Analog Hack

by Infinity Caliber

Set a hundred years from now, in a familiar yet futuristic vision of Japan where society is run by incredibly human-looking robots, a boy meets a strange girl. With society divided on the line between progress and losing sight of the definition of 'humanity', a choice looms for 17-year-old Endo Arato. Is it easier to change oneself to fit society or change society to fit oneself?

12. Illusory Correlation

Chapter 10: Illusory Correlation

Summary:

"Say, Arato-san, do you think it's strange to want a world populated only by hIEs? They don't judge and they treat everyone the same regardless of who you are or how you look. Wouldn't that be nice?"

The bitterness was back again in her voice, and somehow it made him uncomfortable how a girl like her could sound so weary and jaded.

A world without humans. Arato was sure if such a thing existed, all conflict would immediately cease, that much was true. But even so, he didn't think that was the answer. After all, a world without hate was also a world without love.

"What's so great about this place anyway? We're a nation that takes pride in lecturing others about the meaning of the soul, how we understand it uniquely in a way that no one else does, and other nonsensical ideals like how things are supposed to be judged by their effort and intent, rather than the outcome. In the end, we're just like the rest, nothing but a shallow people who only care about the looks of something, rather than the inside."

"We really are some of the most hypocritical scum of the Earth, aren't we?" Arato smiled thinly. He knew better than anyone how much the external form alone could move the human heart.

---

Thursday, April 23th.

Arato hadn't shown up to class today as well. Their homeroom teacher informed the class that he was on medical leave until sometime next week. Most of his classmates rolled their eyes at that. They assumed that with Golden Week right around the corner, Arato would opportunistically use the chance to enjoy an extended vacation from school. Even the text he had sent him earlier seemed to confirm it, informing him that he had gotten involved in an accident that required a hospital visit and that he was alright but would be away from school for a bit.

Kengo knew better. He was sure the destruction mission he sent Kouka on had gotten complicated. Casually, he tried to strike up a conversation with Ryo during lunch, but when the topic drifted over to Arato and that shady hIE of his, Lacia, his face hardened and Ryo bluntly told him to drop the issue.

"Forget Kaidai, even Arato's keeping secrets these days." Kengo complained on the way home. Not that he had any right to, considering that he kept his activities with the Antibody Network confidential. He couldn't even bring himself to dial Arato on his cell to check up on him. Considering that he had been the one who had gotten Arato injured with his actions in the first place, Kengo felt like he had no right to play the role of the concerned friend.

But one thing was for sure, that hIE of his must have possessed superhuman combat capabilities of her own if she could successfully fend off a monster like Kouka. Speaking of monsters, Kengo was unpleasantly surprised to find one in his room when he returned home.

"Ya-hoo, welcome back." Kouka flashed him a sardonic grin as he opened the door.

How did the saying go? Speak of the devil and it shall appear?

"Don't act like this place belongs to you." He snapped. Her carefree attitude pissed him off.

"Oh don't go acting like a stranger now, comrade."

"Like hell we are. Get out of my house before I call the cops, shithead."

Kengo fought back the urge to spit on her. Everything about Kouka, from her crimson hair, matching eyes, red and black bodysuit along with the huge bladed weapon she called a device pissed him off. Just merely looking at the clearly artificial lines on her skin repulsed him.

Kouka might have been a fellow member of the Antibody Network like him, but in no way could Kengo see her as an ally. She was a machine, the opposite of a human. She was something to be despised and hated, to be destroyed instead of cherished, to be used and discarded whenever one saw fit.

If it weren't suicidal to try such a thing, Kengo would have snapped her neck and disposed of the remains ages ago.

Only an anomaly like Endo Arato could delude himself into carrying an affection for the conniving enemy which sought to subvert humanity and its core values. He needed to get his head checked for sure, that Arato.

"Well, that's going to be a problem, considering that I've got all sorts of things to discuss with you." Kouka replied.

"I ain't got anything to say to a defective piece of shit like you," Kengo growled. "And what's this about Arato getting hurt? Didn't I order you to leave him alone?"

"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure that moron is getting plenty of skinship from my Onee-sama as we speak," As she drawled, Kouka had an odd look in her eyes, as if she knew something that he did not. "Everything worked out in the end."

"Like hell it did. Last I checked, that hIE is still around and kicking. You had one job and you screwed it up."

"I am the least advanced of my series," Kouka idly mused before continuing in a low, harsh tone. "But regardless of the success of a request, payment is still owed. Those are the rules of the Network."

As if on cue, a series of numbers in the form of a receipt appeared on the screen of his desktop terminal. Kengo felt sick when he saw the amount. The sick feeling in his stomach soon turned to anger.

"Cut the shit. I know my stuff. A simple destruction mission isn't supposed to cost this much." He said, drawing upon all his reserves of courage to rebuff her in order to display a confident front. Without it, he wouldn't have been able to remain standing. In the first place, his family wasn't the well-off sort, even if he went to them to beg for help, they couldn't do anything about the amount before him.

"What can I say? The top agent brings with it top fees," The grin on her face only added to the churning in his stomach. "You know as well as I do that the Network isn't a charity, else everyone would be flooding them with requests."

The amount she was asking for was absurd. Kouka wanted him to fork over a sum of almost five hundred thousand yen. It was insane. He was just a student, he didn't have that sort of money. Kengo looked at Kouka like she had lost her mind. Did she get the address wrong? Maybe he should direct her to the Kaidai's instead?

"You're shitting me. Half a million yen for a failed job? That's gotta be the worst joke I've ever heard in my life." Kengo let out a bark of laughter.

Kouka's grin turned predatory, and her voice sweet and dangerous. "I must have heard that wrong, considering the consequences in store for you if you don't pony up the cash."

"Bite me," Kengo could only display his bravado by mouthing off. The Antibody Network was comprised of humans who couldn't stand a world with hIEs in it. The thought of such an organization full of people who swore against automation sending an hIE to punish one of their own was absurd. "You're retarded if you think I have that kind of cash on me."

"Oh don't worry," Kouka agreed. "The higher-ups have already accounted for that. That's why we've prepared a special penalty just for you."

He felt a chill run down his spine. The Antibody Network was a criminal organization, so of course, it was only natural to assume they had some sort of shady dealings going on in the background. But as a high schooler, Kengo reassured himself that he would never be drawn into the worst excesses and the depths of such an organization. Now it seemed such a nightmarish scenario was about to happen, and he was to be suckered in against his will.

"If I take this penalty or whatever bullshit task you come up with, my debt gets wiped away and I'll be home free?"

"Sure, if you're willing to face your penalty like a man, then I promise to not do anything to your family," The mocking grin on her face remained in place. "See, this is what I don't get. Why did you even bother to intervene? You could have just ignored that fool and let him ruin his own life, it all seems so stupid to me." She hopped off his desk and proceeded to sit down in his chair as if she owned it.

"Humans are capable of making decisions that don't always correspond to their self-interest for the sake of friendship. But I guess a soulless machine like you wouldn't understand what it's like to have a heart. You will never know what it's like to go out of your way for someone." Kengo said bitterly.

He couldn't stand the way how this machine was talking down to him as if he were beneath her. The idea that an emotionless hIE, a mere tool designed to do nothing but advance the cause of its programmer, talking to him in such a manner that made him feel inferior only had the effect of pissing him off.

He had seen the way Arato was beginning to change his lifestyle for his hIE, Lacia. To Kengo, such a thing disgusted him. The tool was supposed to change to fit the Owner, not the other way around. As his friend, watching Arato get all obsessed over a soulless object was invoking the same pitiful feelings as one would when they saw an acquaintance of theirs become entrapped in a ruinous self-destructive lifestyle, similar to drugs, alcohol, or gambling. The fact that the 'thing' Arato had gotten all starry-eyed over happened to be the very same objects that Kengo had been involved in destroying all this time only made the cracks in his heart hurt even more.

Kouka didn't respond to his provocative baiting. Instead, she continued to inspect him, her intense gaze shamelessly traveling up and down his body as if she was trying to undress him with her eyes. Just when Kengo was starting to feel creeped out by it all, she delivered her judgment onto him like a god. "Suguri Kengo," Kouka announced. "I'll now pronounce your penalty as decided by the higher-ups."

It was then that the second pocket terminal that he carried in his pocket, the one he used for Antibody activities, vibrated. Kengo was sure that he had just received a notification with the details of his task. He quickly peeked his head outside of his room to check that no one else was listening in to their conversation. If any of his family spotted Kouka, Kengo was sure that they would somehow be dragged into this as well. Luckily, it seemed like both his parents were working in the family restaurant downstairs, and his sister Olga, well she was probably out with her friends, considering that she hadn't returned home from school yet. Not that he would know for sure, he didn't quite get along with his sister that well.

"You will directly participate in the next operation conducted by the Antibody Network," Kouka said, before ending with an unhinged smile. "As a Destroyer, of course."

"And if I tell you to shove it up your ass?" Kengo snarled.

If she had been deterred by his aggressive posture and language, Kengo could not tell. If anything, the grin on Kouka's face only grew wider and even more uncanny. Kouka looked like she was having the time of her life. "Oh, I'm sure a kind person like you would never dare put his precious family in danger like that."

His heart twisted. The casual manner in the way she dished out her threat made Kengo feel sick right down to his stomach. He had been naive this entire time, thinking that his family wouldn't get involved.

