’s wearing punk/goth clothes very similar to the ones that I saw her wearing a while ago. Red and black stripped thigh-highs and sleeves, platform boots, a choker, and a black shirt with lots of skulls. Fuck, I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s this hot shit that really distracts me! It’s too cute! I can’t stand it!
Gotta keep it cool, though. I can’t let myself get distracted, and I can’t let her set the pace. This is important. I’m off to a bad start, but I can turn it around.
“I’m super happy to see you, Iroha! I’m so glad you finally invited me out on a date!” Pfft! Da- date?! N- not that I’d be opposed, but who said anything about that!? “We’re gonna get lunch together, right? I can’t wait!” Miyuki came over to my side and linked arms with me.
“Yeah…” No! This is awful! I’ve only just met her, and I’m already at a loss… She’s setting the pace… I can’t allow that! “Wait! No… I just wanna talk! We need to talk.” I shook off her arm and stepped back.
“Hmm? You just wanna talk? You don’t wanna get lunch, Iroha?” Miyuki leaned forward cutely with her arms behind her back. She tilted her head slightly with a fading smile.
“There’s no need for it… is there? I have a lot of questions I need to ask, so I just wanna talk.” I knew it would go like this… I never know what to say in these kinds of situations… I guess it’s fine if it’s a bit awkward as long as I can prevent her from weaseling out.
“You have a lot of questions, huh? I expected that.” Miyuki spoke with calm confidence before putting some energy back into her voice. “But I think we should still get lunch. We can still talk, and you’re probably getting hungry by now, no, Iroha?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m not hungry-” But just as I was saying that, my stomach rumbled. How ridiculous is this? Do I have the best timing, or the worst timing? The sounds startled Miyuki, and she looked incredibly smug once it ended. I have no other choice, do I? “Fine… We can go eat somewhere… But you have to promise you’ll answer my questions.”
“Hehehe! Yeah, of course I will!” She quickly wrapped around me and latched onto my arm again. “Alright, let’s go!” Damn… She’s good… I couldn’t seize the momentum at all…
*Sigh…* Oh well, I had to get lunch at some point, so it’s not that bad. Maybe it was hunger earlier causing my stomach to churn, huh?
…
We went to a nearby burger chain restaurant because that’s where Miyuki wanted to go. It was pretty crowded inside, especially when compared to out in the street. We got lucky enough to snag a nice cushioned table in a corner by the windows. With how noisy it was, we would be able to talk without anyone being able to understand what we say.
We sat down face-to-face, and we were already halfway done with our meal. Miyuki delightfully stuffed her face, only saying two things the entire time we’ve been here. These were ‘Mhmm! I’ve been craving this for a while!’ and ‘It was really hot outside today, wasn’t it, Iroha?’ with her adorable, bubbly voice. But I’m not falling for that today!
“How do you know about the portals?”
“*Cough cough!* You gonna ask that straight up?!” I made Miyuki choke with such a direct question, and she reached for her drink.
What else am I supposed to do? Anything she does just messes me up. “Yeah… You know about them, don’t you? I mean, you were the one who told me a portal had appeared near the harbor a few days ago.”
“Did I say that…? How do you know I was referring to the same thing as you? A portal can mean many things if you think about it. Couldn’t it just have been a coincidence?” Her pitch grew as she spoke. She couldn’t make it more obvious that it was a lie if she tried.
“A- are you serious?! That’s bullshit! You know very well what I mean!” Is she gonna leave me in the dark? After promising she would tell me? “Are you messing with me again? You said that you were on my side—that could trust you… Was that a lie, Miyuki…?”
“*Sigh…*” Miyuki relaxed her shoulder. “Sorry, sorry… Don’t look so sad, okay? You’re giving me a look like I murdered your parents in front of you. I’ll admit, I was teasing you just now. But I didn’t mean anything bad by it, alright? It’s just how I am. I’ll try to tone it down and answer honestly from now on. Is that okay, Iroha?” Miyuki asked with a comforting tone.
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I’m split. In one hand, if she really means it, maybe I’ll finally get the answers I’ve been looking for. On the other hand, she’s comforting me almost like I’m a child throwing a tantrum… Was this a success? “So, are you really on my side?”
