A little flashback into Chiaki's school life here. Apparently, things have always been a little rough for her when it comes to other people. The style of bullying from Ai and Honoka is somewhat based on what I dealt with a lot as a kid, where they act nice and sound interested in the things I'm interested in. And then, because I'm the way I am, I'd fall for it every time and get excited and start gushing about it because I think they're being genuine, only to leave myself wide open to be laughed at. It's made it hard for me to open up about things I like for a good chunk of my life, and I've only really started being able to do it again as of my 30s (and I still have moments where I hesitate to open up). That stuff really sticks with you. :/

Chiaki at least had Fumiko to keep them reined in, but not all of us are so lucky.

All things considered, these new kids - albeit "not entirely human" in this strange new world - seem pretty nice, at least.

And on a lighter note, I'll add that it's actually a GameToy Color (as opposed to the original GameToy). You can tell by the side angle shots, where it flairs towards the lower half of the unit. And Minimon Argent is a play of Pokemon Silver in this case, if it wasn't obvious. If you're familiar with my work with Rain you probably expected the "bland name product" names. But I guess this is the first confirmation; if I'm gonna do it in one comic, I'm gonna do it in all of 'em! XD

©2022, 2023
My Impossible Soulmate, all characters, and all other aspects of the story are copyright material belonging to Jocelyn Samara (aka Lynn Senpai).