GET BACKERS-MOMENTS…
CHAPTER TEN – A NEW FRIEND
After ten years…"Hurry up, the deadline's nearing, we need to finish before doomsday"
"Yes, Mr.Mido"
"Should we send the first slot to the editor, Mr.Mido?"
"I think that'll be wise, Michiko."
"Okay"
A bell sounded from somewhere.
"Oh, that was my alarm," smiled Ban, "Time for my break. Continue working."
"Yes, sir."
Hey, now this gives me time to explain. Ban and Natsumi's story ended at that phone call and the last thing we knew was Ban asking Ginji about animation. Well, Ban joined a leading manga industry and became a top executive there with a heavy pay. Ginji got a job as a lead singer in the music industry and now rolls in gold. As for Hevn, she's still an agent, though an estate agent now…And Natsumi, ah, she left the town ten years ago and lives in Osaka. She's the head of a leading cosmetic firm. Enough facts…let's return to Ban as he headed for his break and entered the café.
"Hi Ban," said a girl coming up to Ban's table, "How's life?"
"Oh, hi Paula," said Ban looking at her as though she was carrying around an infectious disease with her, "Not much happening"
"I see," she said joining Ban at the same table while Ban continued to look as uneasy as ever, "Don't worry, loads of stuff will happen now that I'm here"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Ban," she said creeping up closer as he moved farther, "You know what I mean, right?"
"Oh, yes," said Ban getting up so fast that he almost dropped his espresso, "You're trying to tell me to move on with life and go out with other girls or to be more explicit, you"
"But it's for your own good, right?"
"I don't care but I've totally given up on girls so please don't try to make me return to that road ever again," saying this he stormed out of the café and returned to his cabin.
"I think I'll call up Ginji," thought Ban and dialed the number to Ginji's cell phone.
Ginji who was currently on a world tour was surprised to see Ban call.
"Hey Ban," cried Ginji, "How come you gave a buzz?"
"What do you mean? Can't I?"
"No, it's not that. If you remember, I'm abroad"
"Oh damn," bellowed Ban while Ginji flinched, "I totally forgot. They're going to charge me extra now"
"You know, Ban," grinned Ginji at the other end, "Although you are rich now, your habits still remain the same. As parsimonious as possible."
"Yeah, some things never change," laughed Ban, "But then since I'm Mr. Stingy, I would want you to suggest some economic measures of speaking to you"
"The Internet's a good option"
"How come? I thought they charged money for Voice calls"
"That's only if you ring up the person on their cell using the Internet"
"Is that so?" implored Ban, "I never really bothered about the Internet."
"You should, I think it's a superb way to speak to your friends who're far away without actually having to pay. Oh, but you do need a valid Internet connection for that"
"Which I have at home and at work," completed Ban, "I'll think about it"
"Well, keep thinking while your cell phone bill mounts higher and higher"
"Shut up," snapped Ban, "But tell me more about that Net thing. Where exactly do I speak to you? I mean I've heard of all these messengers but which e-mail service do you use?"
"Same as yours"
"You do? Then we both can speak on the same messenger, right?"
"Yes, we can. To be truthful, even Hevn uses the same one. So do Paul, Shido, Kazuki, Haruki, Makubex, Sakura and loads of other people"
"You mean loads of people I wouldn't be interested in speaking to," muttered Ban and then as though struck by a brain wave, "What about Natsumi? Are you guys in touch with her over the Net?"
"No, Ban," said Ginji darkly, "She's not even in touch with Hevn"
"I see"
"Ban," said Ginji menacingly, "Please forget about Natsumi. You have to get over her. You can't go on this way"
"That's it!" barked Ban, "Everyone in this wide world wants to tell me to forget Natsumi. Do you know, Ginji, I called you up because a silly female in my office tried to tell me the same thing just because she wanted to go out with me. She kept trying to make me feel like what I'm pursuing is mainly crap. But why doesn't anyone realize that I still love her as much as I used to or maybe even more. I always say that we value things only after we lose them from our lives and the same thing has happened to me. I never gave her importance when we were seeing each other. But now when she's far away, I long for her."
"But Ban," said Ginji impatiently, "Why don't you consider the possibility that she might already be married with kids?"
"Something deep within tells me that she isn't"
"Oh yeah? And how many times can we trust our inner feelings?"