“Didn’t I say so last time? I mean it, Iroha. You can trust me.” She finished her burger and wiped herself using a napkin. She looked at me attentively while waiting for me to speak.
“Alright then, if you really want to help me, tell me how you know about the portals.” The answer to this question is pretty inconsequential, I guess… But that means it’s easier for her to answer honestly. If she doesn’t give it to me straight, I’ll know I can’t trust her anymore. “You said you didn’t remember seeing anything out of the ordinary in the parking lot when we first met, was that a lie?”
“Well… Yeah… That one was a lie, sorry… Ahahaha…” Miyuki laughed awkwardly. It may be a lie, but if she’s admitting it, I think we’re on the right path. “I saw the portal, and I knew about them even before then. I learned about them a while ago when I stumbled into one in a random changing room.”
She knew about the portals even before then? Hmm… It’s a bit of a coincidence, but I have no way to know whether it’s a lie or not. Either way, the fact that she lied about not having seen the portal in the parking lot is more important. It led me to believe the portals could change people’s memories, and I even told Carol about that! Ughh… How embarrassing! Why did I jump to conclusions?
Now, I gotta keep the pressure up! “So it was a lie… Why lie, Miyuki?” You know those scenes in anime where a cop is interrogating someone in a dimly lit room and there’s a bowl of ramen? No? Well, I channeled that energy regardless to press Miyuki for answers. “I asked you multiple times if you had seen something out of the ordinary in the parking lot, and you said no. Why? Why did you lie? What did you stand to gain from that?”
“It’s not really about gains or losses…” Miyuki lowered her head, and leaned forward her shoulders. “I just wasn’t sure if I could trust you, and I didn’t want to sound crazy. Maybe you’d react poorly and lash out at me. Maybe you wouldn’t be able to accept it… I don’t know, but I couldn’t risk it.” She then looked me in the eye. “You get it, right, Iroha? Portals are such a ridiculous thing. It’s not something you can talk about with someone you don’t fully trust, right? They’d look at you like you’re insane.”
“W- well… yeah…” Tell me about it! I couldn’t straight up ask her about the portals before exactly for that reason. I haven’t met that long ago, so there was no way I could start babbling about portals! Who would have thought that things went both ways…? “But you should have known!” I channeled the interrogator energy again. “Since I asked if you remember anything unusual, you could have picked up on it… It was kinda obvious… I think?”
“Pffft! Why are you talking like that, Iroha? I’m being serious here, and now you’re the one messing around?” Ehh? Why is she laughing? I was being serious, that’s why I was trying to act like an interrogator. Once again, replicating anime and games in the real world proves extremely ineffective. Good thing there’s a world where my knowledge comes in handy…
“I’m being serious too, so stop laughing…” How embarrassing… I can’t believe how poorly that worked… Guess I’ll be normal for now. “Ahem, I understand what you’re saying, but there’s still something that doesn’t make sense. When you came to my apartment a few days ago, how did you know what was going on, and how did you know about the portal in the harbor?”
“Oh… that… That one’s simple. I saw it in a dream.” Miyuki gestured with her hands like she was blowing my mind.
“In a dream?! W- what?”
“You see, ever since I saw the portal for the first time, I’ve been having these strange visions. The first one showed me a lot about the world beyond the portals. Then I had a lot of visions about the future. I don’t have any control over what I see… It’s like I’m occasionally being shown individual scenes from random episodes during my dreams. I saw some parts from your adventures before they happened. And other things about both worlds that didn’t involve you at all. Overall, I may even know some tidbits you don’t about the world beyond the portals.” Miyuki suddenly grinned. “For example, did you know the world beyond the portal is the world of a video game? Crazy, huh, Iroha?”
“I played the game! I can’t believe you also know! I thought I was going crazy!” There were no traces of the game’s existence, after all!
“Also? Wait, you mean you knew, Iroha? Damn… I really thought I’d get you with that one…” The dream and the sudden trivia showed that Miyuki’s messing around a bit again, but I guess it’s kinda my fault since I started it. She’s cooperating, so I won’t complain.
But seriously, I can’t believe what I just heard. She’s been looking into the future? Like, what?! That explains why she said I’d regret it if I didn’t hurry to Carol… She probably saw a future where I didn’t help them in the harbor… That’s still a lot to take in, but I think I can accept it… Now, what was that about the vision that showed her about the other world? She’s like the key to everything! “Miyuki, this is very important! You know about the other world, so tell me everything you know. Why did a game turn into an actual world that we can go into? What are the portals? Why are they appearing in the real world?”