"You're talking about hurting my family. I can settle this with one phone call to the police." He shot back.

"By then, who knows what could happen?" Kouka purred.

Kengo felt the blood drain from his face. With that ridiculous device of hers, Kouka could probably turn his house into a smoking crater before he could even leave his room to yell for help.

"What do you want from me?" All of his earlier confidence leaving him like air out of a deflating balloon, Kengo could only scowl.

"The village idiot currently attached to my Onee-sama, his father, Endo Kozo, has created a prototype android chairman for use in the Diet's assembly. It's slated to be arriving in Tokyo before the end of the month," She went on. "You've heard about it, right? It's the current talk of the town. It's an hIE that gathers opinions from citizens via the network and questionnaires, and then goes on to voice said opinions and asks questions on the Diet floor. Apparently, they even modeled it after some big-name historical character. Anyway, it's an empty husk with a pretty face whose's only job is to automate the aggregation of political opinions, and it's soon about to start up its first large-scale public test," Kouka explained before flashing him a sadistic grin. "That cheap doll, how about we blow it up?"

"That's just terrorism!"

The unlawful use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of a political aim. That was the method Kouka was suggesting. Unease spread in his stomach before settling in his gut. Compared to his usual work with the Antibody Network, it made Kengo feel small, like a child pretending to be an adult.

"My, such a loaded term," Kouka murmured. "It's just the usual hijinks of destroying an hIE like we always do. Although, I do admit the security detail on this hIE is a tad higher than the norm. But don't worry, we'll make sure you're well-trained before sending you off!"

Kouka was talking as if a petty shoplifter was cut from the same cloth as a bank robber. Kengo was just that, a petty criminal doing petty acts to fill the void of frustration at this unjust world in his heart.

Ever since the previous century, it had been common practice for those who wished to manipulate the government to set up bots farms to brigade their votes via the network. As a result, there had been a backlash against automating any part of the government. Even so, there was still a huge difference between wrecking a random hIE walking around on the street and targeting one being held in a heavily guarded facility.

"Why look at you, aren't you making an amazing face at the moment." Kengo felt her hand stroke his cheek with false tenderness. The artificial skin of her arm with its line-like seams running along it made him sick just by looking at it.

"That goes without saying. You're forcing me to do your dirty work so I can die for you," He spat bitterly. "When I'm being used as a tool like this, how could I not hate it?"

"But throughout history, human governments force other humans to go to their deaths all the time. Compared to that, I don't see how the current situation is so strange." Kouka said.

"That might be true, but that isn't a decision that a machine gets to make on its own, especially if it's a Red Box."

He glared at her. Somehow, the way she silently smirked at him only served to prove his assumptions correct.

"You're a Red Box, aren't you? And if that other hIE that you call your 'dear sister' is the same, then she's a Red Box as well," Kengo said. "If that's the case, then what is your real goal? Why would a Red Box throw in with the Antibody Network, an illegal organization that despises hIEs? It doesn't make sense, we're natural enemies!"

"I know, isn't everything crazy? Doesn't it piss you off knowing that you rolled the dice and came out short? Then why not use this chance to smash an hIE to your heart's content?" She egged him on. Kengo couldn't tell if her provocative smile was real or fake. He blamed analog hacking for that.

"Or would you like to be my Owner instead? I can get you out of this, all you have to do is form a contract and say the word."

Her low, drawling voice made Kouka resemble a devil offering a curse under the guise of salvation.

Kengo forced back the bile that seemed to gather in his throat. He couldn't come to understand Arato's mental framework at all. How could he find any part of this to be considered 'loveable'?

---

A warm, fine April day greeted Arato as he left his apartment. Usually, around this time, he would be heading home from school, but today he found himself performing the usual journey in reverse instead. He took the Chuo-Sobu line from the nearby Shin Koiwa station towards Asakusabashi Station where he transferred over to the Asakusa Line before stepping off at Asakusa Station. The school that his little sister Yuka attended, Sakurabashi Junior High School, was tucked away in a spot where the old Imado township used to be.

At this time in the afternoon, the train was sparsely populated, reminding Arato of the fact that most people were currently engaged with school or work right now.

Across the Sumida River towards the Taito side, rows of fading cherry blossom trees greeted him as he walked past Sumida Park. Speaking of which, April was coming to a close and Arato realized that he had yet to attend a hanami. Not that he could if he wanted to anyway, considering that the cherry blossom season had already passed in Tokyo. Unless he decided to fly to Hokkaido on a whim to catch the final wave of blooming cherry blossoms, he would have to wait until next year.

The peaceful atmosphere allowed Arato to settle into his usual routine and before he knew it, he had covered the kilometer-long walk from Asakusa Station to Sakurabashi Junior High School in a time of about just under 15 minutes. As he stood waiting outside the school gate, Arato used the opportunity to fish out his cell from his pocket to check on the time. As if right on cue, Arato could hear the familiar sound of a chime ringing in the background and he saw from a distance the usual flurry of activity behind the glass windows of the classrooms.

A short while later, Arato watched as a familiar silhouette waved at him from the school entrance.

"You're late, Onii-chan." His little sister Yuka said as she approached him, pouting the entire time. Arato couldn't help but give a wry smile at her attitude. At least she seemed to be doing better since the incident with the kidnapper.

"I'm five minutes early, aren't I?" Arato rolled his eyes. Since her junior high school finished the school day at 3:30 pm, Arato was pretty sure showing up at 3:25 pm couldn't be considered late.

"That makes you twenty-five minutes late!" Yuka complained, wagging a finger at him. "Seriously Arato, is this your first time picking up a girl? Tsk, tsk, that's going to cost you points."

Arato wanted to roll his eyes again. Seriously, did she expect him to skulk outside the school as if he was some sort of forlorn boyfriend at a train station waiting for his date?

"You might be right but there's one thing you seem to be forgetting." Arato told her.

"Hm?"

"You're not a girl." He dryly pointed out.

Yuka stared at him like she was looking at an escaped patient from a mental institute. "I'm pretty sure it says that I'm a girl on my birth certificate though?" Even the way she was speaking, from how she slowed down her speech, resembled a caretaker talking to a professional idiot.

"Hmph," Arato flashed a smile at her. If he was wearing glasses right now, he would be pushing them up the bridge of his nose. He then put on a straight face and explained to her calmly as if he was revealing a grand conspiracy. "That's where the government got it all mixed up. See here, Yuka. There are three sexes in this world. 'Male', 'Female' and 'Little Sister'."

"So you're saying I'm a superior lifeform?" Yuka murmured with stars in her eyes. She seemed to take him way too seriously considering how ridiculous his theory was.

"More like special." Arato deadpanned.

"And now you're calling me special? Aww, Onii-chan, did you miss your heroine here that much?" His little sister winked at him. Arato fought the urge to roll his eyes. 'Heroine', she says. Like hell she was. That spot was already reserved for someone else.

"Special as in special needs!" He tried to yell at her but apparently from the shit-eating grin Yuka carried on her face, she was having none of it. "God, I'm so tempted to commit DV right now." Arato muttered. It was times like this when he wanted to give his little sister a good proper smack on the head.

"Dearest Valentine? Geeze, Onii-chan, at least wait till we're home and the lights are off! You dirty siscon~❤!" Yuka went up to him and started to bashfully punch his chest while dramatically covering her face.

Arato felt a headache forming. What a waste it was, considering that he was having such a great day up till now.

"I meant Domestic Violence, moron! In the first place, how did you manage to come up with that kind of skewed interpretation instead!?" Arato started to raise his voice. His annoying little sister really had a way to push his buttons.

"Hehe, Onii-chan's tsun side is nice to see as well." Yuka chirped brightly.

"Whatever, dumbass," Arato sighed as he painfully realized that the way he replied only served to prove her right. "Well, let's go."

He started to walk in the direction of Asakusa station but then soon stopped when he realized Yuka wasn't following him.

"What's wrong? Did you forget something in your classroom?" Arato asked as she continued to stare at him with annoyance on her face.

"Are your eyes working?" Yuka slipped off the straps of her schoolbag from her shoulders and then shoved said item in his direction. "Don't you see my bag?"

"Working just fine, alright. What about it?" Arato asked.

"... And?"

"Huh?" Arato asked again.

Yuka blinked incredulously at him. "That's it? Dropping big hints here, Onii-chan. Like Mount Fuji-sized hints."

"Okay, and?"

"Don't you see this super heavy bag burdening your poor little sister?"

The schoolbag made a rustling sound as Yuka continued to try and shove it into his arms.

"I see it. So?"

"Don't just say 'So'! Do something about it!"

"Like what? You want me to cast a magic spell that breaks the laws of gravity and physics?" Arato shot back.

This time she walked right up to him and ordered him in a low voice.

"Carry it." Yuka used both hands to push the bag into his chest roughly.

"Come again?"

Upon hearing his incredulous reaction, it seemed that her self-control had finally reached its limits and Yuka started outright whining.

"Carry it and spoil me! Spoil your little sister that wants to be spoiled!" The fuss that she was making was beginning to draw unwanted attention from the people around them. Arato couldn't help but roll his eyes at her incredibly spoiled attitude.

"What the hell!? Why do I have to do such a stupid thing? Who in the world do you think you are!?"

"The supreme entity known as a little sister! Worship me as your goddess, heathen!" She demanded.