"We can when we truly love the person"
"Holy cow, it's useless talking to you Ban. You just won't budge. I'll speak to you in about five hours from now. I have to go. See you. Bye," saying this he hung up.
"Bye, Ginji," whispered Ban and returned to work as his alarm sounded.
After witnessing this conversation, anyone would readily say that Ban's lost his marbles. But can you believe Natsumi was still deeply in love with Ban. Yes, it's very true. Unlike Ginji said that she's married with kids, she still kept a picture of Ban's and hers belonging to the period of their togetherness in her wallet. Oh yeah, she still cried at night. Her dad had tried about a thousand times to fix her marriage with rich businessmen but she would turn down each and every proposal. She had a strange feeling that Ban was all alone even though he was really flirtatious by nature and it seemed a little unlikely to happen. One day at Natsumi's workplace –
"Hey there, Natsumi," said one of her pals, "Your eyes look really swollen. Have you been crying of late?"
"No," lied an older and prettier Natsumi.
"Stop lying, will you? I know it's because of that strange ex-boyfriend of yours"
"Oh, don't say that," said Natsumi her voice quivering.
"Don't say what? That he's your ex-boyfriend? But of course he is"
"Yet…"
"Face it, Natsumi. You have to move on and get a life. How long can you sit around crying for that loser who didn't even think once about you?"
"Don't say that," sobbed Natsumi, "No one has given you the right to speak ill of Ban. It wasn't his fault, but merely the circumstances. I agree that I was the one who called off the relationship and you will say that my selfishness lies behind it, that it is only since I couldn't adjust. But what you don't realize is that had I let Ban marry me back then, I would simply have let him be something he isn't, a loser. He wouldn't bother about getting a job and would loiter around. But today he might be having a good job and that is only because he regrets having lost me."
"But how can you be so sure?"
"Because I know my Ban. He may be a little difficult to fathom but it's no predicament for folks who know him."
"I think you should chill out and talk to some other guys," said her friend, "Oh no, I'm not telling you to go out with them," she added catching the look of disbelief on Natsumi's face, "But you can talk, right?"
"That's true, I can."
"Why not join this friendship site on the Internet - ?"
"What's that?"
"You meet different kinds of people there and have loads of fun. I'm a member too, so why not?"
"Okay, I'll do that tonight," sighed Natsumi, "Happy now?"
"Yup!!"
Loads of miles away-
"Hey, have you heard of this site – ?" said a girl in Ban's office.
"Yeah, I'm a member," replied her friend, "Are you? Send me a friend request then, silly"
"Sure"
"Virtual Tomodachi…" pondered Ban, "Sounds interesting"
At around 9:30 pm –
"Hey Ginji," said Ban on his messenger voice call, "I heard of this site named Virtual Tomodachi. Is it good?"
"Good?" Ginji replied back, "It's excellent. We are all there too. Join if possible."
"I'll do it now itself"
"As you wish"
Ban logged on to the website and clicked away. He joined the site with the alias - Wild Fantasy. Somehow this pseudonym appealed to him. He went to check out the list of the members who had just registered. As he skimmed through names he came across an unknowingly familiar one – Neko-chan. He wasn't too sure whether he should proceed but went on to check the member's profile.
It was a 27-year-old girl, who worked for a cosmetics firm. She didn't live in Tokyo but in Osaka and was looking for friends. The picture that she had put was that of a cat.
"Seems like a sweet girl," smiled Ban and sent her a friend request. Can you believe him? He didn't even consider the probability that it could be Natsumi.
Luckily for him, Neko-chan was online. She immediately accepted his friend request. Seeing that he had a messenger ID, she even sent him a request there. He happily accepted it. Let's check out their conversation –
Wild Fantasy (WF): Hi there, Neko-chan.
Neko-chan (NC): Hi there, Wild Fantasy. Nice name you got there…giggles
WF: Thanks, nice to see you like it.
NC: Do you like mine?
WF: Yes, it kind of reminds me of someone, but then, the memory is painful. Can we talk about something else?
NC: Yeah, sure. Where do you live?
WF: Japan
NC: So do I silly. I meant where in Japan?
WF: Tokyo.
NC: Ok, could I have a detailed explanation?
WF: No, gal. No personal details on our first chat.
NC: As you wish, dude.
WF: You're sweet.
