Notes: Sonny Boy is Lord of the Flies crossed with Dark City, and a couple of cute schoolgirls thrown in.
In episode 11 of the anime, Rajdhani was sitting at a school desk reviewing parts of the Saturn V rocket on a drafting board. Behind him, Mizuho was looking at pictures of other connected world-places in Rajdhani's notebook. Rajdhani asked, "Mizuho, why do you want to return home?" She replied, "Because I … have things I want to do." Mizuho says that with a big smile that might be mischievous. I saw an interview with the author, he says she might be thinking of becoming a mother. Perhaps she wanted that after helping watch over a troubled boy whose mother confined herself to her room. Maybe also that thought came from watching over her grandma's cats. Mizuho provided for everyone via her Nyamazon service too, using her cats' copying powers. Nagara proved it was Mizuno's power that kept people from dying, until they journeyed to other places. Or maybe what Mizuho wanted had to do with a reason we'll get to shortly.
Except for four sentences of internal monologue at the very end, we only know the thoughts of Sonny Boy characters by their actions, expressions and conversations. I wrote this afterstory trying to use that technique, only conversation and sounds!
Mizuho had "a teacher she admired" as the Japanese sites say. She looked at that teacher's wedding ring with a smirk while agreeing she had a childish point of view of letting go of a perceived injustice; seems she had a childish view about another matter too, having a thing for an older married man! Mizuho much later seems to have another crush. Towards the end of the anime Mizuho was blushing around Rajdhani at times. One time Rajdhani was putting on his school shirt, and Nagara noticed Mizuho's reaction. Another was when Rajdhani said he had a "scoop scope" that let him see others' romantic feelings, Mizuho hid behind her cat red faced when he pointed his fingers curled into a pretend telescope her way. Could it be having romantic feelings made her think there were things in our world she wanted to do? Given I'm such a sucker for romance, guess where this after-story is going to go?
- RalphZiggy
Chapter 1
"You know, Nagara, it's on rainy and dreary days I get reminded to go ask you to this park and check up on you."
"So, I'm still a dreary guy?"
"Nah, you're doing fine. It's just when we first went here to talk it was raining. Hey Nagara, right before we left that place in a rocket, Rajdhani told you to look him up, remember?"
"Oh yeah. Right now I've been thinking more about Nozomi than him of course. Maybe I should ask about him at our middle school. Mizuho, were you thinking about also finding Rajdhani?"
"About that… Rajdhani didn't say anything about 'hoping I look him up' to me. Maybe... *sigh*...he didn't want me to look him up?"
"Hmmmm? So you want to see him again, or it's more like wanting to meet the Rajdhani of this world. I did notice back then, right before we left, you'd sometimes look at him and… "
"Sometimes you talk too much!"
"Oh sorry, never mind that. But maybe he already knew you'd look him up? Why not think of it that way? I'm sure the Rajdhani here wouldn't remember that island or all those other places he went to, or about helping us get back. But you should ask the school secretary, Mizuho. I think it will keep eating away at you if you don't."
"I'll really have to think about doing that; I'm kind of scared and embarrassed to go there asking about some guy. They'd think I had some kind of… AHHH! But I do have some kind of crush, don't I?"
"You know, I mustered up enough courage to ask at the school about you last month, and yesterday I introduced myself properly to Nozomi at the station."
"Is this a courage contest? Maybe on a day when I'm feeling upbeat I could do it. You could say I'm kind of a moody girl."
"Hah, you don't say. Ow! I'm sorry, I made a mistake! You're not moody at all, Mizuho! And never grumpy! Much."
"Na Ga RA...what's with that 'much'?"
"Ow! Just kidding!"
"I'm trying to find this Indian guy that was in my class, Okada-san."
"Oh you don't have to blush, young lady, it's fine. We sometimes get students looking for their old classmates, even after a few years. Last month a very polite former student, Nakano Nagara, was looking for you, Koyama-san. My my, did anything… romantic happen?"
"No no no, we're not like that at all! But yes… Nagara did find me, so thanks for that. We did some projects together back then, along with Rajdhani."