"Hell no! Asking for something like that, don't you have any shame at all?" Arato couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

"None!" Yuka snapped. "My dream is to be a kept woman who lies on the floor watching TV while eating rice crackers all day! And when my future husband comes home after a hard day's work, his dinner will be a cup ramen with a pair of wooden chopsticks on top!" She puffed out her chest with pride as if she was bragging. "I won't even boil the water for him!"

Somehow, he didn't know who was the bigger failure between them. His little sister, who had turned out to be such an utter failure of a woman, or him for raising her this way. He seriously hoped Yuka was joking.

"Like anyone's gonna be dumb enough to fall for someone like that." He said wryly. Better to break her heart now than later.

"No way, I'm going to be cute forever!"

"Yeah right, keep telling yourself that. Sooner or later you're going to hit twenty-five and then it's all downhill from there," Arato told her bluntly before raising his voice to yell at her. "Are you stupid or something!? Who's going to want a hopeless woman who can't cook, can't clean, doesn't want to get a job, and spends all day eating rice crackers and watching TV!?"

"Yuka here wuvs her Onii-chan so very much that she doesn't need any other man in her life other than him~❤!" Yuka cooed in a sugary voice as she tried to jump to try and snuggle into his chest. She was even referring to herself in third person in an attempt to act all cutesy and stuff. Arato, for his part, was using the schoolbag to act as a sort of makeshift barrier while he tried his best not to puke out blood.

"Urgh, whatever. Just hand it over," Arato rubbed his temples. He didn't want to think about this any longer. "Woah, what's in this?" He huffed as he grabbed the heavy bag.

"Drugs," Yuka said honestly. "I've taken up being a drug mule for extra cash. The cocaine's in the front pouch. Be careful when you open it though, I've set up a booby trap there."

"Nice try," Arato scoffed as he unzipped the main compartment of her schoolbag to check. "Like you're fooling anyONNNE-!" A sudden pain caused him to yell as an electric shock rippled through his body.

The culprit glared at him with the red optical sensors that passed for its eyes. Electrical sparks crackled off its mechanical arms. Arato only returned the glare with one of his own.

"You piece of sh-" Arato started to growl at the object stuffed in her backpack. That explained its absence at home earlier. For some reason, his little sister had brought Funell to school along with her.

"Arato!" Yuka warned.

"-Shoot," He finished lamely, all things considered. "Forget it, it's not worth it." Arato huffed as he closed her school bag. Peace, tranquility, and harmony, he repeated a mantra in his mind. Besides, he wasn't going to let some mechanical spider ruin his day.

"Wait, you're not going to get mad at Funell?" Yuka leaned in close and studied him carefully. "Suspicious. I smell something weird about you today, Arato."

"You can count yourself lucky, for I'm in a good mood today." He told her.

"From meeting your darling little sister~⭐?" Again Yuka was winking at him as if she was hot shit. To that Arato had nothing to offer in return but a snort instead. He actually outright snorted at how conceited she was acting.

"I think I got it all figured out, the reason why you have no friends." Arato mused.

"I'm actually super popular at school though?" Yuka countered immediately.

"Yeah, sure. These 'friends' of yours, how much are you paying them a month? Thirty thousand yen?" He couldn't help but scoff at the image. She was just so annoying, even if she happened to be cute at times, she was still annoying. Arato let out an exaggerated sigh. "Well, I'm glad in a way, because it means a tomboy like you is going to take a while to find a boyfriend."

"I have plenty of friends! And besides, like you're one to talk, Arato. You're always scaring girls away with that ugly mug of yours."

"Pfft, heh." Arato couldn't stop the grin that appeared on his face. When he felt the boyish confidence brimming inside him, he couldn't help it. So in a rare moment of confidence bordering on arrogance, he actually grinned. Obviously, Yuka did not know how well he and Lacia were getting along. Apparently, she had assumed they were still fighting.

"Oh crap, what's with that disgusting stuck-up look on your face?" Yuka recoiled as if she had gotten a whiff of something revolting.

Arato put on his best mature voice and smiled at her kindly. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll also find that special someone one day as well." He said while nodding. Perhaps it was a side effect of him spending far too much time with Lacia recently, but Arato had picked up enough of her mannerisms and speech patterns that he too could convincingly pull off such a Lacia-esque delivery on the fly.

"Ew gross, where's all this false positivity coming from? What happened to my idiotic big brother?" Yuka wrinkled her nose and paused for a moment before it seemed like something caught on in her mind. "Hold on, what do you mean by 'also'? Wait, no way, you scored yourself a girlfriend!?"

"Well, you know, this and that happened." Arato said as evasively as he could, trying to sound mysterious and sly. Who knew that messing with his little sister could be so fun?

Yuka looked as if she was visibly struggling to process all the new information being dumped onto her.

"Seriously what is up with you today? Are you perhaps talking about Lacia-san?" Yuka shook her head like she was trying to stimulate her brain into working properly. "Woah, wait, don't tell me the both of you patched things up!? Is that why you're in such a good mood!? What the hell!? Already!? That's fast! That's super fast! That's gotta be a new world record!"

To tell the truth, Arato couldn't help but secretly enjoy himself as he watched his little sister become all worked up and agitated like this. He also had to admit that it felt pretty good to pretend to be an adult and talk down to her.

"Always believe in the universal law of True Love. No matter what comes between me and Lacia, we'll always find our way back to each other."

"T-True love!?" Yuka was stuttering, her eyes wide open in shock. "Are you two actually dating!?"

When she put it like that, Arato felt his earlier sense of confidence deflate like a balloon.

"...Soon." He looked away and muttered.

"Oh, so you're basically just being delusional." Yuka's stare immediately went frigid, along with her words. Even a Siberian tundra couldn't compare to how cold she sounded right now.

"Run your mouth while you still can," Arato growled. "It's not an if, but when. Count on it."

Yuka rolled her eyes so far up that it almost looked like she was about to pass out from cringing. "Oh puhlease, you two have like zero romantic chemistry."

Her patronizing tone had the effect of seriously ticking him off. In the first place, what did his moronic little sister know about relationships? As far as he knew, she was just as hopelessly single as he was.

"You're allowed to have an opinion, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with it." Arato clicked his tongue and shot back. He was starting to get pissed off.

"Hello, Earth to Arato," Yuka tipped on her toes to make up for the height difference between them and started to pet his head as if he was a pitiful figure. "Lacia-san's a famous supermodel, you know? In fact, the other day I saw her on the front cover of Vogue. She's the sort of girl that's supposed to get together with a tall ikemen from a popular boyband. An unwashed peasant like you doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell with an SSS-tier hottie like her. Oh dear brother of mine, won't you open your eyes and come to your senses already?"

Arato batted her hands away and growled. "Oh shut it, what happened to the ideal of 'love conquers all'?"

"That's obviously a lie made up to pander to lonely otaku, duh. Just put Lacia-san on a pedestal and admire her from afar like everyone else does, you balding, ugly, fat bastard!"

"Wha-!?" Arato choked. He knew that he wasn't exactly in the top percentile when it came to looks, figuring that he was painfully average at best, and that his averageness was only exacerbated by Lacia's beauty when he stood by her side, but Yuka really was going too far to call him that. What was he, some kind of villain in an NTR manga? "I'll show you, I'm going to introduce her to Dad the next time we see him!"

Wonderful, with that kind of ultimatum, all he'd accomplished was to successfully maneuver himself into a corner and dig his own grave. The problem was, Arato still wasn't sure how to even begin to categorize Lacia in his mind. The idea of going up to his father and introducing Lacia as his girlfriend still came off as completely presumptuous to him. He hadn't even asked her out yet, for heaven's sake.

Yuka stood stock-still in silence. She froze, and her eyes widened in shock. And then before Arato knew it, a look of hurt and betrayal flashed across her face.

"No! I won't allow it!" All of a sudden, Yuka started to raise her voice and yell. Arato felt stunned at her extreme reaction. Deep down, he already knew that openly stating one's intention to be romantically involved with an hIE carried with it a high chance of a backlash, but Arato had least of all expected it to come from his easygoing little sister. Immediately, his mind replayed every interaction he could recall of her with Lacia in an attempt to figure out where he had missed the blind spot regarding this. But no matter how he tried, Arato couldn't find any gaps in their behavior suggesting otherwise.

His heart twisted painfully. Could it be possible that his own little sister was opposed to the idea of a human getting involved with an hIE in that way? Arato carried a small hope in his heart that of all people, Yuka would be someone who understood his feelings towards Lacia. Or at least, respect his decision enough not to contest it. The thought that the day might come when she would truly scorn him made the sorrow brought about by the deep-seated insecurity inside him hurt even more.

As his aching heart felt like it was about to cry out in pain, Yuka shrieked like a banshee. "Because if my Onii-chan gets stolen by another woman, he won't be around to take care of me anymore!"

"Oh my god, you suck," Arato palmed his face with such force even his eyeballs felt the impact. "I hate you so much."

"Uwahhh! Lacia-san stole my Onii-chan!" Yuka was outright wailing now. "My Onii-chan's being stolen-!"

"Nothing got stolen! And pipe down will you? You're starting to draw attention." He growled. People walking down the street around them were starting to whisper and it irked him.

Unfortunately, it seemed his stupid little sister wasn't even trying to listen to him with how worked up she was getting.

"I will when you stop cheating on me, Arato you idiot!" Yuka hissed.

"We're not dating though!?"

