The Best of Both Worlds

At one hour past midnight, out of many people, only Keizo and Izumi were still awake apart from those working late.

The two of them had gotten along so well, they both collectively bailed on sleeping.

Keizo could not get enough of Izumi's world and the countless tales she would tell him.

Even if they couldn't do much else during their time together, they could at least talk and reminisce about different things.

"So, what's the best part about Magnaria to you?" Izumi asked with a glint in her eye.

"Gosh, you really put me on the spot there... Uhhh... I guess there was that one story about the sacred shrines you guys have at certain spots around town. We've got something similar, too." Keizo says.

"Wait, really?" Izumi lights up with interest.

"Heck yeah! Hang on, why don't I just show you?" Keizo says, turning to retrieve his smartphone.

"And how would you do that?" Izumi asked, confused.

"Just wait for it!" He insists.

A few moments pass when Keizo charges through the door wielding his smartphone proudly.

"With this!" He exclaims. "If I turn it on, you'll get a full picture of what it looks like!"

"What is that thing!?" Izumi asks curiously, trying to peek at it.

"Oof, I've never had to describe one of these things before... uh, lemme think for a second." Keizo says typing the password to his phone.

As he turns it on, images of shrines pop up on the screen.

"Wow, you have a shrine here!? That's great!" Izumi enthuses happily.

"But seriously..." She turns her head, furrowing her brows. "What is that thing? And how are all those images there?" She asks.

"Well, um... This device is called a smartphone..." Keizo starts. "It's a significantly advanced derivation of a telephone, the sole purpose of that being to call people over great distances. Only now with the smartphone, you can take photos, share said photos to anyone anywhere, browse the internet, shop online, and much more." He rambles on, much like that of a salesman.

"That sounds amazing yet strange. Shame I only understood about 80% of that..." She sighs with an interesting look on her face.

"The other 20% being the internet and online, I assume?" Keizo chuckles lightly.

"Definitely that..."

"Without overcomplicating this further, it's essentially just a network of information being shared constantly. I'm not really an internet know-it-all kinda guy, but that's pretty much how I'd describe it." Keizo says.

"Oh, I see." Izumi nodded. "Sounds like a lot to unpack."

"It is, but all that's important right now is if I want a picture of a shrine or anything really, I can get one just like that. Here's one a few minutes away from my house." He says putting the display up to the mirror.

The view shows a familiar area that Keizo has visited many times before, it's a Shinto shrine in a busy street a few skips away from Keizo's house.

Izumi gasps softly. "So that's where the shrine was built? You must be lucky you even came across the shrine while walking by." She says.

"It's been there since before I was born, but I'm sure they just built around it out of respect." Keizo replies.

"Your world is remarkable, so... advanced... in all kinds of ways." Izumi murmurs wistfully.

"I suppose it is. It's also quite big and really diverse." Keizo says pulling up an image of Tokyo during rush hour.

"Woah! Look at all those people! They're all dressed so professionally, so formally." She says, amazed at the sheer number of people bustling about.

"Yeah, you would too if you had to worry about such things, but that's another story..." Keizo says, waving off a thought.

There's a silence between them as Keizo looks around.

"Show me more." Izumi presses both of her hands on the glass.

"Sure, what do you wanna see?" Keizo says as his thumbs hover over the keyboard.

"Everything. Show me everything." She requests.

"Vague suggestion, but I'll see..." Keizo thinks out loud.

"Ooh!" He says with a grin. "Here, take a look at my high school."

He shows her a picture of the school's exterior. It's a very modern building, one with lots of reflective windows, a huge set of stairs, large awnings and an imposingly large gate enclosing it all.

"That's beautiful!" Izumi exclaims in amazement.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" Keizo remarks.

"Can't say I've seen anything like it before." Izumi responds as her gaze shifts to Keizo.

"My school back home looks nothing like that. Sure it's big like yours, but other than that, totally different." She says throwing her hands around to emphasize her point.

"Really? Different how?"

"Well, for starters, it's got a wide and grand courtyard entrance with lots of other buildings surrounding it. The place doesn't feel small or crowded. In fact, there are students rushing around everywhere, doing all sorts of stuff." She says.

