In a split second, hundreds of emotions flashed before me. Surprise. Distress. Relief. Fear. Confusion. Every single emotion that passed by I felt vividly, as if each unique feeling lasted a lifetime all on its own. Before I knew it, though, I was jolted back into reality by the self-checkout kiosk asking me whether I was paying with cash or card.
No way it's her, I reassure myself. Natsuki doesn't exist in this world, she's a part of the game. That accursed game…
No matter how hard I try, it's impossible to eliminate the possibility from my mind. The last two… No, two and a half years of my life have been so bizarre and out of the ordinary that anything is a possibility.
I peek behind my shoulder again. I wish I could see her face. If I could, I feel that I would know for sure. Her back is turned, though, as she neatly stacks her groceries into a paper bag. I turn back around and begin to pay for my own groceries.
I turn around and look at her again. She's almost done putting her food into the bags. I realize what I have to do and quicken my pace.
I really do have the devil's luck, don't I? I'm being given this opportunity, this narrow window to find the answers to my burning questions. As much as I would like to believe that my life could just go back to normal, I know that's impossible. My curiosity has always gotten the better of me, and it will very well continue to.
The girl picks up her bags and begins to head for the grocery store exit. I quickly finish filling my own bag and begin to follow her.
I'm about ten feet away from her, so the only way she could know that I'm following her is to look over her shoulder, which would let me get a look at her face, anyways. Due to my longer legs I find myself getting closer to her, and slow down to the point where I can walk without even willing my muscles to do so.
I gradually slow down as she takes out what I assume to be her car keys, and at the press of a button her car lights up, signaling that its doors are unlocked. As soon as my eyes meet her Prius and memorize what it looks like, I turn around 180 degrees and sprint towards my own car at full-speed. I need to get there before she pulls out and leaves!
Dodging slowly cruising automobiles I make my way across the parking lot, occasionally glancing back to see whether the girl in question has started her car up yet. Just as I unlock my Buick, I faintly hear her engine turn on.
As she pulls out of her parking spot I turn my car on and, giving it no time to warm up, follow the girl. She goes down the first few streets of the route that I would have returned by regardless before taking a right, diverging from said route.
I follow her for several more streets. She takes another right turn, before continuing on a mile-long straightaway. At the next intersection she makes yet another right. The street doesn't continue for long until another right is taken.
It is only at the fifth right that I notice something is wrong. On the sixth, the problem becomes more obvious. On the seventh, it is unignorable.
We're back at the grocery store.
She led me in a circle.
She's aware she's being followed.
A drop of sweat trickles down my cheek. As soon as we have returned to the first intersection, she takes a left turn.
What does this mean? Is she trying to shake me off? Intimidate me? Or is she leading me into a trap? Or… Is that just what she wants me to think?
Everything rides on this split-second decision… But… My lips perk up into a grin.
It's not really a decision at all, is it?
I turn left…
…Right into a dead end.
So much for the devil's luck, huh…? I chuckle to myself. The girl's car is parked on the sidewalk.
The girl rolls down her window and pokes her hand out, signaling for me to do the same. I oblige.
"How long have you been following me?" The girl asks. Her voice is pleasant to the ear yet sharp as a knife. That notion alone I can associate only with Natsuki's voice. Of course, it's been over two years since I've seen her last, so I can't base my verdict solely upon that.
"Since the grocery store." I bluntly state. "Sorry if I gave you a scare, I just have some questions for you."
"What are you, an FBI agent or something?" I hear the girl scoff.
I try to muster up the most kindhearted tone I can manage after those years of hardship. "No, I'm not. I just need to get a good look at your face."
"W-What? Like hell!" She begins to start up her car again.
"Wait!" I plead. "I'll come out of the car first!" I open the door and step out. A chilly nighttime breeze greets me as I expose myself to fresh air once again.
"See? I'm unarmed!" I pat myself down and turn my pockets inside-out, as to signal that I'm not hiding anything.
I hear the girl make an extremely loud sigh as she opens her own door, stepping out. There are only about six or seven feet between us now, and from here I can get a good look at her features.
Her short pink hair hangs loose, being blown to the side by the slight breeze. She stands at a height that makes me feel even more towering than usual at my six-foot-three stature.
My eyes finally meet her face.
"So it was you all along…" I chuckle to myself.
"Huh? W-who do you think you are? What are you talking about?" She walks closer to me, looking up, straight into my eyes.
"I guess I did look pretty different back inside the game… My sprite was that of the protagonist, after all."
