In the display room of the Orbit Portal Company, Natsu-san ticulously inspected her own face.
Just as she'd imagined, there wasn't a speck of dirt on it.
She held out the wooden bow again, offering it over, but the gothic-style loli girl across from her showed no reaction, still lost in thought.
She looked just like in the reports—almost unreal, really fitting the definition of a living doll.
Natsu-san couldn't help but wave a hand in front of the other girl's face. After a mont, the girl's pupils finally refocused, and she frowned, staring straight at a certain ponytailed girl.
Back when she'd seen the photos in the reports, Natsu had felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Now, seeing her in person, that feeling grew even stronger.
It was like she'd t this person sowhere before, yet she had no mory of it. It sounded contradictory, baffling even.
"Are you here with Arisa? How unexpected."
This ti, the girl cooperatively took the wooden bow, but her attention seed entirely fixed on Natsu-san.
"Yes, is there a problem?"
Natsu-san blinked, then nodded, not quite understanding what the other ant.
"Not really. It's just, according to our background check, Arisa doesn't seem to have many friends."
The gothic club president shook her head slightly, her cape swaying with the small motion.
"Do you know Arisa-senpai well?"
After just a few lines of conversation, Natsu Sonoko seed to be opening up a little.
She wasn't sure how to address the other girl, though, so she stuck with the simplest pronouns.
"Of course. She's one of the very few singers I truly admire. I'm really looking forward to her performance at the opening ceremony."
Sunlight stread brightly into the display room, casting scattered patches of light across the floor.
The girl nad Ladylee Tangleroad wore a smile that held a delicate beauty, yet there was sothing indescribably odd about it.
"Natsu-san, Arisa-senpai is finished here. We're heading to the press conference now."
Saten-san had co to find her. She glanced curiously at the gothic girl beside Natsu before speaking up.
"Sorry, I have to go. It was nice eting you."
Waving toward Saten-san, Natsu Sonoko hurriedly stood up.
That sense of familiarity remained, growing even more distinct.
She wanted to ask if they'd t before, but Natsu-san was one hundred percent certain she didn't know this person. She hesitated, unsure whether to ask.
And this familiarity felt like it ca from the soul. Had her soul encountered this person in the past?
When it ca to matters of the soul, she was completely out of her depth.
"Likewise. But strictly speaking, this isn't our first eting."
Just as Natsu-san was about to leave, the gothic girl, Ladylee, shook her head with a faint, amused laugh.
"Not our first eting? I had a feeling too, like we've t sowhere before."
Natsu Sonoko let out a soft "Eh?" and spoke without thinking.
But the mont she said it, her heart gave a sudden thud.
"Saten-san, there's sothing I need to take care of. Could you all go on ahead?" After a brief hesitation, Natsu-san spoke to Saten-san.
Natsu-san was deeply concerned—what was the deal with her transmigrator identity? Were there other secrets hidden within her soul?
Even if she had transmigrated, it didn't make sense for her to lack complete mories. What were these inexplicable feelings of familiarity all about?
Though she claid not to care or tried to brush it off, Natsu-san's curiosity was, in fact, quite strong.
She cared about it all—her soul, the strange individuals causing trouble for her outside Academy City—but with no answers in sight, she could only set it aside for now.
"If you were a boy, I might've taken that as a pick-up line."
Hearing Natsu-san's reply, the gothic girl first froze in place, then spoke as if joking.
"But it seems you haven't forgotten everything after all."
After a mont, the light in the gothic girl's eyes flickered, as if acknowledging Natsu-san's words.
"Haven't forgotten everything? Does that an I've forgotten most things?"
Natsu-san couldn't help feeling puzzled. She often forgot minor, unimportant things, but she could usually recall them eventually.
If it was related to matters of the soul, though, she was even more baffled. Those mories were supposed to be from her so-called past life.
In that past life, she'd lived on a planet called Earth—the na wasn't any different from now.
But if what the other girl said was true, and she'd forgotten sothing, it could only be related to her soul.
Natsu-san was certain: from the mont she was born until now, she hadn't lost any mories.
And if her mories had been altered by so entity, they should've been restored when that senior, Kamijou-san, grabbed her hand that ti. So, Natsu-san was indeed Natsu-san—no doubt about it.
Could it be that before her soul beca who she was now, it had also lived in this Index-verse world?
That many things had happened in the past that she knew nothing about?
If that were the case, then what she thought was her past life was actually a life before that past life.
And the true mories of her imdiate past life hadn't been carried over with her soul to her current self. So unknown event had muddled up the remaining mories.
It was mind-boggling. Natsu-san felt like she'd stumbled into so bizarre, nested doll situation.
Still, she wasn't entirely convinced by her own conclusion. After all, she was a sharp, skeptical young woman at heart.
"By the way, if we know each other—and I an if—were we on good terms?"
At this point, Natsu-san was starting to believe this person might genuinely know her.
That sense of familiarity stemming from the soul—even a Level 5 esper specializing in ntal systems couldn't mimic that. And the other girl had already plainly stated she knew her.
The only dissonant note was that this girl looked much younger than she was.
"Not exactly 'good.' You promised sothing once, but you never kept that promise."
Ladylee's words were just as confusing as before, but Natsu-san could still grasp their aning.
"Once?"
"Roughly fourteen years ago," Ladylee replied.
"I see."
Natsu-san nodded thoughtfully.
So, it was before she was born. Could her guess actually be right?
In that case, this girl's age definitely wasn't what the public reports claid—just ten years old.
Of course, this was all just one side of the story. Natsu-san wasn't about to take it at face value, but it was certainly sothing to ponder.
-- --
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.
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