"Oh, so that's how it is huh!? Men are all such simple creatures! All it takes is a pretty face and big tits to sway you, yeah!?" Yuka snapped angrily, pushing her chest out as she put her hands on them, trying to shove them in his face all the while. "Are you not satisfied with my B-cups, Onii-chan!? Well let me tell you, B-cups you can squeeze are far better than E-cups you'll never get to touch anyway!"

"Hey, watch it! Too much information! Don't expose your bust size just like that!" Arato hurriedly shushed her. Did she not think about the fact that they were currently standing in the middle of the street in broad daylight before yelling out such ridiculous things? "I don't want to touch them at all so just shut up already!"

"Everything's fine as long as they're big, huh!? Mine won't do it for you anymore!?"

"But I never once considered yours as an option!?"

"Then what do you want!? Do you want Olga's D-cups too!? Urgh, curse you foreign girls and your titty powers! We Japanese just can't compare!"

"I said stop! At this rate, you're going to give it all away! La-la-la, can't hear you!" Arato yelled as he covered his ears to tune her out. But of course, it was just for show. It wasn't as if his hands could actually block out her shrill voice.

"I bet you want to have a threesome with the both of them or something! Holy hell Arato, even a harem protagonist from a trashy manga isn't as shameless as you! A hopeless plebian like you should just resign yourself to ending up with his little sister! Deviant! Beast! Caveman!"

His little sister was running her mouth without trying to filter her words at all, it seemed. Right as he was about to yell at her to shut up once and for all, his mind suddenly picked up on something in the middle of Yuka's ranting. Immediately, it became the new focal point for his rapidly working mind. When he realized it, it was as if a lightbulb had popped up above his head.

"... Wait a sec," He paused and then asked after a beat. "Go back. What was that about Lacia and her being an E-cup? And how do you even know all this?"

"Duh," She rolled her eyes at him as if he was an idiot. "Who do you think helped her send in the application for that modeling audition? I had to include her specs in that."

Arato realized that meant his little sister possessed knowledge of Lacia's sacred numbers. Obviously, he wanted that. For educational purposes, of course. After all, the idea that someone else knew something about Lacia that he didn't as her Owner didn't sit right with him. Yes, indeed, his intentions with her stats were totally pure.

"Show me." He glared at her and said. Thinking about it now, it might have come across as a little creepy, but what the hell, no way he was going to let something like that stop him.

Oh, who was he kidding? Of course, as a guy, he would be interested in her three sizes. Also, it wasn't as if he simply could go up to her and ask. No way in hell could he do that, that was just absurd to even consider.

Well, Lacia would probably answer him, all things considered, as a heartless machine like her didn't possess the same value system as humans did. But still, she might not have a sense of shame, but he did.

"Ack, you have a really scary look on your face right now, Arato. But the answer's still no."

"What, why not? It's not even yours." Arato complained, trying to argue his case but it only made Yuka look even more self-assured.

"Tsk, tsk, that's where you're wrong, foolish brother of mine. I'm a girl, which automatically makes me an ally of other women. If you think I'll go easy on you just because you're my brother, you got another thing coming."

Arato rolled his eyes. Time to bring out the big guns, then. Yuka was continuing to talk but he interrupted her mid-sentence.

"I'll bring you to Toyoken. A5 Grade Matsusaka beef. It'll be my treat."

"-Don't look down on the solidarity of us womankind. Wait, what? For real? You mean that super high-end reservation-only black curry place in Motoakasaka?"

"Yeah. I'll let you order whatever you want once we get there, go nuts." He could already feel his bank account sobbing. Toyoken was one of Tokyo's oldest restaurants, with an illustrious history dating back more than 200 years. A great number of famous chefs had worked there in the past, with even a few of the Emperor's personal chefs included. In fact, it was said that back in the Meiji era, it was one of the Imperial Household Agency's favored haunts. Such prestige was naturally reflected in the price, with their prices going up to 9800 yen for the dinner course menu.

9800 yen. Considering that the average meal usually only cost about 1350 yen for him, that meant that it would be a meal that was around 7 times the price. And considering that it was a high-end place, Arato couldn't exactly just plop Yuka down while sipping on a cup of tea as he watched her eat like he usually did when they were out together. Decorum demanded that he needed to order a set for himself too while they were there.

14 times the usual cost. When he repeated that amount in his mind, Arato actually felt his heart break a little from the fiscal irresponsibility he was about to commit. That meant that they could eat 14 meals for the price of those two ridiculously fancy meals.

Although, to tell the truth, Arato felt like such a place was wasted on his little sister, who pretty much inhaled her food at such a rapid pace he wondered if she even tasted it. Honestly, could she even tell the difference between a hamburger and a Wagyu steak if it came down to it? He was pretty sure Yuka would gobble it up anyway and enjoy it all the same.

"Done!" Yuka squealed happily, and Arato couldn't help but roll his eyes at how easily his little sister could be bought over. She continued talking as she pulled out her pocket terminal, tapping away at it. "Is there a dress code? Do I need to wear something fancy?"

"Hell if I know, don't make it sound as if I go there often," His cell phone vibrated with the tell-tale sign of a notification. Before he could check it, however, Yuka was already on him like a cat pouncing on a favored toy. "Listen, this is a one-time only offer, you got that?"

"Onii-chan's the best! Amazing! Yuka wuvs you the mostest~!" Arato struggled to fight her off as she tried to glomp him.

"Keep talking like that and you can take your ass to Coco Ichi instead." He growled.

"You stingy bastard!"

The way she could instantly flip between her exaggerated cutesy act and her actual, spoiled-rotten personality impressed him. That being said, when he finally found the chance to check his phone, Arato felt his eyes instinctively widen.

"Oh shit," He blurted out, forgetting to filter his language in front of his little sister. "She's actually an E-cup?"

The sacred letters and numbers staring back at him made him dizzy. The forbidden knowledge he was becoming privy to was making him feel as if he had discovered the existence of Shangri-La itself.

"I know right?" Yuka whispered back as if she couldn't believe it herself. "She doesn't look like it but it seems our dear Lacia-san has been packing some serious firepower under that hood of hers."

Arato couldn't bring himself to formulate a response. His mind was still stuck recalling the incredible sensation on his face earlier. Trying to match the information to the image in his mind, he could still hardly believe it, he had thought that something like an E-cup would have been much larger than it actually was, comically oversized even, but Arato guessed that his stereotypical assumptions did not match up with reality.

But as usual, whenever anytime he had something good going, it had to be ruined by his annoying little sister.

"Wipe the drool off your stupid face, idiot Arato."

"Wasn't drooling. Moron." He shot back, but not before checking his face just to be sure.

"Well, as long as Onii-chan here remembers that he took my first time~" Yuka grinned.

"Your what-!?" Arato sputtered. Now, where the hell did that of all things come from? "I don't remember that! Don't make these kinds of BS events up by yourself!"

When she heard that, her annoying grin changed into one of mock surprise and she went "Ehh?", which made Arato actually doubt himself for a moment.

"Onii-chan… Did you forget? When I was in grade two…" Yuka sniffled with crocodile tears in her eyes. Either something had occurred between them during their childhood that he failed to recall or her acting skills were top-notch.

"Huh?"

"We were playing tag in the sandbox when I tripped and fell down," She continued, and Arato squinted his eyes. The memory was vaguely coming back to him now, but he was sure as hell his little sister was still making stuff up. "That's when you extended your hand to help me up..."

"Uh-huh."

"And then you took it..."

"Go on."

"My handholding virginity, kya~❤!" She pressed her hands to her cheeks and blushed.

"What." Arato deadpanned.

"Still taking me lightly? Well, how about this?" Yuka jabbed her finger at him and declared. "I was the first girl you ever held hands with! There! I got first dibs, not Lacia-san!"

A thunderbolt struck him. Arato looked at his palm. Slowly, the gears in his mind began to click. Soon enough, everything made a horrifying sense.

"Oh my god, you're right," He uttered with a sense of dawning horror, his face turning pale and losing all color. "I totally see it now. Why didn't I realize it earlier? What have I done?"

"Seems like it's all coming back, huh?" The sly grin on his little sister's face sent chills down his spine. "You thought your first would be with Lacia-san, but it was me, your little sister!"

"No... I didn't know back then," Arato repeated, muttering. He stared in horror at his hands. His own body had betrayed him without him realizing it. "I didn't know. I was just a stupid kid."

"That's not all," Yuka advanced upon him and Arato couldn't help but take a few shaky steps back. "You saw my naked body in the bath too, didn't you?" She cackled, referring to how their mother had used to bathe the both of them together.

"I was seven and you were four!" Arato raised his voice to yell at her, but she only laughed at him. A terror was starting to fill his chest. "Oh god no... Why..." He wanted all of these first experiences to be with Lacia. He was supposed to save it for her. But that was all impossible now. Both his hands and eyes were now impure and unclean. He was forever defiled and unsuitable for marriage. His precious firsts had been stolen away without him knowing about it. The world in his field of view started to blur and Arato felt a sense of vertigo overtake him.

"Oh yes, Onii-chan dearest," Yuka finished him off with an evil voice and expression that a Saturday morning cartoon villain would be jealous of. "Unless you're forgetting something, I'm your eternal little sister. The first girl you've ever known and talked with in your life. You can fall out with your friends, break up with your girlfriend, and divorce your wife, but we share an unbreakable bond of blood between us that can never be changed. Face it! You're going to be stuck with me forever! Muhahaha!"

