Before June could think of how to answer Kelan, he spoke up. "Okay, you're from Japan."
June was taken aback. Japan? "H... how did you get that impre... uh... idea?" She glanced down at the photo on her card. It didn't resemble someone of Asian ancestry at all.
Kelan didn't sound very sure of himself, either. "Just a wild guess. You have the whole look." He shrugged.
"Good guess," she said sarcastically.
"I mean with the whole goth lolita thing. It's a big craze over there, isn't it? You'd fit right in."
June opened her mouth to contradict him, but she realized she didn't know what information to counter with. Plus, now a ton of images and thoughts about Japan--a country she'd never been to--were floating into her head. She felt them plugging in the gaps left by her missing memories. It had the opposite feeling of the disorientation that she had earlier, which at the very least, helped her stay focused and poised.
She inwardly sighed. She wanted a convincing costume, didn't she? Might as well go along with it for now. Besides, she didn't want to frustrate this nice stranger anymore. It clearly wasn't doing either of them any good.
Kelan put his hands on his sides. "If I'm wrong then just tell me."
She smiled "I said 'good guess,' did I not?"
"So you are Japanese?"
"Hai," she responded, using the Japanese word to play along. "I was born and raised there." Suddenly something clicked somewhere. She felt whole again, and not even in a strange way. She had a vision of going to Japanese grade schools, then taking her high school exams... university... She could picture her parents vividly. She knew it was all a fabrica-- it was all made up, but it was made up so perfectly, with accompanying feelings that brought a spritz of nostalgia, that made it easy to want to believe in it.
"All right, then," Kelan said with an amiable huff. "Now that we're fully introduced, why don't I return your favor and buy you something?"
"Pardon me?" she blinked.
"You've been so nice, taking this time for a stranger. It's the least I could do. What sort of things are you here looking for? We could check them out while I go hang up this thing." He held up the remaining costume he was carrying: the purple jacket.
"Well, you see... eeto...," the goth tapped her chin. She had just realized how much time it had been. But she knew it'd be rude not to help him. She told him she'd help him return both costumes. "I'm... not sure where that costume might go." This was true. She couldn't remember passing any retro costumes.
"We could look for them together," Kelan offered. "And if you spot anything you like on the way, just say something."
"O...okay." She stepped over to be side-by-side with Kelan and they started walking through more aisles. Kelan seemed to be making sure to keep his pace slow to match hers. As they passed by a large mirror that was set up on an endcap, she glanced at her reflection. She did make quite a cute goth, and an elegant one with the way she walked.
And her face was unmistakably Japanese. It was still very pale, with black makeup and huge eyelashes, but the shape of her eyes had changed. So had her nose, which was a little smaller, and her cheeks and chin had been reshaped too. She was tempted to stop and take a closer look, but didn't want to draw attention from Kelan. Instead, she looked down at her ID, which was still in her hand.
The picture matched what she had seen in the mirror, aside from the goth makeup. Her black hair with flat-cut bangs was still there, though. All of the text had reappeared, but now it looked like it had been issued in Japan. It carried a completely different address for her... and the name "Jun Sagato."
She slipped the card back into her purse, but a nagging feeling tugged at her mind. It took her a few seconds to realize what it meant. Everything that she had just read on the card was written in Japanese.