"Quick question and it may seem kinda odd but, have you heard of castles?" She asks.

"Yeah, why?" Keizo nods with a tilt of his head.

"No way! So basically, my school used to be a big stone castle that belonged to a fallen king who tried to rule the kingdom in his youth. They cleaned it up nicely many years later and created additional buildings around it and it kinda just grew into something greater!"

"Does your school look something like this?" Keizo says, flipping the smartphone back to her.

"Yes! Oh my gosh! It's close enough but, yes! How come your world has so many of my buildings in it?" She asks, puzzled.

"Because that used to be my world, historically speaking... Not the country we're both in now, but others more to the North and the West."

"Wait. So, In your world at that time, long long ago used to look like what mine does currently?"

"Seems like it." He replied.

"Mind-blowing! Did you guys also have magic and fight monsters and live like me?" She asks.

Keizo thought for a bit.

"I don't think so, there's just a lot of legends and tales that have been passed down through the ages, but no real proof of magic." Keizo responds. "I wish I knew the subject matter better. If I did, maybe I could explain it better... It's a whole other time period from a drastically different culture." He says while staring blankly.

"What else do you wanna see?" Keizo says, snapping himself out of it.

"Hmm, so how do you guys get around? We've got horses with carts and these cool newfangled machines that run on steam... although it's probably not that newfangled to you..." Izumi laughs with a shrug.

"Lemme find a poster with as many different types as possible."

Keizo says, scrolling through Google Images. "They should have something... somewhere..." He mumbles.

After a bit of searching, finally Keizo pulls up a gigantic infographic, which displays all sorts of cars, boats, tanks, trains, planes, helicopters, jets, and even drones. Keizo scrolls through the entire thing showing her everything.

"Some of these are more advanced than others, like the bullet train which can go really really fast compared to the very first train." He explains, pointing at a section of the image.

"...Bullet train..." Izumi repeats.

"Yes! Bullet, y'know, like what comes out of the weapon?" He pauses. "Wait... You wouldn't know about that either..." Keizo says bringing up a photo of a few guns, one in particular catches her eye.

"Woah, look at that one, it's huge!" Izumi says, pointing to an MG42.

"In my country it's kinda hard to get one of those or even the smaller ones, but other countries further away have different laws." He explains.

"Wow! That's incredible!" She says excitedly. "So how does it work?" She asks.

"Well, you just aim and press the trigger on it, and much faster than you can say any old incantation, your enemy will fall." He shows her a picture of a sniper rifle.

"My head is spinning, your world is so complex and astoundingly intricate, it's unbelievable!" Izumi exclaims.

"If it's too much to handle, we can always pick it back up in the morning." Keizo offers.

"Nope, it's totally fine, I love learning about your world. It's just that there's so much." She says.

"This might seem funny to you, but there are some people in my world who are still trying to discover, create and invent more things." Keizo comments.

"Even more stuff?" Izumi tilts her head slightly confused as she listens carefully to him.

"Yep, even more. Take computers for example, they were invented maybe, say, two decades or so after the invention of electricity. It wasn't until later that people started creating AI, robots, nanomachines and devices for space stations... with the same technology..."

"AI, Nanoma... Nano... Space? Robots..?" The poor girl tries to keep up.

"I said a lot just now, didn't I?" Keizo laughs, putting his hand up to his face.

Izumi breathes out a chuckle, "You're amazing, Keizo. Just amazing..."

Keizo smiles fondly at the girl in his mirror.

"Thank you, but please don't call me amazing." He says, causing her to smile sheepishly.

"Sorry... But it's true," She starts.

"While most people would freak out, break the mirror and throw it out. You somehow stuck around. You're just so wonderful Keizo. I'll say it again, the world you live in is just as remarkable." She says looking away for a moment, a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Well, I'm not gonna take that point away from you, but at the same time, I didn't do anything rash like break the mirror only because it's a pretty expensive pane of glass." Keizo says amused.

"Still! Don't ever forget that there's someone right here who thinks you're neat!" Izumi gives a gentle smile.