(A) Her meeting with Ikuko in EP6 was actually part of Ikuko & Tohya's stories, as were various other things in the 1998 world, and possibly the meta-world, and even possibly the entirety of what we read.
(B) Meta-world is real, shenanigans were had.
Pick one. Or both. Or neither, you can think up your own interpretation if you like, that's what's so great about it.