"Forever... My entire life...?" Arato mumbled as his world collapsed around him. He could actually see it. She would be annoying him for the rest of his entire life. As an adult, Yuka would probably turn out to be the type of deadbeat girl to call him to pick up her laundry because she happened to be too lazy to do it herself.

And he would grudgingly agree, doormat as he was. He could totally see it. It horrified him, the path that his future was building towards. As he despaired, Yuka continued to cackle her triumph. On that day, Arato learned a harsh life lesson.

That little sisters always win.

---

He continued to carry her school bag on the way back home.

"Hey Arato, can we get one of those?"

As they walked, Yuka was pointing at a fellow student from her school riding a hoverbike. It was a personal mobility device built to be driven on pedestrian sidewalks that did not require a driver's license, unlike a traditional automobile. Using quad-rotors to hover above the ground and powered by wireless electricity from the ubiquitous power transmission units that were a common sight along the road, it was a popular means of transportation for youth as the only requirement to own one was to be of a minimum of 14 years of age. Of course, the speed was nothing impressive to write home about. In order to maintain public safety, by law, all registered hoverbikes in Tokyo had to have their maximum speed limit restricted to 12 km/h by an engine governor.

"We already have a bike at home." He rejected her immediately. No way he was going to have his little sister zooming around on one of those and getting into trouble. Besides, where would they find the space to fit something like that in their house?

"That's just a granny bike!" Yuka fumed.

"Just think of it as exercise. It's good for your health," Arato dismissed her like a parent would towards their child. "Besides, you're going the wrong way. The train station is over there."

They had started off heading in the direction of Asakusa Station, but when they reached Sumida Park, instead of walking straight towards the station, Yuka took a turn and led them across the Sumida bridge instead.

"We're meeting someone, you'll see." Yuka said mysteriously.

"You're planning to go to my school aren't you?"

"How did you know!? Can you predict the future!? Are you God!?"

Arato stared at his idiotic little sister before rolling his eyes. "No, it was pretty obvious," He deadpanned. Did she really not expect him to recognize the route to his own school? "Unless you're planning to walk all the way to Shin Koiwa."

"Who are you and what have you done with my idiot brother?"

"I have brains too you know."

"Yeah well, jury's still out on that one," She looked at him sympathetically as she said that. "Even a dumbass can be right every once in a while."

Arato noticed that even though she sounded the same as always, Yuka was sticking close to him when they walked, peeking her head from behind his torso whenever they had to turn a corner. Every now and then, her expression would turn anxious even as she tried to keep up with his longer strides.

He racked his mind. For his whole life, his little sister had always been the ceaselessly happy-go-lucky sort of person, and he couldn't figure out the reason for the sudden negative change in her behavior. Furthermore, if it were manifesting in such an obvious way, it must have been serious indeed. So Arato yelled at his brain to work and think.

Arato tried to think hard and carefully, to make a logical assumption based on all available knowledge to him. He really tried to think about it properly, as it involved an important family member, even if she happened to be his annoying little sister.

The conclusion he arrived at made his stomach drop to the ground. Arato wanted to cover his head with his hands and groan. He turned to look at her. An awkward silence had descended upon them ever since he had withdrawn within himself to turn introspective.

Steeling himself, honestly, there was no good way to go about asking this anyway so he thought to himself something along the lines of, well let's just get this over with.

"Say, Yuka..." Arato started, trying to pretend to be as casual as he could.

"Hm? What is it, Onii-chan?" She replied in the usual way.

"Are you having your period?" He asked calmly.

He had achieved something once thought impossible. Somehow, he had successfully made the usual noisy, boisterous Yuka, aka someone who always had an instant comeback to everything, speechless.

"W-W-Wha-" And then after a few painful seconds, like a program struggling to reboot after a critical failure, he could see her start to splutter. So he cut in before she could start screaming.

"No, I mean, don't get the wrong idea!" He tried to explain. Arato felt foolish for even asking something like that. His question sounded better in his mind. But what other conclusion was he supposed to draw? He organized the information and made the assumption as best as he could.

Bullet point one. His little sister Yuka was a 14-year-old girl, which placed her around that sort of age for something like that.

Bullet point two. She looked anxious and uncomfortable like a new experience had negatively impacted her life.

So, considering both points, the only logical conclusion was obvious. Although the idea of his little sister eventually growing up and turning into a woman made him uncomfortable, and he tried not to think too hard about such things. So he took these thoughts and calmly shoved them to the back of his brain.

"Arato! What are you saying!? Have you lost your mind!?" She hissed.

Suddenly, it all made sense. Of course, she would be embarrassed. But even if it was embarrassing, there were more important things than his pride at stake right now so he steeled himself and tried to put on his best serious voice along with keeping the grimace off his face.

"If you want, I can go to the store and get you the stuff you need." He used the term 'stuff' because there was no way in hell he was going to say the words 'tampon' or 'sanitary pad' in broad daylight, and definitely not to his little sister's face.

Yuka took a deep breath to steady herself. And then, looking toward the sky, she started screaming, if he looked closer, he could even imagine the swirly lines on her eyes.

"Everyone! There's a creep here who gets off on sexually harassing an underaged middle-schooler!" She pulled out her cell and then yelled at it as well. "Hello, is this the police? Please catch this person before he becomes a menace to society!"

Arato could sense the atmosphere around him turn intensely cold as he felt the accusing stares of those passing by who had heard her. He wanted to tell them that it didn't look like that, that it was all a misunderstanding, and that they both knew each other so it wasn't like what they were thinking. But then he realized how bad that sounded in his mind so he stopped framing it that way.

"So... It isn't 'that'?" He asked gingerly, all of his earlier courage deflating away.

"Of course not! God, Arato, you're the worst! Just die!" His little sister yelled and then stomped off ahead of him.

Arato could only follow her with his tail tucked between his legs. During that time, he tried to strike up a conversation to break the ice between them but she ignored him all the way until they reached his school, only stopping at the entrance to peer inside. She had a concerned look on her face which worried him and Arato too tried to see what was going on.

A high school girl was being approached by a fellow student of the opposite gender. From this distance, Arato did not have any difficulty recognizing her thanks to her distinctive hair color. From her body language and the tense way with which she carried herself, Arato could tell that their conversation was not a comfortable one for her. The entire thing resembled a confession, albeit an obviously failed one that went on too long for its own good.

"What are you still standing here for? Go do something, Arato you big oaf!" He felt a stab of light discomfort as his annoying little sister jabbed him in the sides.

"Well, it's not really any of my business, is it?"

"You're so clueless sometimes, stupid brother of mine," His reply only seemed to make her even more unhappy. "Here's your chance to rescue a damsel in distress and have her swoon over you! Don't you want to become a Prince Charming?"

"Hell no." Arato said dryly.

"Argh! How can you even call yourself a man!?"

"If you care so much about it go do it yourself then." He rebuked her gruffly.

"Oh please. As if a cute girl like me is going to do any good in scaring him off. Go and kick his ass already!" Probably because he was still being lethargic towards the entire thing, Yuka started to get mad. "Urgh, what's with you today!?"

"No, just slow down and use your brains for a second, will you? How do you think it's going to look if a guy barged right into a school and started a fight, especially when I'm not even wearing a uniform? Doubly so when you consider it'll look like two guys going at it over a girl. Forget that, how do you think it's going to affect her school life after that? The rumor mill alone will kill her. Besides, even if I stopped it now, it's not as if I can be there every single time something like this happens." He told her.

Couldn't his dumb little sister visualize how bad the entire thing would come across? Did she really want him to cause chaos in a place as sensitive as high school, where cliques and the like were commonplace?

"Holy shit. Where is all this coming from? You, actually using your brains and thinking about things properly? What is this world coming to?" He hated how stunned Yuka seemed. Arato did not think of himself as particularly bright, he thought that label was reserved for someone like Ryo, but neither did he like to think himself stupid. "I bet you're saying all this because you're a big scaredy cat." She tried to taunt him into action, but Arato ignored it.

"Just shut up," He growled. "And as I keep telling you, don't swear."

While they were bickering, it seemed the conversation between the pair had come to an end. Arato watched as the expression on the boy's face turned sour and though he couldn't hear the words that he was saying, Arato could guess the gist of it from the way the recipient had recoiled as the boy stomped away. After taking a moment to compose herself, the girl walked over to greet the both of them still waiting at the school gate.

"Oh, Arato-san's here too? Did you two wait long?" Olga asked.

"That guy, was he bothering you?" Arato answered her question with one of his own. He knew that it was a rhetorical question, but Arato felt like he was obliged to ask anyway.

"No, not really. Or rather, no more than the usual." Her shoulder-length wavy hair was a light golden color, and the way Olga shook her head made it shift and move in the air. It was something she inherited from her Russian mother, along with her gentle almond-shaped eyes which shone a bright, verdant green.

Suguri Olga.

The younger sister of Suguri Kengo. She was his junior by a year, and in terms of age, two years younger than him. Even though Olga was two grades above Yuka, who unlike both of them, happened to be a middle schooler still, the way she casually interacted with her had the effect of making her seem as though she was one of Yuka's fellow classmates.

Like Kengo, she was born to a Japanese father and a Russian mother. Although the similarities between them ended there. If they were to stand beside each other, one wouldn't be able to tell that they were even related at all, much less brother and sister. Unlike her brother Kengo who could pass off as a native, her looks were clearly unlike a Japanese person. The facial features she possessed, in particular her cheekbones, carried a distinct sharpness to them. Even her fair skin was a shade lighter than what was usually found in genuine Japanese people.

