Chapter 1

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Why would somebody dream to be normal?

To be shackled by the social constraints of society, to be among the many faceless members of humankind…what reasons would someone have to aim for that?

To have a carefree life? Nonsense. To be normal is to be trampled by those of superior ability, to be normal dictates powerlessness.

To be normal for the sake of being average? Also nonsense. Why would you be average if you could become great, far above your fellow human beings?

No, the only reason someone would dream to be normal is those of the lost. Just like how the children dream to be adults; the normal dream to be great, and the great dream to be god…

-The broken dream to be normal.

For these people, the idea of being normal is an unreachable fantasy. So isolated from humanity, trauma far beyond light, people like these did exist.

So much so that they wouldn't even be considered humans anymore.

He would never forget.

Kyousuke stole a glance at the bespectacled girl next to him as they walked home from school. Once upon a time, the construct next to him was a real person, someone he had treasured above all others.

Manami…

The features of his face softened at the memory. She had been so pure then, donning a resolve to preserve the people she loved. And preserve they did, leaving her to fight until all that was left was a hollow shell. He tried to remember what she had looked like then. His eyes passed searchingly over the girl's face, but something fell out of his desperate grasp no matter how much he lunged.

The construct could only blush under the piercing attention.

"Kyousuke?" she queried.

Kyousuke looked away and continued forward. It was slight, but his head slumped forward in depression. He felt drained and dejected, not because it was an especially troubling day, but because it was a normal day.

"Nothing. Let's go home."

The construct would have continued voicing her concern, but the tone of the boy next to her brooked no tolerance for anything more.

They went home.

{[+]}

It could have been so much worse. He could have had abusive parents; he could have been born in an orphanage. Several bleak scenarios went through his head, but they all reassured him how lucky he was.

He didn't really have anything that justified angsty teenage outlooks.

Sure, his father was a prick and his sister in recent years turned into the incarnation of queen bitch. Sure, he probably wasn't the most favored child in his family.

But his parents loved him. He wasn't really sure about his sister, but the possibility of relying on his family with no strings attached was something only he had at the time.

Was it irrational to hate oneself for having something beneficial?

He couldn't even tell anymore, but for some reason the guilt wracked through him every day. Maybe it was why he stopped trying so hard anymore, even though he knew he was being pathetic.

Home was a rather touchy subject for him nowadays. His father used to be more proud of him back when he had stellar grades and an active role in the community, and even though his mother stayed kind and loving throughout the years, she had voiced concern for the growing lazy apathy of the lone Kousaka male.

As for his sister…

He gave a furtive look towards his sister, who was incidentally on the phone while lying belly first on the couch.

…he didn't even want to go into that subject.

Tea was probably one of the only real joys he actually had left. Satisfaction in any hobby eluded him, motivation in academics ebbed as the years went on, and as for sports…too much effort.

He poured himself a cup of chilled tea that he procured from the fridge. His Adam's apple bobbed as he guzzled down the liquid.

Now it was time to go to his room and mope around. He took a glance at the clock; eight hours to waste until bed time.

He threw one more glimpse at his sister as he walked out and closed the door behind him before he realized he left the tea out. Sighing, he turned back, only to knock into said little sister, sending them both careening onto the ground.

"Shit, I'm so sorry," Kyousuke blabbered as he picked himself up from the floor. He hadn't really interacted with his sister for years, and he really didn't want to make the relationship worse. He looked at all the things strewn across the floor and bent down to help, but his sister had other plans for him.

"Don't touch my stuff," she hissed.

Kyousuke felt a cold wave of anger drench him from head to toe. When did his sister become such a bitch? All he could do was watch as his sister stormed out of the house and slam the door behind her. A throbbing headache ate at his temples.

Oh well, at least he managed to waste a minute or too.

He promptly slipped on a plastic case conveniently left on the floor, and whammed his already abused head on the ground. If anything, his headache got even worse, and the plastic case rebounded off the adjacent wall and pierced the nerve endings in his nose. Pain clouded his eyes, but he eventually sighed at that too.

He could only stare at the heavens as he lay back, before he picked up the stupid case he had tripped on. Realization set in as his eyes read the colorful letters branded in bold across the cover.

...

He blinked twice, very owlishly.

…I don't even know anymore.

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"Hey mom, I'm going to go down to the convenience store and buy ice cream!"

"Have fun!"

Kyousuke left the door often and paused in his journey out the door as he waited. Sure enough, the sound of a door creaking open was heard upstairs. His mind went blank when his suspicions were confirmed, and somehow, he knew this would result in long-term trouble.

Kyousuke slapped his palm to his face and groaned.

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"What are you doing in my room?"

Kirino jumped in fright and turned to face her brother. It was like she was a deer caught in headlights.

"N-Nothing…" she murmured as her eyes glanced downwards to the side.

Kyouske sweat-dropped; it was probably the most blatant lie he ever heard. He could only brace himself for whatever happened next.

"Are you looking for this?"

With a flourish he whipped out the plastic CD case that he hid in one of his secret compartments. The reaction was immediate.

"Wh-...Wait, that's…" Her voice trailed off. "I mean…" She trailed off again.

Kyousuke mentally sighed.

"Is this yours or not?"

There was silence. Kirino stood there blushing as her gaze flitted towards the floor. Despite her earlier aggressive, unwarranted actions, Kyousuke couldn't help but feel bad for her. Everyone had their secrets after all, and at this point nothing surprised Kyousuke anymore.