"Rajdhani? Ahahaha! Is that what you called him? That's a train line in India, I don't think anyone would name their baby that. But you must mean Raj Dantani who was in your class. That's sure a funny nickname you have for him."
"Uh..yes! Yeah. That's him!"
"Dantani-kun did go back to India for high school."
"Ah… that makes sense."
"Oh oh, don't make that sad face, Koyama-san. Dantani-kun went to the Doon School, in Deradun. Since he wanted to join their aero-modeling club and physio-psych club we have the email addresses for those; we sent them pictures and information about his club projects here. Maybe you'll get lucky if you contact them! But best write in English, dear, that's what the school and the students use."
"Really! I mean, I'd really appreciate that, Okada-san."
"Hahaha, such a loud noise from such a phlegmatic girl...and now you're all happy again. Oh to be young again. Good luck finding the project teammate that makes you blush!"
"Urk!"
"… Um... you know you'll have to uncover your face to take this card, Koyama-san?"
"$20,000 U.S. dollars plus shipping from the midwestern USA. Damn, Raj, Director Principal Patel is pissed as hell you talked your Dad into making his yearly donation to be this thing."
"I'm sure she is. But for next year and every year after it'll be back to 100 percent monetary donations from Dad; so over time she'll get over it, probably."
"So what's the plan, Raj? Are we going to open a spa here in the basement… and put in IR fiberscopes in the pod and get girls to float nude while we peep?"
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Arjun. This float pod is for deep meditation and mental self-therapy."
"Really, Raj?"
"Yes, really, Arjun."
"Totally boring, Raj! No naked women, or even women in swimsuits in your plan at all! And why are we setting this up in this dank sub-basement? That 1930s freight elevator is scary enough going to the upper floors; I was worried we were going to descend into hell."
"Because when this pod is full and occupied it'll weigh one and a half tons. That exceeds the per square meter loading limit of our school's upper floors and might crack them or even crash through them."
"Hey let's put it over Patel's office, that's one way to make the nasty old hag forget about the water bill and to stop her nagging."
"It's good you're thinking about the water bill, Arjun, though I won't comment on your homicide scheme. Help me fill this up before Director Patel stops us, when she realizes it holds 850 liters of water and needs 50 liter toppings off bi-weekly. Plus we'll be using this handheld shower hose with heated water to get the salt off each time we use it."
"So truly epic water bill incoming! And how much electricity does it take to keep this saltwater at body temperature, filtered, and UV sanitized?"
"21 amps, so that's about 4.8KW of power."
"Forget the water bill, Raj, when Patel gets the electric bill she'll come for your head."
"But that's almost a month away. I'll be done with my experiments long before then, hopefully in two weeks. Then the electric bill should only be half as bad as the worst case."
"Raj, I've just had a revelation. You're actually an intellectual delinquent. In 4 weeks, I don't know you. I will have no mad scientist bestie friend from any rich-ass family. I didn't pallet jack and uncrate a 350 kilo spa pod and hook up hose pipes and cords. I didn't fill it, and I didn't put this bag of Epsom salts you liberated from the textiles lab I'll be in next semester into this spa-grade float pod I never saw. "
"Not the whole bag, Arjun, it only needs 6 kilograms for now. That's so people's skin don't shrivel up and especially so you won't call me prune-butt. We'll return the rest and liberate some more when the textiles lab restocks in a couple weeks."
"Oh, is that all it needs? Out of the last 8 kilo bag the textile lab had, just a wee 6 kilo pinch! Man, Raj, we're gonna be in deep shit, aren't we?"
"Arjun, it's only been 12 minutes! In a spa people usually go for one hour of flotation. I hereby regret letting you be the first."
"It's just too creepy, Raj. I couldn't feel the water, couldn't even tell which way was down. I heard the blood pulsing in my ears, saliva moving in my mouth, my intestines gurgling, my joints creaking and popping, saw all kinds of weird lights in front of my eyes I knew weren't real…"
"Some people do get bothered by those things in a sensory deprivation chamber, the trick is to just relax and accept all that."
