"Over here," I heard, and spotted a table ahead in the cafeteria. The young man who had his arm draped over my shoulder dragged me toward it without waiting for a response.
"I see you brought him," the guy already seated said. He had roughly styled hazel brown hair and deep green eyes, dressed the same as both me and the guy pulling me along, who I'd gathered on the way here was Micheal.
The system, who I had now come to realize was the self-proclaimed goddess herself, had reached an agreement with me. In exchange for avoiding deletion, she would from here on prove herself useful and would no longer speak to her master, that being me, however she pleased.
[Tsk. I am not self-proclaimed. I am the real deal.]
Really? Then explain why you're reduced to a system consciousness that I can delete on a whim.
It was the question that had been sitting at the back of my mind ever since I figured it out.
[I...]
Nothing.
Same as before. For whatever reason, she couldn't answer anything about her past, or mine either. I had even tried threatening deletion and she stayed quiet, which told me plainly enough that she wasn't free to say it. Either way, she had confirmed that Micheal was a good friend of mine, and I was guessing the seated one was Fred, supposedly another friend.
"Angel, you're here," Micheal suddenly let go of my shoulder and moved past Fred to a girl with platinum silver hair and an unusual set of extremely pale blue eyes. I won't lie, it was striking.
"Yo, you know you can sit, right?" I turned to find Fred giving me a flat look, which I answered with a tired smile. I glanced past him and noticed there was one more person at the table, a girl who was looking at me with a very specific kind of annoyed expression.
The table was wide, two seats on each side, with an extra chair pulled close to her, probably meant for me. She had very light pink hair that stopped just before her shoulders, with a black flower ribbon pinned to the side that contrasted sharply against it, well detailed and delicate looking. Her eyes were blue, though looking closer it wasn't quite blue, more like a blend of blue and purple.
Wow.
"Stop staring and sit down," she said, patting the chair beside her.
I nodded and sat. I wasn't too unsettled by any of them since the system had confirmed they weren't hostile, that they were friends, supposedly.
Now that I was settled I could actually take in the space around me. The cafeteria was enormous, a great hall spanning two open floors, almost entirely glass, genuinely impressive. A massive chandelier hung from the ceiling of the upper floor, casting light down across everything, with smaller ones fixed at corners throughout both levels. Even with the windows open and the whole place practically glowing, it didn't feel excessive.
We were on the second floor, which gave a decent view looking down over the crowd below.
Across from me, an entirely different scene was playing out. Micheal had a strange smile on his face and was whispering something to Angel, who kept giggling as their hands stayed loosely linked together.
'What's their deal?' I asked.
[Are you blind?]
Are you deaf?
[They're in a relationship.]
It was obvious enough, but something still felt off when I looked at her. I couldn't place it, just a vague sense that something wasn't quite right.
"Hey, stop looking at her like that," I heard, and turned to find the pink-haired girl now sitting considerably closer to me than before.
"Let's order," Fred said, waving over one of the attendants positioned nearby. Well, wasn't this place something.
"Hey," the girl said, and pinched my leg under the table.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"At least look at me when you talk," she said.
I turned to face her. "What do you want?"
'Who is she?' I asked internally.
[A friend. Though I only have basic knowledge, so she may be more than that,] the system said.
I nodded to myself. It was the same as my knowledge of this world. I knew the main characters well enough, but everyone else, the side characters, the background ones, they were just surface level. I knew their names, maybe their roles, but nothing about what actually drove them or who they were beneath what they showed.
She frowned at my silence, glanced around, then let out a quiet sigh.
"What's going on with you? You're acting strange. Why are you ignoring me?" she asked.
I paused on that. Was there something between us?
"Hey, are you two ordering or not?" Fred cut in.
"Oh, right. What do you want, Angel?"
"The honeyed rice is fine," she said, setting the menu down.
"Just that?"
"I feel like cooking for myself later."
"Fair enough. I'll have the premium steak," said Micheal.
"That costs a few hundred points," Fred said, staring at him.
"So? Lunch is on Leo today."
"Right, I almost forgot."
"Hang on," I said, and I don't know why those words came out as naturally as they did. "When did I agree to that?"
They both turned and gave me the exact same look.
"Are you losing it? You literally swore on Fred's life three days ago," Micheal said.
"...My life?" Fred said, looking confused.
Micheal ignored him entirely. "Does this mean you lied? Does Fred's life mean nothing to you?"
"Again, why is it my life specifically?" Fred tried again, and was ignored again.
"I do remember something like that," the pink-haired girl added.
"See, even Jenny is being more honest than you," Micheal said.
"When you say it like that you make me sound like some kind of accomplice," she shot back, glaring at him.
I tuned out the conversation and pulled up my graphto-watch to check something I probably should have looked at long before now.
I checked my points.
I saw the number.
And I went completely still.
'No way.'