At that train of thought, his eyes grew distant. Some darker secrets were best left buried in the sand.

In a parallel universe, he would have probably teased his sister for a few aggravating moments before finally relinquishing the CD, just to get back at her. He wasn't really in the mood for that though, so he just threw at her, who caught it sheepishly.

"Take it and get out," he said, jabbing his thumb at the door behind him. "And don't come in my room again without asking me first."

Kirino felt a flash of anger at his words, but she huffed and got out. Just before leaving though, she hesitated.

"Do you…t-think it's weird for…" (she looked downwards) "m-me…to have these…hobbies?"

Kyousuke's eyes rolled up to the heavens as he gave the question thought for about 0.3 seconds.

"Believe me, I've seen worse."

"Wha-…What's that supposed to mean?" Kirino burst as her face turned an angry shade of red.

Kyousuke shook his head in exasperation.

"Gosh, must you take things so personally? It just means that as far as hobbies go, you're mild, so there isn't really any reason for you to feel so ashamed of it. Now get out, I have ice cream to get."

Kirino huffed.

"I'm probably going to be the only and last girl in the world ever that will be in your room," she ground out, just before she left.

Ouch…That hurt…

It was probably true though, but Kyousuke had long grown past the point of actually caring. Actually, he laughed at himself in amusement.

True but pathetic…

He rubbed his temples and went out to get the ice cream. What did his mom ask for again? Ah yes, strawberry, he thought, before he left the house. The rest of the day went by agonizingly slowly, as mundane minute after mundane minute passed. The trip to the supermarket turned up nothing of interest, and neither did his school work.

Sometimes, he wondered why he got up in the morning.

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It's not every day that you see such grotesque architecture.

Even among the shadows, the beauty of the infrastructure around him did not go unnoticed. Vast halls with pillars casting gnarled, jagged shadows… darkness as far as his eyes could see.

It was a long time since he was here. He had no guess towards why he was here, or what he was doing, but he let his feet guide him. He could vaguely remember the tiled, checkered floor, but he didn't know the purpose of his roaming or how long it took when he got there. Eventually, the hall sloped upwards to a door only he could open.

He opened the door, and then he remembered.

Terror. Blind terror. His eyes widened as his pupils dilated. The body of the girl lay in the middle; and on top of her, twin red eyes pierced his soul. Blood ran down the walls and pooled on the floor, and his feet sank into the marsh. He tried to claw his way out, but the salty, sickening smell of iron assaulted him.

"Please forgive me," he pleaded, sprawled on his hands and legs towards the girl. "Please."

The blood ran up his thighs.

"Please! Forgive me!"

The girl's head tilted towards him, and he could barely see her eyes. They were just like what he remembered, but it was not a happy reconciliation.

"Disgusting," she mouthed.

"No! Please!"

"Worthless, useless boy."

Something in him broke.

"Please forgive me," he cried. "Forgive me. For-"

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"-give…"

He gasped as his vision blurred open.

"Kyousuke!"

Body rising in frantic panic, he shoved the offending appendixes shaking his body. They reached for him again and he slapped away.

"Don't touch me!" he barked.

The corner was cool and comforting, and he found himself pressed against it with his arms wrapped around his trembling body. Cold sweat ran all the way down his forehead and dripped down his chin, while he struggled for oxygen. All the while, his head swam.

He needed to get to the toilet.

The trip there was a frantic, nauseating blur. He groped around, stumbled there, his uncoordinated efforts managing to bring his head over the toilet bowl. He promptly started emptying all the contents of his hurling stomach into it, the taste of bile and half digested food streaming into the water. The heaving didn't stop, not even after he was sure his stomach was empty.

Eyes and arms burned as he groped forward to flush the toilet. His eyes tracked the swirl of vomit being drained as he slumped against the towel rack. Heart beating with painful palpitations, he tried to regain normality over his respiratory system for a few agonizing seconds, only to realize that his sister was watching him. His eyes widened as shame and fear flushed up his body.

Anger rushed up inside of him.

"I told you not to come into my room without asking me."

Kirino flinched. Her brother's tone turned 20 degrees colder and there was the subtle tinge of rage behind it.

"I…I was just…"

"If you ever do so again, I'm going to let mom and dad know that you've been playing eroge."

That shut her up. She stared as her brother grasped the side of the bathtub and pulled himself up shakily. Without acknowledging her, he staggered past her and edged towards the direction of his room.

{[+]}

That night, Kirino went back to her room.

She did not catch even an ounce of sleep.

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Author's note: I don't own oreimo or any of the associated anime series. That aside, this fic is a crossover with another anime, but I don't plan on revealing what kind of crossover it is until late into the story. But once that spoiler is revealed, everything will go FUBAR.

Kyousuke is shell-shocked. He's unlike my other protagonists in that he's a completely normal human, and will probably stay that way for most of the planned story. Hints to his back story will come up, but hopefully it won't be too obvious as to what this story has crossed over with yet.

Major characters may die later on. But considering the nature of which I am crossing over with, it's to be expected.

Reviews are my lifeblood and they encourage me to write more. Anything will be appreciated really, even if you just pull full stops and submit a review, or insult my manhood/intelligence/writing skills, it will still be better than having a big fat zero.