"Huh, well I'd have to practice and build up to an hour. This just is NOT my thing. So what exactly are the experiments you're going to do, Raj? And who'll you do them on? Please not me, bro."
"Oh no, Arjun. I'll be the guinea pig for my own experiments though we'll let the club use it. I just need you to spot me and make sure nothing goes wrong with the pod, that's normal procedure for these things at a spa. If something weird does happen just open the lid, and in a big emergency they even have a release valve here to dump the water. But I don't think anything bad will happen."
"So what are you going to be doing in there, Raj? Anything weird, like say masturbatory?"
"Not at all. Wait, is that what took you 12 minutes? Do we need to flush the chamber and plumbing out? Is the pump gunked up with Arjun's spunk?"
"Waah, no way man! Being in this thing leaves me very limp!"
"I'm just going to try to remember parts of some really lucid dreams I've had. They're so detailed they're like bits and pieces of memories."
"Detailed? How detailed?"
"These dreams had way more colors than a normal dream. There was complicated text I could read, I've never had that in any of my dreams before. Then there were smells and realistic sensations of touch. I could feel grains of sand between my toes, feel and smell the ocean spray and wind, had sweat from the sun beating down on me. I smelled tropical plants, and felt a pet parrot's feet on my shoulder."
"Oh, and were there any women in this dream?"
"Yes there were."
"Ooo, now we're talking. What kind of women? Did they look, smell and feel realistic? Did they wear clothing?"
"They were young Japanese women, classmates from my middle school days being on exchange in Japan. These schoolgirls looked real and smelled very nice from hygiene products they ordered on an Amazon-like service made possible by cats that belonged to the grandma of one of the girls."
"Run by cats?! Okaaay… but let's get back to where you were describing the women, please."
"One was a real beauty who was very moody, with straight Japanese "hime cut" hair, as your beloved manga would say, to her mid back. She had a baggy gray sweater and loose baggy socks. She was the one with her grandmother's cats. Another was a cute exchange student with short brown hair who was always full of energy and optimism. Sadly, from exclusively your point of view, Arjun, I didn't 'feel' any of them and they were always clothed in my presence."
"So you're going to sit in that pod, and try to relive your dreams of your former schoolmates including the nice smelling female ones. You'll be living on the beach with them, with one particularly stunning hime-cut Japanese beauty in a middle school uniform, all baggy socked and baggy sweatered even though she's on the beach. You'll be ordering whatever you want from this cat-run Not-Amazon, and with a big pet parrot grabbing your shoulder?"
"Exactly that, Arjun!"
"Hmmm, saying it all out loud, it sounds kind of kinky, Raj."
"I think my friend Arjun has kink on the brain."
"Always! When did you start having these dreams?"
"I had a couple in middle school, right before graduation. The first one was the most bizarre. It was of me being on summer vacation but also at the school full of panicking classmates at the same time. I could only see blackness outside the windows but heard our principal's voice asking why the cats were taking so long to make a copy of Raj Dantani when all the other students were done nearly instantly. The assistant principal said it was because my mind was natively Indian not Japanese like the others."
"That first dream is downright scary. Hey, I just realized those are copycats, that's an English word about 150 years old."
"Ah yes, I've heard an American kid use that word. The second dream was about being at the island with my classmates though I forget the details. I hadn't thought about these things in the years since, but then the dreams started up about a month ago."
"Has it ever not rained when we sit in this park and talk, Nagara?
"Nope, it rains every time. When we combine forces we're bad for the weather."
"But you're really cheerful today. Did something good happen?"
"It seems Nozomi isn't hanging around with Asakaze any more. I didn't ask why but she did mention he was bragging all the time. But maybe guys do that to girls they're trying to impress?
"Just for reference, don't take up that tactic, Nagara. Girls that aren't airheads get tired of it. And so, your main rival self-destructed!"
"That's a bit much. Nozomi asked me if I could help her sketch a stage layout for a permission form. That's for her school's festival. She remembered I used to doodle all the time."