The girl's eyes look shocked as she comes to a realization. "No way… Xavier?" She practically yells.
"Took you long enough to realize… Natsuki."
…
"Here, you can follow me back to my apartment, since following people around is clearly your new favorite thing…" Natsuki turns back to re-enter her car. "We'll talk more there."
"Come on…" I can't help but smirk.
"Hey, what are you grinning at? You creep!" She slams the car door as she enters and starts driving. I don't even pay attention to the route we take until we make it to a parking garage. This isn't just any parking garage, though.
It's the one for my apartment building.
I scan my keycard at the entrance and the boom barrier gives way for my car to enter, verifying my suspicions.
I park my car next to hers, and as I get out she instantly bombards me with a question. "Hey, hey, why didn't you pay for a parking spot? This garage is only free for residents!"
"Easy." I say plainly. "I'm a resident." I show her my keycard. She's in a reasonable amount of shock, but quickly recovers. We both grab our grocery bags and start walking towards the nearby elevator.
"W-well, that's a coincidence! Not that it matters, of course." Natsuki scoffs, trying to act stubborn, or something like that.
"So, what room are you in?" I say as I press the button to hail an elevator.
"418." She says as the elevator door opens. "What about you?"
"I'm, uh…" I start as I press the 4 button inside of the elevator. It starts to rise up to the designated floor.
"What are you waiting for? Tell me!"
"I'm two doors over." I chuckle as I hear a ding sound. The elevator doors follow suit and slide open.
Natsuki stares at me for a solid five seconds before yelling "Are you kidding me?"
"Shh, you might wake people up. It's already pretty late, you know." I tell her at a slightly lower tone than before. "Give me a sec to drop my stuff in my room and I'll head over."
"Whatever." The teenage girl rolls her eyes as she unlocks her apartment and enters. I travel two doors farther down and am met with the number 416 next to my door. I unlock it and quickly put the cold groceries into the fridge and my alcohol into my wine cooler. I exit and travel the short distance back to Natsuki's room.
Her apartment has the same layout as mine, though the walls are completely spotless. The floor is littered with the occasional food wrapper, though most find their way into the trash bin.
"Want some soda?" Natsuki offers.
"A Dr. Pepper would be nice." I say while making eye contact. "Thanks a lot."
"Don't get the wrong idea, I just offered to get you some since I was already going to get some myself!" She states loudly as she hands me the cold can.
I crack a smile as I sit down on a nearby chair. "So, I've still got plenty of questions, and I'm sure you do, too."
"You can start." Natsuki says as she sips a Dr. Pepper of her own.
"All right." I start. "First and foremost, how did you get here? Tell me everything you remember."
"Well, the last I remember before being transported here is Monika." I feel a slight sense of unease hearing that name again. "I hadn't seen her for years… She was so absorbed into some project of hers that she wouldn't even come to school."
Probably the device she used to come to this world back then, huh…
"She asked me to watch her jump into this portal-looking thing so I could 'pull her out' if something went wrong. And something did go wrong, although I'm not all that sure what it was." As she says this, I am reminded that I'm to blame for this situation. If only things had gone differently…
"When she came back out, she didn't say anything to me, but I could tell she was hurt. I was about to comfort her when I blacked out. Next thing I knew, I woke up right here, in this apartment."
I almost stand up from where I'm sitting in anticipation. "Do you know how this happened? Or who did this to you?"
"No one told me, but I have this… This awareness." Natsuki stutters. "I know things that I didn't know before."
"Like?" I struggle to keep my cool.
"Like how I lived in a game, and my whole life is a lie. And that you came to that game from the real world." She talks more and more quickly with each passing word. "And how Monika knew all along, and how Yuri got possessed by a person from the real world. And how I'm in the real world now. How I'm a real person now, as if I wasn't one before." Natsuki starts to hyperventilate.
"Hey, calm down. Take deep breaths." I come over to Natsuki and put my hand on her shoulder. "I'm here."
The girl leans on me, entrusting me with every pound of her body weight. "Were you always this tall?"
"Basically…" I chuckle. "Or maybe you're just getting shorter."
"H-Hey!" Natsuki blushes. My chuckle turns into a laugh.
To my surprise, Natsuki starts giggling herself. "You're such an idiot, you know that?"
"I get that a lot."
The two of us laugh harder, and we don't stop laughing until our lungs feel like they're about to burst.
After finally recovering from the laughing fit, Natsuki opens her mouth again. "Was it really… That funny?"
"No…" I scratch the back of my head. "No, it definitely wasn't."