Although if one took a closer look, one would have been able to identify the subtle traits that revealed her mixed Japanese heritage. Especially from the way that there existed a certain tender sweetness on her baby face that softened the sharp features commonly found in westerners.

Her slim figure too, except her bust which he took a millisecond to quickly confirm in his mind something along the lines of 'Oh, so that's what a D-cup looks like', was closer to that of an average Japanese person. When she stood next to Yuka like this, it was hard to tell which one of them was the older one at first glance.

Well, if one was to only look at the area above the neck that was. Below the neckline, the difference between his little sister and Olga became apparent. Arato chalked it up to her Russian genes, but still, owning a natural D-cup at the age of 15 was seriously amazing. Not to mention, considering that she was still developing, he could tell that this girl was going to go far in life. Yuka might have been joking around when she howled about how the Japanese couldn't compare, but looking at her in person now, Arato guessed that westerners really were built differently.

As a guy himself, Arato recognized how the girl before him could be considered attractive. He could see why she would be a draw for the boys in her class, or their school for that matter, considering that foreign girls weren't exactly a common sight in Japan. The male student earlier who had said those twisted things to her, while that person might have been a piece of trash, but in a way, Arato could sort of admire his courage. He considered someone like Olga to be on the higher end of the difficulty scale when it came to approachability. To tell the truth, if Olga hadn't happened to be a friend of his little sister or related to Kengo, Arato doubted that he would have spoken to someone like her on his own accord.

To begin with, approaching a girl as a member of the opposite sex was always naturally challenging. Not considering unique specimens like Ryo who could casually walk up to a girl on the street with his hands in his pockets and ask her out on the spot, the reality was that talking to a girl was different than talking to a guy. To add to that, with Olga looking as she did, only added to the perceived difficulty level and the hurdle involved.

Arato was realistic enough to know that Olga was a person who so happened to enter his circle of friends only because of such common connections. Without an intermediary like Yuka around to break the ice between them, obviously, their conversations would be short if there were any at all to start with. Most likely, they would have continued living their own lives without crossing each other's paths.

It was always naturally easier to interact with one's peers when they were within the same range, and also when the gap between individuals did not happen to be too large. Although having said all that, Arato too realized that it was a slightly hypocritical thing for him to say considering that he was the one who was getting involved with a supermodel.

"That Kengo, what's he up to?" Arato growled, feeling quite angry that Kengo wasn't around to stick up for his family.

"Nii-san doesn't really bother with stuff that doesn't concern him, so he doesn't know."

"Sorry Olga, but this useless moron here wouldn't move to help even when I yelled at him." Yuka said.

"No, it's better this way. I rather avoid a mess if at all possible. Arato-san did the right thing."

"Oh, okay then."

When he saw how easily Yuka accepted her explanation, Arato felt a sense of injustice fill him.

"Hey!" He complained. "How come it's okay when she says it!? But I get called an idiot when I say the exact same thing!?"

"Because you're a dumbass. Everything you say is automatically suspect, duh." She told him.

"Whatever." Arato signed, feeling that it was pointless to argue with his annoying little sister when she got like this.

"Before that, Olga!" He heard her say. "Hand me your bag!"

"Eh, why?" Olga looked confused, but somehow, Arato already knew what Yuka was going to do. Still at a loss, Olga quickly lost possession of her school bag as Yuka pulled it off her and threw it at him. Since he already had an idea of what she was planning, Arato was prepared for it and caught the flying object easily.

It wasn't like he had any say in the matter, so he accepted the extra weight without complaint. Unlike the randoseru-style bag Yuka carried, Olga's school bag was the rectangular shoulder bag that most high school students their age used, and Arato slung the strap of her bag around his shoulder, complimenting the one already on his back and thus completing the 'pack mule' look.

"No, really, you don't have to." Olga was looking at him with a pitiful look in her eyes. It was a strange thing to say but, Arato was feeling bad from how bad she felt for him.

"Don't worry about it!" Yuka told her. "Arato here is my slave. He'll do anything I ask of him!"

"Such a poor thing." She said wryly.

"I said don't worry about it! Truth is, Onii-chan here's a hardcore M. He gets off from girls working him hard like a dog." Yuka whispered as if she was revealing a huge secret.

Olga's eyes widened comically and she gave a scandalized gasp. "A hardcore masochist! I see... So you let Yuka-chan here treat you like this because it turns you on. Arato-san... I wouldn't have expected this from someone like you."

"Can you two stop making up crap about me?"

"Wait, you mean having girls take advantage of you doesn't turn you on?" Olga asked sincerely. He looked closer at the girl who happened to be two years younger than him. Though her physical appearance was somewhat exotic, most definitely not Japanese, she spoke the language perfectly without even a hint of an accent. She even knew how to add emphasis on certain vowels in a way only an experienced tsukkomi roleplayer would.

Arato couldn't tell if Olga was being serious or not. Women in general were just hard to read for him. Outside of Yuka, who occupied the unique position of being his little sister, he didn't exactly consider himself an expert on the opposite sex. And also, why did he always end up on the receiving end when it came to this sort of stuff?

"You know, it really hurts to see you act so genuinely confused about that," Arato deadpanned automatically before angrily rounding on his little sister. "And what's this about 'M'!? Where did you even learn such stuff!?"

"You see them all the time in manga these days. You know, along with the pretty-but-shy types like Lacia-san who end up getting their weaknesses found out and targeted for blackmail. Ya knoooow, where the bad guy says stuff like," Yuka narrowed her eyes and put on a stereotypical villain voice. "I got some incriminating dirt on you, babe. Hehehe, if you don't want your boyfriend to find out what you've been up to... You know what to do, right?" She trailed off. "Or something like that."

"...What kinda garbage have you been reading?"

"But what am I supposed to do!?" Yuka started to whine like a little kid. "I keep getting ads for the dirty stuff whenever I try to read manga on my phone!"

"Install an ad-blocker or something, god," Arato groaned. "Do I have to turn on the parental controls for your cell?"

"No fair!" She yelled before asking slyly as if she had found a weakness to aim for. "But Onii-chan, you read the ecchi stuff too right?"

"Of course not! Are you an idiot!?" He snapped.

He did indulge himself in those things every now and then of course, as any other guy would at his age, though that was before Lacia entered his life. But who the hell was going to say something like that out loud? And furthermore, who would even ask such a question in the first place? And who would answer? He seriously couldn't understand how a normal, well-adjusted girl like Olga could become friends with this sort of moron who insisted on acting like a child even though she was already a 14-year-old. The age gap between Olga and his little sister was only a year, but one wouldn't have guessed it from the way they acted.

"Oh, you read those as well, Yuka-chan? Well, I guess everyone has different tastes. Personally, I prefer the ones that end with the heroine drooling with heart-shaped pupils in her eyes and begging for forgiveness while doing a double peace sign."

Hearing Olga calmly utter such absurd things in her gentle voice made Arato feel like the world was turning crazy. Or maybe he was the crazy one, who knew? But still, he wanted to believe that he was the ordinary one. Not to mention, the conversation, which included his little sister, was turning to places he was finding himself very uncomfortable with.

"Hey, girls shouldn't really be talking about such things in broad daylight." He told Olga, who seemed to be getting annoyed at his words, probably because she thought that he was lecturing her.

"Wow, what kind of sexist talk is this? It's the 22nd century, girls are allowed to discuss sex these days too." She chided.

"Okay, alright, fine, sure, whatever, let's go with that," Arato repeated himself as he felt a headache start to form in his temples. "But don't you usually keep this kind of talk private between girls? Else you're just going to give guys the wrong idea."

Olga let out an honest laugh and when she did, Arato could see that one of her canines was the overlapping sort. Seeing this sort of natural imperfection had its own sort of appeal to it, and when he compared them to Lacia's perfectly aligned teeth in his mind, it only reminded Arato that she was perfect in a way no human was or could be.

"Well, that's true. Which is why we only do so around guys we have no romantic interest in. It's just a normal way to make conversation, you shouldn't read too much into it, Arato-san."

For a moment, Arato could not deny that he had almost expected Olga to flutter her eyelashes at him and blush. And when she didn't, for a split second his first reaction was confusion. He didn't know what to make of that eerie, perturbing feeling. He didn't understand why he would even feel like that.

It wasn't as if Arato was expecting her to like him in that way, the universe did not revolve around him after all. But somehow, hearing Olga say something like that so bluntly felt surprisingly more depressing than he would have thought. Maybe he really was spending too much time around Lacia if something like that could affect him this much.

After all, Olga was a human, with her own heart and her own feelings. She wasn't like Lacia who would easily say the things he wanted to hear. But he was starting to realize that he was beginning to get used to the pandering nature of Lacia's pornography-like behavior and that line between humans and hIEs was starting to blur in his mind, and perhaps not in a good way.

"Shiori not with you today?" He didn't want to think about it too hard so Arato tried to change the topic.

"She has club today, so it's just me." Olga said.

"Then I'll walk you to the station." Arato took it as their cue and motioned for them to start moving. It was something he expected from the dutiful Shiori, who was a far cry from the gang of going home club members gathered here.