"Oooh! And where would you two be doing this sketch?"
"There's a coffee house next to Nishi-Ogikubo Station where we always run into each other, she said she'd get us coffee and cake. Oh, and we exchanged LINE contacts. When I got home, that compass wasn't spinning any more; I think it points to wherever Nozomi is now."
"Wow, you've done it Nagara! You are ascending into non-single manhood! Remember us single and unloved people whom you've left behind!"
"Pounding my shoulder and saying that sounds like a cheesy romcom manga scene."
"Hey, don't knock my secret hobby."
"So then, Mizuho, about Rajdhani…
"Gah! I did ask about him at our old school, and they gave me email addresses for two of the clubs he's in."
"So… are you going to contact him?"
"Well… I have to get my courage up."
"Good luck, Mizuho."
"Thanks. But what would I even say in an email?"
"Ah, let's see...You could reintroduce yourself, tell him what you're doing in school. Tell him about me. Ask him what he's doing. Could ask, does he ever use Japanese now? Oh, and if you're feeling really really brave, ask if he's ever going to come back to Japan? Cause we'd like to meet him again and catch up."
"OK! I'm going to do it right now, before I lose my nerve! Help me, Nagara! Hit the send button for me if I chicken out at the end, no matter what I say!"
"I can't send this mess of an email, can I, it's just too..."
"AAAAAHHH! Nagara! You really hit send! Why did you have to do exactly what I asked? This is bad! Bad, bad, completely bad! Oh no! Raj will think I'm a weirdo stalker creep! He'll hate me! Gasp gasp gasp "
"Calm down and don't worry, Mizuho, that was a great email and that picture in uniform your mom took is really good. You can stop messing up your hair."
"Raj better reply or it's all your fault, Nagara! I'm walking away now so I don't clobber you! I'll be up all night waiting for a reply and that's your fault too!"
"I'm certain Rajdhani will write you a really nice reply. Hey Mizuho, you're going the wrong way you know!"
"I took a few minutes to warm this shower hose with perfect temperature water, because 'screw Patel'. So did you recall anything from your dreams, Raj?"
"Many things. You might think it all sounds a bit far fetched."
"Now, after yesterday's synopsis? I think you're totally out of your gourd already. So lay it all on me, Raj."
"Our school's building and also third year students from various years of our school were transported and cast adrift in an alternate dimension where there was total blackness and blankness outside. The school had a nearby portal to a desert island, and that place had even more portals appearing and disappearing that went to even odder places. One of our troubled loner classmates having a rough home life made all of them."
"Wow, what a total edgelord!"
"He became close friends with those two girls and me during that time, so he wasn't alone any more. As for that long haired girl I told you about, she kept everyone alive with her powers until a couple years after that when most people journeyed far away."
"Wow, what a total goddess!"
"Her grandma's three cats she brought ran an Amazon-like service for our supplies and their copying ability had much to do with populating that world with copies of us all. A deity took the form of our school's principal and might have been the one that gave the students weird powers; or maybe he was just created at the same time we were separated from our world. But the cats had copying ability long before, in the girl's childhood. After a trip for thousands of years exploring dimensions that troubled guy made, I figured out the laws of that place, and so then I returned to that guy and that long haired girl. For them just two years had passed, but during that time their precious friend died, that brown haired exchange student.
"Ah, such misfortune! But she's alive again in our world, right?"
"Yes, she's fine now. After dying that girl left behind a compass that pointed to the future she wanted, perhaps where they could all be together and be friends again… in other words our world and our timeline. I helped the long haired girl and that guy escape to this version of our former world by building a complete Saturn V launch system that took them to a place where all possibilities converged, but I stayed behind to become a forest full of animals."
"Raj, I conclude your club has been experimenting with hallucinogenic mushrooms, but on the plus side at least you had really good trips. Gimme some of those good shrooms after exam week is over."
"I've never used psychoactive substances, Arjun; and I won't let you use any. I think scientists and aspiring industrial engineers such as yourself should keep a clear head."
