A WEEK AGO:
"Here you go, you must be hungry." It was a hot day in City A. Everything was quiet: the streets, people chatting and going about their business, traffic at a standstill, and I was in a fast-food restaurant. In front of me was a beautiful young woman, with a curvy and slender figure. You probably already know her, so it would be tedious to describe her again, but having her in front of you is another story. In my case, since meeting her, it turns out she's also a bit of a nuisance, so I simply looked down at the fries and calmly did what any polite man would do in this situation. "No, thank you, I'm not hungry."
I knew I'd refuse, since the same thing had happened the previous two times: once in a café mid-morning and another time when he came to my apartment. The good thing is that people don't pay attention to us, because that would only make the situation more awkward. Suddenly, he grabbed a potato from his plate and took a bite. "I'm sure you don't want any. The ones here are delicious."
"Fubuki, get to the point. Why are you inviting me to lunch? I don't think you find me attractive."
Fubuki delicately finished eating her potato, looked at me, and sighed, closing her eyes. "Don't be silly, I can't even see your face," she smiled calmly, which was a good thing. Opening her eyes, she looked at me serenely. "I don't understand how you stand all this heat with a hood that looks so uncomfortable. Are you really that afraid to show your face?" I took advantage of the moment while she was talking to grab a potato from the plate and try it; she was right, they were delicious. "It's not that, I like to remain anonymous, I think it makes you look cool, you know what I mean...?"
"What it makes you look like is an idiot." As she said that, the people nearby turned to look at us; she turned to them and shouted, as if pretending it was all an act. "Relax, we're rehearsing for a play, relax." I sat down quickly and stared at her. "Control your temper for at least a second."
Pulling some documents from her wallet, she places them on the table and, pressing them down with her index finger, looks at me intently. "Okay, I'll stop acting like an angry child. Now tell me, what happened six months ago?" Six months? Wait, you mean…? (Suddenly, I understood what she meant: six months ago, when Marci and I arrived here.) How did she get all that information? No, worse, what kind of scene did we make when we first walked into this place?
"Speak, J. Or should I call you by your name?" I look up quickly, my expression serious. She was invading my privacy. "That's enough. Don't say another word."
"Can I see them?" She lowered her arm and straightened up in her seat. "Sure." I picked up the document on top of everything and, glancing at it, my eyes widened. Everything that had happened that day was recorded on each page: day, time, date, location. "On May 10th at 9:00 p.m., the sky rumbled; everyone would assume it was the storm, which is the most common explanation; others, that the heroes were fighting a high-level kaijin, but, strangely, at 9:30 p.m., two comets fell in a forest far from the city." She said all this with a critical look.
I picked up the second document, and this was new to me; the document showed how a third comet fell two months later. I looked at Fubuki and showed her the page. "I don't know anything about this, another comet?" I took the document and she looked at me. "I thought you knew about it too."
She lowers her gaze and tells me everything she knows: "A third comet fell in July, but this one was farther away than the previous two." She shows me a satellite map on a tablet she'd taken from her purse. "If you look, the first two comets fell in this area, but the third one fell around here." She moves her finger to pinpoint the location of the third comet's impact, indicating a town far from any cities.
I take a breath to relax a little, but with everything I have on my plate, it's already getting complicated. "I don't know what happened, I don't know when, I don't know how we got here; one day you're lying in bed at midnight with your phone, and the next you're here. I can't tell you anything about Marci, because I don't know anything either, and she doesn't understand either; what I can tell you about myself is that, where I come from, I'm still just an ordinary person." I lean back in my seat and pull my hood down further; honestly, I didn't think my insecurities would catch up with me so soon, but it was too late.
"So you're saying you don't know how or why you're here?" We were quietly eating the portion of potatoes that was on the table; she kept asking me questions, and it was starting to get a little annoying.
So I raised my head angrily. "Hey, don't you think this is enough for now?" Fubuki paused for a moment. "And tell me, why you? Are you some kind of chosen one or something?" Wait, did she really say that? But honestly, I didn't think anything of it. "I guess it was an accident; honestly, anyone can do it. You have no idea how far a human being can go when they set a goal; they're capable of overcoming any limit and achieving the impossible. It's incredible." She froze for a second. If that's what she says, and if he's just an accident, why is she doing all this and not just coming back, unless...? "Hey, J..." The moment I raised my face, she interrupted me and slapped me out of nowhere. I couldn't believe why or what for. "Hey, at least give me a heads-up, right?!" Fubuki started laughing, covering her lips like a proper lady, and she confirmed it herself. "Now, get rid of that doubt, you're not dreaming."
He reluctantly stroked my cheek; people started staring at us again, and this time I simply adjusted my hood; it wasn't to hide my face anymore, but to avoid looking at them. "Hey, calm down for a second, Fubuki, can't you see they're watching us? What will people think?"
"Stop acting like an idiot and talk. Do you still think this isn't real?"
"I still can't believe it, and another thing that doesn't make sense is, if I'm in an anime, why am I not like the people here? It's so illogical and unbelievable at the same time." He held up the second document and put it in front of my face. "So she's not from here either?" I took the document, and what I saw changed everything. "Where did you get that?" He leaned back even further in his seat and answered with seriousness and frankness, "They took it in the town where the comet fell. I don't know what you plan to do, but at least tell me one thing: will you be an ally or an enemy?" I picked up the document from the table, and for the first time, I was able to speak without hesitation. "I don't know, but one thing I'm sure of: things... won't be the way I knew them."