She didn't know its name.
It was a little restaurant in some country town whose name she didn't know either.
But the old couple who ran it treated them well enough, even though the two of them were outsiders in this quaint little town far from the city she'd called home for most of her very short life.
Even though her traveling companion was Parado.
He still had on the same outlandish outfit he'd worn since before they'd known each other, when he'd still been an enemy to humankind. Still there were his black jacket, bright blue shirt with pink sleeves sticking out from the jacket. Purple pants covered in block designs from some puzzle game he still teased her by refusing to name.
Today, his usual playfully mocking smile was gone. He was looking at the screen of his phone, but Parado's expression wasn't the one of annoyance he'd developed from his frustration at getting good service so far from a big city. He was studying the screen with a look of growing concern, instead.
"What's wrong? Can't connect to the wifi?" she asked him.
"Baka. A family restaurant out in the middle of nowhere doesn't have wifi. Even I know that."
"So what are you looking at?"
He answered by showing the screen. On it a video was playing of a rippling energy portal in the middle of a city, and above the portal was an old-time sailing ship. Except with rotors instead of sails. As the news report played out, she heard nothing of what they were saying. Only watching the ship as it drifted closer to the portal, then lowered itself in, before disappearing completely from sight.
"Looks like your friends are in trouble," Parado said. "How fast do you think we could get back there?"
She didn't answer. Instead she took the phone and rolled the player back, to watch the ship approaching the portal again. At the aft of the vessel was a robed wizard she could tell was Kamen Rider Rune. As if there were other wizards.
Even at the distance the video had been caught from, she was sure enough the boy standing on the ship was Yoshoku Kasuga. The girl could only be that one he'd hooked up with a while ago.
If Kensei Hidenaga wasn't with them, well….
…where else could he be except on the other side of the portal?
And what else could they be doing except going in to rescue him?
She handed the phone back to Parado. "Too long," she said. "Besides, I'm sure they've got it under control."
Parado looked at her in disbelief. "Aren't they your best friends?"
"Yes, they are," she replied. "Try having faith in your friends sometime, Parado. Kensei told me that's what you're supposed to do."