Chime
"What a truly remarkable coincidence."
"No way, Raj! And that picture! How come no gorgeous woman ever sent me a picture? You chad! You major league player! You stud! This Mizuho Koyama, she is your baggy sweater and socks beauty with long hair, right?"
"The very one. And by the way Arjun, for future reference, it's probably rude to read others' emails over their shoulder, and doubly so for commenting on pictures in said emails."
"You're right. I'm very sorry, Raj, for my despicable behavior. Now forward me Mizuho's picture so I can make it my wallpaper for worship and for fantasizing. Also, ask her for more pictures, specifically at the beach, her school's swimming pool or gym class with attire appropriate for each."
"No Arjun, do I really need to point out any or all of those things would be rude and disrespectful?"
"At least I'm not the typical pervy boy who asks women for 'bobs and vageena' pics in social media… any more. Well then Raj, just promise me you'll write her a very nice email back. And that you'll attach a picture of your devilishly handsome self in uniform, because quid pro quo. At least when I die an unwanted and unkissed virgin I'll have known someone who has walked the path of enlightenment and fulfillment."
"Of course I will. I'll send her an email and a picture, I mean. The rest is your imagination."
"Look look look, Nagara! Raj is coming to Japan on exchange for three months in the fall! His school will only be 3 kilometers from mine!"
"That's great! I've never seen you this excited or happy, Mizuho."
"Oooh, but when he says he's dedicating his life to science… does that mean he won't ever want romance, marriage or a family of his own?"
"You're reading too much into that, Mizuho. And you're suddenly in a sad mood. Just by asking that question means you're thinking about an oddly specific future..."
"You talk too much, Nagara!"
"Sorry. Rajdhani does say he'd like to meet old classmates., so let's think of some kind of reunion party for everyone that wants to come. Maybe at a karaoke place? Even if we don't sing we could play some party games like charades."
"OH! Nagara, you're the best!"
"Um… er...Mizuho, it's getting hard to breathe."
"Oh! Sorry! I should have saved my first hug in this world, so it could have been with… AAAH! I'm so shameless! Don't you tell anyone, Nagara, or I'll kick both your shins really hard!"
"Please don't kick me too hard, better yet not at all, and I certainly won't tell anyone."
"Uh, Nagara… why do you have this long hair on your shoulder? And why do you smell like a really expensive women's perfume? Could it be.. you lied and actually have a girlfriend, hmmmmmm? And now you're two-timing her being in a cafe with a former schoolmate, you player. Huh? Huh?"
"No no no, Nozomi! Please stop elbowing me! It's Mizuho! Wait, I mean, Mizuho was so happy to learn Rajdhani is coming to Japan that she hugged me! But I think she likes him, not me! Then Mizuho realized what she was doing , and jumped back and was red as a strawberry. She made me promise not to tell anyone about that hug and threatened to kick both my shins really hard. Oh crap, now I'm telling you and I'm a big liar! My shins and biped days are doomed! Forget all of this, please, Nozomi!"
"Hahaha, it's so fun to tease you, Nagara! I knew the hair was obviously Mizuho's though that extra bit about a big hug was really spicy!
"Just forget it all!"
"Hey, the next time you go to talk to Mizuho, why not bring me along? I'd like to meet her and some other classmates again. I won't mention any hug though I'm really jealous she got one with you."
Oh! Yes, let's do that. I-I m-mean, go and meet Mizuho I mean!"
"Hahaha!"
"We were talking of planning a class reunion too when Rajdhani gets here, would you go to something like that?"
"Sure! And, I'd like to join your planning committee! Wow Nagara, you're a part of exciting things these days. "
"Our hero, unromantic 'my life is for science' Raj has been staring at his phone for 20 minutes! He's trying to compose a message to a gorgeous Japanese princess, with attached photo of himself! Will Raj be able to grind out even one sentence? Will he make an utter ass of himself and go slump in a pipe chair? Will he pilot the float pod again? Find out in our next episode! And as always, more fanservice!"