NC: Tell me something I don't know.
WF: Okay…forget it. So you work for a cosmetics firm?
NC: Yes, am a top executive there.
WF: Hmmm… seems like a job only girls would want to do.
NC: Like guys can understand cosmetics.
WF: To be truthful, I never seem to understand the mechanics of the female mind.
NC: Oh yeah? There's nothing much to understand. If you have a girlfriend, it'll be easier.
WF: But alas, I don't have one.
NC: Oh, I'm so sorry.
WF: It's ok. You sound like you have a cool boyfriend.
NC: Actually, I don't have one.
WF: So you're single too? Single and ready to mingle?
NC: Not really. I'm still traumatized.
WF: So was your break up recent?
NC: It's been many years now. But I guess I can't get over people.
WF: You're a lot like me, then. Even I haven't been able to get over my girlfriend.
NC: But yours might've been recent, right?
WF: No, it happened long ago too. But I guess the thing is that I'm fed up of girls. I can't take them anymore.
NC: I'm a girl.
WF: I meant that I couldn't get into a relationship with girls.
NC: Oooohhh…are you seeing boys now?"
WF: That's not what I meant. I meant-
NC: Yeah, I got your point. I was just kidding.
WF: Figured out that much.
NC: You should learn to appreciate a joke. If you can laugh at yourself, you are considered to be really great.
WF: Oh, but I am not great. I don't think I want to be.
NC: Hey, that's what I don't like. How sick! You should be ready for everything in life.
WF: OMG, you speak just like a girl I used to know…but never mind. I don't want to talk about it.
NC: Oh, I am so dumb. From the time I started chatting with you, I'm only reminding you of your girlfriend.
WF: It's ok. But it's really long since I enjoyed speaking to a girl so much.
NC: Is it now? Why I've enjoyed speaking to a guy after really long too. You're fun.
WF: Thanks. So are you.
NC: blushes aww… that's sweet.
WF: No problem.
NC: You're a manga artist, right?
WF: Yeah, why?
NC: I like guys who can draw well. I think it's a fine trait. Everyone should have it. Being able to draw well helps you to put down your emotions in a way, which everyone can see.
WF: So, can you draw?
NC: If I could, wouldn't I have been your work mate? I can barely sketch a cat properly. I'm only good at singing and writing.
WF: Even those who can write are able to express their thoughts before people. That's a very good quality too.
NC: Yes, but I want to draw.
WF: Very well then, if we ever meet, I'll make sure you learn to draw.
NC: Thanks a lot, Wild Fantasy. But I wonder why you kept this name?
WF: 'Coz when you meet me, your wild fantasies materialize into reality. For example, your dream of sketching can come true.
NC: Hey nice… But what's your real name?
WF: Err…(this sure set Ban thinking) my name's Kazuki.
NC: Kazuki? That's such a princely name.
WF: Now that you asked me my name, what's yours?
NC: Um, It's Kumiko (a big fat lie).
WF: Kumiko, Kumiko, we both have our names from the same alphabet. Maybe that's why we gel so well.
NC: Could be. So whom all do you have in your family?
WF: Just me.
NC: You live alone too?
WF: Yeah, well, that's how my life is. Granny is no more but that happened long long ago. Since then, it's been just I, me and myself.
NC: Oh…well, I live with my dad. But it doesn't really make a difference, he's never home.
WF: I see, so it's as good as living alone.
NC: Yeah. Are you a good cook, then?
WF: Well, I can cook food that's edible. I'm no great chef but I can survive on food cooked by my hands. I'm sure you cook really well.
NC: Yeah, I do. So Wild Fantasy, when we meet, I'll teach you to cook and you teach me to draw. Deal?
WF: Deal! Looks at watch Oh it's getting late. I got work tomorrow.
NC: Yeah, me too. Will you be there tomorrow as well? I really enjoyed speaking to you.
WF: So did I. I'll be there same time tomorrow, ok?
NC: That'll be really nice. Well then, good night.
WF: Good night. Bye.
NC: Bye.
And saying this they both logged out.
Ban and Natsumi were up all night wondering why they had all the joy in their life return on just speaking to a stranger. They drifted off to sleep still lost in thought.
The next few days, Ban and Nat just wanted to get back home to speak to their 'Virtual Tomodachi'. This went on for months together. Then came December 16.