"Forget that! Since Arato's here, why don't we go shopping instead? He can be our pack mule and carry our bags for us!" Yuka interrupted them with the dumbest thing he had heard in a while and considering he had to live with a grade-A dumbass like her, that said a lot.

"Why do I have to do something like that?" He tried to protest. But before he could finish his complaining, Yuka was already on him.

"Shut it, you!" She snapped. "You should be grateful a plebian like you gets to even breathe the same air as us top-tier hotties! Compared to that, a price like carrying our shopping is dirt cheap!"

"Someone needs to get off their high horse," Arato growled. Since when did his little sister turn into such a spoiled brat? He could remember how meek and clingy she had used to be when they were kids. "Besides, where do you get off calling yourself a beauty!? Who the hell do you think you are!?"

"Your exalted little sister! Worship me!"

Arato simply rolled his eyes.

"Well, if you're good, I might even let you massage my aching feet as a reward." Yuka puffed out her chest and grandly offered using a gracious voice that implied she was doing him a favor.

"That's more like a curse than a reward."

"Huh!? But don't all boys like that kind of stuff!? Was I lied to!?"

"That only applies to a very specific subset of the male population! Don't automatically lump me in with those weirdos!" The usual headache was returning, courtesy of his stupid little sister. It didn't help that he looked like a total doormat carrying the bags of two girls and trailing them from behind. As expected, he was starting to get looks of pity from the pedestrians passing by. It pissed him off. People didn't spare hIEs a second glance when they went about their business, so why couldn't they do the same for him?

"What, did you think you were going to get the flower in each hand treatment? Tsk, tsk, how painfully naive you are, Onii-chan." Yuka stuck out her tongue as she called out behind her. She was happily walking while swinging her hands with Olga.

"Just shut up." Arato growled.

"All this walking is making me hungry. Hey, let's go get something to eat!"

"Have you forgotten that we have dinner waiting for us at home?" Arato told her off.

"Ehhhh!? But that's like, hours away! I'll starve!" Yuka started to whine again.

"You had lunch at school didn't you?"

"I did, but I don't know why it felt like today's bento was smaller than usual."

"Isn't that because you've probably been eating too much recently? Besides, Olga's going straight home as well right?" He knew that Yuka had suggested they go shopping earlier, but Arato really didn't want to spend his day lugging around stuff for someone else. But apparently, she hadn't caught on to his hinting.

"Well, I don't mind. I have some free time." Olga said. Arato couldn't deny that he felt a tad miffed from how straight her reply had been, but he chalked it up to someone like Olga not being able to read between the lines well.

"We could swing by the Saize near the station." He decided not to fight it, seeing that he had been handily outvoted. Normally he wouldn't suggest such a low-end place with friends but he felt obliged to try and save up for the expected financial crisis he was about to suffer from his earlier deal with Yuka. Also, he knew that the Suguri family wasn't exactly well-off, and he didn't want to possibly embarrass Olga by putting her in a difficult spot.

"Actually, there's a ramen place nearby that running a discount right now. How about we head there instead?" Olga took out her phone and showed him the coupon on the screen. Never one pass up a chance to save money, Arato agreed. As he had once told Yuka, half the price meant double the food.

She bought his BS easily. He knew that he complained a lot about his little sister being a total dumbass, but sometimes her stupidity turned out to be a blessing.

Olga's directions took them past the Skytree and towards Hikifunegawa-dori Street. Having lived in this area all his life, obviously, Arato had an idea of the place she had in mind.

"Are you sure?" Arato asked her as he looked at the gaudy sign of the restaurant before them.

No, that wasn't the reason for him asking that. If he were to be completely honest, and at the risk of sounding just a tad sexist, this was one of the last places he would expect a girl like Olga to patronize. Yuka didn't count for obvious reasons, that tomboy had zero feminine charm at all.

"Oh yes! Absolutely!" She seemed excited for some reason.

"Do you happen to be a big fan of ramen?" Arato queried while scanning his terminal to check them into the queue.

"Hm, not really. I wouldn't exactly say that I like it a lot. However, this place is special. I've always been curious to explore it. Oh, by the way, thank you for acting as our cover, Arato-san."

"I see." Arato said, trying to keep his response neutral. Olga must have noticed that they were drawing attention from the usual clientele as they stood in the queue, although his little sister still seemed blissfully unaware enraptured as she was by the pictures of the food around her. In a way, he understood what she meant when she thanked him. While it might have been nothing for a guy to enter a ramen joint on his own, he could see why it might have been a little difficult for a girl to enter such a place on her lonesome.

Not to mention, the place in question, 'Ramen Jiro' as it was called, was infamous for its enormous portion sizes. This combined with their low prices had the effect of drawing the expected male-dominated crowd. Basically, it was the quintessential guy place serving equally stereotypical guy food. Cheap, greasy, and in large portions. The perfect hangout for young men short on cash but big on appetites.

He turned back to Olga, who carried a perplexed look on her face.

"I finally worked up the courage and told myself this would be the day I get to finally try this place, but now that I'm here I realize the hurdle is more than I thought." He heard her mumble to herself.

"What, you getting cold feet at the last second?"

"Yeah," She grimaced. Arato had a good idea why even before she explained. "I looked inside just now and only saw guys dining inside, so I got a little scared. But the thing is, I'm not sure I'll ever get the chance to do this again if I back off now."

"Why are you making it sound so dramatic for? It's just noodles." Arato said wryly.

"No, you don't understand, Jiro's Ramen isn't just merely noodles!"

He didn't get it at all, but Arato felt that if he asked, the explanation and whatever warped logic it contained coming at him would be a pain to listen to so he elected to ignore it.

"Well, if it means that much to you, then go for it I guess. I'm here if it's of any use."

"Again, sorry for dragging you all the way here. It was partially my selfishness as well. I know you and Yuka-chan were supposed to eat dinner at home later." She apologized.

"Nah, it's all good. Yuka won't have any trouble wiping it out anyway," Arato told her. "Also, the way you talk about this ramen has gotten me a little curious about it as well."

Olga alternated between looking up, down, sideways, and inside the entrance to the restaurant. Her olive eyes were wandering restlessly, like a cat. It was childish behavior like this that reminded Arato that she was only a year older than Yuka, despite the seemingly mature aura she usually gave off.

"It'll be my first time having real ramen instead of the instant kind. I can't wait to see how it tastes."

To be honest, upon hearing that, Arato felt quite bad for her. He knew the Suguri family wasn't the most wealthy bunch around, but this was taking it too far, he thought.

"Just to clarify, you've never been to a ramen place before?"

"Yes, is there something wrong with that?" She sounded quite sulky and Arato was afraid he might have crossed a line somewhere.

"Well, if you need help ordering, you can ask me." He said gingerly, still thinking about how to explain it to her without coming across as rude. After all, ramen ordering could be quite complex with its multiple steps to the uninitiated.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I did my research prior to coming here. In fact, I think when we go inside, you will be the one asking me for assistance, Arato-san."

She looked so proud of herself that Arato didn't know what to say. Frankly, he didn't think that ordering ramen, although complicated, wasn't that difficult to the point it required something as intensive as research but he didn't want to say something like that out loud. So, he decided on the most neutral answer possible.

"That's great." Well, if Olga did understand the ordering system, then that meant less work and all the better for him.

"Have you been here before, Arato-san?" Olga asked.

"This place in particular? No, not really. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it was just you seemed pretty experienced with these sorts of things."

"The queuing system is pretty much the same everywhere." He explained, trying his best to not come across as condescending.

"But since you mention that it's your first time here at Ramen Jiro, I think you'll find that there'll be things that surprise even you, Arato-san." For some reason, Olga sounded pretty confident. He didn't understand why she was acting as though this place was some sacred place of worship. Besides, this was her first time as well right? This was just another ramen joint, albeit one that had a reputation for serving cheap and low-end ramen in huge quantities. Somehow he felt like he was forgetting something important.

After about a minute had passed, his terminal vibrated, indicating that it was finally their turn to enter.

"Well, let's head inside. Hey, Yuka, stop daydreaming."

"Yaaaaay~! Meat! Noodles! Meat! Noodles!"

"Ah, yes!" Olga yelped from the suddenness. "There's no time like ramen time!"

"It's table four." He told them the spots that the automated queue system had assigned them.

Arato couldn't help but find her excitement amusing. To have a reaction like that, he couldn't imagine how much Olga was looking forward to eating at this place. As she walked in while holding Yuka's hand with an atmosphere of delight, Arato thought that from how she looked, it seemed that all of her earlier doubts had been erased.

"Welcome!" A gruff voice yelled loudly.

Immediately as he walked in, Arato was struck by a strong smell that clogged his nose and made him blink his eyes. The smell was a mix of garlic and pork fat that Arato already knew without checking was going to cling to his skin and clothes before long. Even the floor beneath his shoes felt slick with grease, a result of the fumes from the evaporating cooking oil and pork fat.

To add to that, the customers in the store were eyeing both girls up without even trying to be subtle about it. It was the same sort of attention one would get if they were to drop a girl in the middle of an otaku gathering at Comiket. To Arato, it felt like he had just delivered two pieces of meat to a hungry wolf's den.

Indeed, this was the reason why Arato felt so surprised when Olga had been the one to suggest such a place. He really detested how even mundane activities drew more attention when there were women involved. Although, if he himself felt irritated as a guy, he could hardly imagine how an actual girl in her place would feel.