"Hush with the booming Misato-narrator voice, Arjun, the door is open and I'm certain all the classrooms near the stairwell heard that."
"Cough cough cough About 45 seconds is the longest I can do a woman's voice, then a coughing fit always hits. Ahem! Wait, you know about Evangelion, Raj?"
"My parents love it; I was made to watch it all; and by all I mean all versions."
"Even the crappy final redos with the homely glasses-girl ending out of nowhere?"
"Yes, even that one. I would ship Shinji with the original's pipe chair over her."
"Wow, you just outed your parents as mega eff'ing weebs. So, is it really that hard to think of something to write to a former classmate if she's a woman?"
"No Arjun, that part will be easy… instead I'm trying to think of a way to hint at the island adventure, to see if she or our other classmate Nagara who returned with her has a memory of it."
"Whoa there, dude! That's totally delusional. Talking as if your dream really happened? Or you're thinking they would have the same dreams as you? Raj, you can tell me, have you been doing the Breaking Bad thing, taking reagents from the biochem lab and cooking 'product'? Or maybe you've been licking the toads in the biology room? By the way if you licked a male one that's totally gay."
"Licking the Common Indian Toad wouldn't inebriate someone, Arjun, and I'm sure the Sonoran Desert Toad lickers aren't doing it for sexual reasons."
"Oh, so you've tried it!"
"No, I have not tried it. And I haven't been synthesizing methamphetamine hydrochloride 'product' either. Arjun, I only have a hypothesis based on a bit of evidence, and I'm trying to design an experiment to verify or disprove it. OH! I know just what to do! I'll draw something only a version of Mizuho or Nagara who went through it all would recognize."
"What the heck? A guy and a girl astronaut… I'm guessing Mizuho and that Nagara guy, in orbit and transferring from a space capsule to a Ferris wheel car sitting on the end of a… big centrifuge arm? And a compass over it all? A scene from your dream?"
"Yes, it's how they left the island to arrive at a place where all those other dimensions came together. Then by following the compass they chose this version of our world that brown haired girl Nozomi wanted."
"Now what exactly are you going to say about that drawing so our princess Mizuho doesn't think you're whacked in the head, goes running to the authorities and gets you persona non grata in Japan?"
"I'll just mention I'm sitting in the aero-modeling club making sketches and include a picture of my open sketchbook with an airplane on one side and most of this space scene on the other."
"That actually might work, huh... maybe you're still a genius and not a junkie. Still bonkers though."
"*GASP*"
"Mizuho! Did something bad happen? Here's your phone, it looks okay. Good thing you have a gel protector on it. Breath slowly, you're hyperventilating."
"Nothing bad, Nozomi. Raj remembered a project we did with Nagara, and that really surprised me."
"Oh, using his real first name now, are we, Mizuho? How romantic, let's see you do it to his face. But I don't remember you guys working on any project together. And... Nagara was so gloomy back then I don't remember him doing anything with anyone... but isn't it good Rajdhani remembers some time spent with you?"
"Yeah. It's really good."
"Ooooo, look at you girl, you went from looking like a horror movie throw-away character about to get axed to a happy maiden hugging her phone in 30 seconds flat. Here comes Nagara. Here, sit right next to me, Nagara, not all alone at the end being afraid of the super cute girls! We were waiting to order. So Nagara, Mizuho said you worked on some project in middle school with Rajdhani?"
"Hi, Nozomi and Mizuho. Yes, we did do a project together."
"Nagara, look what Raj sent me!"
"And now Nagara looks like a horror movie character about to get axed by the heavy breathing guy in a hockey mask. Oh wait, now he's suddenly flipped moods to being really happy. Nagara got too close to the girl with moodshifting-powers and now he reacts exactly the same way she does, hahaha!"
"Hey!"
"Just kidding, Mizuho. So that's astronauts in space? Wait, that hair, that's YOU in space, Mizuho? With some astronaut guy… is that supposed to be you Nagara? . Then where is Rajdhani? Just what was this project, making portraits of yourselves in space?"