“Sorry, Iroha… Can you slow down…” Miyuki looked troubled now. “I know I said I saw a lot of things about the other world… But most things are apparently things that appeared in the game. Like, a map of the whole thing… That kind of thing.”
“Oh… Really? That’s it? Then there may not be a lot that I don’t already know…” And here I thought I finally found a great lead…
“But wait, I thought you’d know why the portals are appearing. I’m not sure about the details, but apparently, it’s because of some guy in a city filled with what they call demons in the game. He connected the two worlds somehow, and it looks like that’s the reason behind the portals appearing.”
“Really?” So it’s all because of someone from the other side… On demon territory? That’s where I got the VISS Driver… That’s huge… That’s incredible information, but what does it all mean? Is there still something she’s not telling me?
“Sorry, Iroha, but that’s everything I know. At least those are the most important parts, I think. We can go over the details to see if everything matches, okay?”
*Sigh…* It’s a good bit of information, but I’m not sure what to do about it… Do I have to go back into demon territory to investigate now? And why was that something I should have known? There isn’t anything in the game about opening up portals to Earth… Can I really trust her, or am I just missing something? “Thanks… You were a big help… I’m happy you told me…” But I don’t know what to do now, I’m confused.
“You don’t look too happy, though. What’s wrong? Do you still not trust me? I promise I’m on your side… Can I prove it to you somehow?” Miyuki looked at me from across the table with worry in her eyes.
“I don’t know… It’s not that I don’t trust you… I think I can trust what you told me today. But it’s hard, I don’t know what to do…”
“Is it because I didn’t tell you everything from the get-go? You were also vague with me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t trust you.”
“True… That’s true, but… Well… Tell me this, why did you push me into the portal when we first met?” That’s the most inconsistent part of everything she has said so far… If she can explain this, maybe I’ll believe that everything she’s done was to help me somehow… But she has to answer first! Let’s see what she has to say! “You can explain that, right? Or are you gonna pretend like that never happened?”
“That’s simple. I knew you’d be able to get the Driver… something...”
“VISS Driver.”
“That! …and come back safely.” Hmm… She even knows about the VISS Driver, huh? “I also saw a world where you never went into the portal, and our world was overrun with monsters wreaking havoc. It really seemed like I had to give you a push to save the world.”
“What?!” The world would be destroyed if she didn’t push me in? That’s another bomb dropped all of a sudden… I find it kinda hard to believe that anything I do can make that much of difference…
“…” I remained quiet… I can accept her explanation, I guess… Miyuki got up from her seat and circled the table over to my side before sitting next to me.
“What about now, Iroha? Are you feeling better? Did that help?” Miyuki wrapped her arm around my shoulder and pulled me to lean against her. Ehh? What’s going on here? “I’m sure you’re a little shocked with everything, but remember I’m on your side, okay? Cheer up, and let’s enjoy the rest of our date, okay? I’ll help however I can from now on, so… Hey, wanna form an alliance?” Miyuki’s voice suddenly picked up.
“An alliance?” My energy had slightly returned after her embrace, but I was still too lazy to break away.
“Yeah! Think about it. I can see into the future sometimes, so I could give you some incredible information. It’s kinda random, so it depends on what I see, but the two of us together could figure out all the secrets together, right?”
“Heheh…” She says it like it’d be easy, but she’s right about one thing… I gotta cheer up. Feeling down isn’t going to achieve anything, so I guess I can give it a shot. “Okay, Miyuki. Let’s form an alliance. We’re in this together, so I’m counting on you.”
“Great! You can count on me!” Miyuki smiled before squeezing me for a moment. “Go ahead, ask me whatever you want. Let’s make sure our information matches. I have a lot of questions for you too…”
Really, there’s no way Miyuki could be that bad of a person. She can be hard to read sometimes, but she’s still Miyuki, and she’s perfect. I’m not sure what’s going to happen from now on, but working together with Miyuki’s going to be very helpful. I’m one step closer to solving the mysteries of the portals, but that can wait until I meet Ririna again.