"1:1 scale model rocketry."
"Pffft!"
"Huh? Nagara, I don't get it and what's so funny, Mizuho? I'm feeling so left out, waaaaah."
"Nozomi, we'll tell that story when Rajdhani gets here, with just the four of us."
"Ooooo, so you're proposing a double date, Nagara. I'm holding you to it!"
"S-S-Sure. For now, let's order and get our party planning started, ladies."
"YAY!"
"Take the plunge and try, even if you fail!"
"Haha. Mizuho, you're using that old people's saying with a little fist pump! Best of luck to you!"
"Come look at this LINE conversation with Mizuho and Nagara, Arjun."
"What is LINE?"
"It's like a Japanese WhatsApp, but with a more colorful and fun UI."
"So now Raj has transformed into a chat media junkie and it's okay for me to look at his phone? Oh my god! No way! They both remember all that drug tripping island stuff you were talking about!"
"Yes, and they knew details without my prompting, like the pet parrot I had and the Hyo-Ryu digital currency we used so goods wouldn't burst into blue flames."
"What does this even mean? Were you gods back then? Are you going to tell the world about your past?"
"No Arjun, those two were students that experienced supernatural phenomena in another version of this world, and that gave them memories in this world. Somehow all that gave me dreams in this world. In any case we can't tell anyone but our closest friends, we'd never be believed. If what happened was real I'm sure this world and this universe allows such powers to exist."
"Unbelievable. You're sure you're not going to go all mad scientist with your friends and try to open portals to other dimensions with them, are you?"
"Absolutely not, there are enough mysteries in this universe alone. Also, it turns out living for thousands of years gets very tedious and wears a person out."
"And there you have it, folks. Raj tried godhood, didn't like it, went back to being a student."
"I wasn't a god over there, just a scientist and engineer."
"Dude! Look! Besides wondering about your college trek and career, Mizuho just asked you if you wanted to have a family, all in the same sentence! Woman after you has the endgame in mind and makes her move!"
"She's just making conversation."
"Oh yeah? Now she just apologized for sounding weird! 'Just making conversation' you say? Yeah your parents were just making conversation and then they got engaged, married and conceived you, Raj."
"I'm thinking that now maybe you shouldn't be reading this LINE chat."
"Don't you know. If you let your closest friend see your emails or texts once they're authorized for life! So Raj, how about it? Would you consider marriage to a suitably wonderful and beautiful woman even if it's over in Japan?"
"Sounds like you would, Arjun.
"Damn right!"
"Anyway I haven't thought too much about such things, I always assumed my life would be filled with science, to make things better for people. Things like marriage and family never crossed my mind. That's what I'm writing as a reply."
"That's right, leave her hope, Raj. Don't break her heart. Now, go to Japan and charm her baggy socks off!"
"I think you're projecting your hopes and fantasies onto me, Arjun."
"So seven students said they'd come, with us and Rajdhani that's a dozen! We're in business and can reserve a room."
"Wow you're even good with cold calling, Nagara. Now let's see Mizuho's decoration ideas."
"What do you think of school pictures and names on washable place mats? It's a thing Kinkos does, they print on all kinds of stuff. This one is with my name, and they'll give us the 33 percent off school discount on a dozen."
"Looks great! But you know we totally can see through your plot of having assigned seating for the table, Mizuho. "
"I don't know how else to get a chance to start talking with Raj."
"It's a great idea, Mizuho! You can stop looking down and doing a Sadako impression behind your hair. So it'll be myself, Nagara, you and then Rajdhani all in a row. You're thinking Nagara can support you in making conversation, right? And the goal is to get Rajdhani invited to a double date for a movie and then we'll eat at a cafe and talk."
"Nagara!"
"My wrists and hands are losing circulation. What is it, Mizuho?"
"For this karaoke party you have one job, you do understand that, right?"
"Roger that, Mizuho."
"I'll help too, Mizuho! I'm a conversation machine!"
"Sniff I'm really scared but you're such good friends."