In the first place, Arato didn't think a ramen restaurant to be a suitable place to bring girls to. Doing that with a bunch of guys was totally fine, but it wasn't exactly something he wanted to do when there were girls involved. But Olga had picked this place herself, so it wasn't like he had a choice.

At least their table was located in a corner near the wall, which gave them some space at least. Olga took the opposite side while he sat beside Yuka.

Arato heard venomous hisses around him as he took his seat at the table containing the only female population in the vicinity. He must have looked like a total douchebag, now that he thought about it. Considering that he came here dressed in his casual clothes with two school girls in tow, he probably gave off the impression of a player that had two flowers in his hands. If only they knew that one of them was his sister and the other was simply a friend.

"Calling it first. You better pay for my share, Onii-chan." He heard Yuka say beside him as he passed their bags over to them to place on their laps. He seriously didn't want to put their bags on the floor, considering the filthy state it was in.

"Sure, order whatever you want," Arato said casually as he brought up the menu on the table's 3D display. He tried not to grimace. Even the digital glass was slick with grease and spotted with flakes of dried broth. After thinking about it for a moment, he added. "Olga, you don't have to worry. I'll cover your share too."

"Oh no, I couldn't." Olga started to say but Arato waved her off.

"Just think of it as thanks for being friends with this pain in the ass here." He said, referring to his little sister.

"It's fine, let Arato here have his moment." Yuka said.

"Hey, don't make it sound like I'm doing this for my own ego." Arato shot back.

"You mean you're not?"

Olga looked at the both of them before settling back on him. She looked like she wanted to say something but then thought better of it. "Oh, in that case, thank you, Arato-san."

Even though he had denied that it was purely for the sake of his own ego when it came to treating a girl, Arato had to admit, hearing a girl thank him like this did feel good. As a guy, that was something he couldn't deny.

"By the way, Olga," Yuka went on to add. "You do know that he's not treating you with his own money, but the allowance he gets from our Dad. What a total loser, right?"

Olga smiled awkwardly at the new information being provided to her. Already, Arato could feel his value as a man dropping by the minute.

"Shouldn't you be thinking about what to order instead?" He told Yuka to distract her from revealing any more sensitive information. Having Olga know about the allowance given to him by their parents was bad enough, but if she found out that he too was receiving cash as well from Lacia's modeling job, he might as well take a marker and scrawl the word 'PIMP' on his forehead.

"Damn, you're right! Oh crap, in that case, what should I get? There's so many options to pick from. Hmm..."

Olga cut in while he was scrolling through the menu.

"Would you prefer if I do the ordering instead?" She asked.

Arato waved her off. "Nah, it's fine. I got it."

"If you say so." Olga said mysteriously. For some reason, it looked like she knew something that he didn't.

"Let's start off with drinks first. Olga, what do you want?" While his little sister continued to pour over the menu, pausing to drool over each picture, Arato asked the girl sitting across the Endo siblings.

"Green tea is fine." She said.

"Alright, then it'll be two melon sodas and a green tea." Arato said as he hurriedly sent the orders.

"Hey!" He heard Yuka yell from beside him. Arato swore under his breath, he had hoped she wouldn't notice his prank until later. "You said I could get anything I liked!"

"Oh did I? It must have slipped my mind." He said dryly.

"What a trash brother you are!"

"If you don't like it, we could always trade."

"They're both melon sodas, you moron!" Yuka snapped. Arato had to admit, getting revenge on her every now and then didn't feel so bad. To be honest, it felt pretty good to make fun of his annoying little sister.

"Ahhh, what was that? I think that's the sound of you paying for your own food."

Suddenly, Arato felt an impact on his body along with a familiar warmth. The scent too was comforting in its own way, like jumping into a well slept-in bed that one used. Her light brown hair carried with it the faint smell of sweat mixed with shampoo. It was a nostalgic scent that reminded him of his childhood.

Yuka blushed as she threw her entire body and buried her face in his chest. "Oh my, you look so dashing today, Onii-chan," She was murmuring in a sugary voice while fluttering her eyelashes at him. She was even shamelessly clinging to him. "I want you to hold me tight and make me yours."

To her confession, Arato had only one thing to say.

"Gross." He deadpanned.

"Huuuh!? What didja say, you punk? Care to repeat that to my face?" Yuka hissed. What was she, a delinquent now?

"God, what is with you today? You're being way more annoying than usual." He shook her off in disgust.

A light noise broke through their squabbling. Olga was laughing at their interactions. "Arato-san, you're always so blunt around Yuka-chan, but you really do dote on your little sister don't you?"

"No, that isn't the case. You're mistaken." Arato told her formally, even switching to keigo to make a point.

"Aww, you big softie! The truth is you're totally head over heels for me aren't you?" Yuka squealed as she slapped his shoulder like they were bonding on a school field trip.

"No, I'm sorry to say this, but regretfully I have to inform you that you're wrong." Although, no matter how much formal speech he was injecting into his words, it didn't seem to faze Yuka at all.

"I find it hard to believe that when you make the effort to come to pick her up from school even though it's your day off." Apparently, Olga was getting into it as well, from the way she started to tease him.

"Oh yeah! You go, girl! Tell it like it is!" Yuka was rapidly shaking him to the point his head was starting to hurt from all the motion.

"Holy crap, can you just stuff it already?" This time he dropped the deadpan politeness completely and told her directly.

"Oh my gosh, you're totally blushing!"

"Drop dead."

"Wow, that's cruel!" Yuka snapped, her personality switching back to her real spoiled one in an instant.

Despite his harsh words, Olga was smiling at them as though she was looking at something precious. "I wish I had someone I was so close to." She sighed wistfully.

"Wait, do you really mean that?" Arato asked.

"We do? Really? Which part?" It seemed that even Yuka was curious.

"You can tell from the way he talks to you, right?" Olga explained. "It's completely different from the way he talks to me. For instance, Arato-san would never say something like 'gross' or 'drop dead' to me. But he says that to you because he knows you won't take it the wrong way. In a way, I think that's a display of how close the two of you are."

"You know, I can't quite deny that." Arato admitted. Obviously, he changed the way he spoke depending on the other party. It wasn't as if he spoke to everyone the same way. Even Lacia had commented that he had a habit of trying to be reserved around her. Maybe that was why she kept insisting on honesty from him all the time.

"And that's why I'm a little envious of you sometimes, Yuka-chan." Olga said.

"Huh? You want someone to call you disgusting? Are you perhaps the real masochist here?" Yuka looked confused as she asked. Arato thought that maybe it was her simple nature that prevented her from understanding.

"That's not it, Yuka-chan," From the way she gave Yuka a pitying look, it seemed that Olga too had realized her initial explanation had totally flown across her head. "I was comparing your relationship to the one I have with my own brother. It makes me wish I had a nice, dependable older brother like Arato-san here as well."

Arato had to admit, hearing a girl compliment him like that felt pretty good. But he didn't want to let it show so he fought to keep himself from smiling.

"Wipe that disgusting smirk off your face, idiot Arato."

"Who asked for your opinion, moron!?"

"You're the stupid one, dumbass!"

The ordered drinks arrived as their bickering continued. Surprisingly, it was a human staff instead of an hIE that delivered it. Turning to look, an hIE chef was the sole staff in charge of the cooking in the kitchen along with a single human assistant delivering the orders. Seeing Yuka start to slurp down her drink, Arato took it as a chance to ignore his annoying little sister and after taking a sip from his soda, asked Olga to clarify.

"So you don't get along with Kengo?"

"We aren't close if that's what you're asking."

"Damn, you too? Shiori tells me the same about Ryo. What is up with everyone these days?" He complained. "Why can't older brothers just get along with their little sisters?"

"Rather, I would like to think you and Yuka-chan are the odds ones out." She said wryly.

"Hearing all this makes me so mad, argh!" Yuka cut in from the side. "We should find a way to clone Arato so every little sister in the world gets to be spoiled properly!"

"Hey, don't go and mass-produce me on your own."

After picking a light snack for himself, he asked them in turn for their orders, starting with his little sister. He had heard in the past, customers would line up in front of a ticket vending machine for their orders.

Queuing in person. Arato couldn't imagine doing something like that in today's era.

"Gimme the large double pork char siu ramen." Yuka chirped instantly.

"You sure?"

If one was wondering, the menu of the restaurant they were at went something like this.

Starting off with the base 'Ramen', as it was labeled, which came with a standard serving of char siu. And since this place was infamous for its portion sizes, even their basic offering was something like one and a half times the amount when compared to your average ramen joint. After that, there was 'pork ramen' which was a misleading name, considering the base 'Ramen' already had pork char siu included in it, and as such, 'pork ramen' meant that it was the base ramen with extra char siu. After that, there was 'double pork ramen' which doubled the amount of char siu from the base ramen, although keeping the same quantities of noodles and soup.

The next upsize from that was the 'Large Ramen' line, which multiplied the portion of the base Ramen massively, if Arato had to guess it was probably a fourfold increase in everything, from noodles to meat to soup. Finally, in the 'Large Ramen' line there existed the same variations as the 'Ramen' line that followed the same rules. That being 'large pork ramen' and 'large double pork ramen'.

In fact, it was such an extreme increase in food that there was a pop-up warning when one tried to order the large ramen. Arato showed her the warning. Knowing her, he had already expected something like that so he wasn't surprised when Yuka told him to go ahead anyway.

Arato visually inferred all this information from the pictures accompanying the menu, so despite having no practical experience at this place, he could still work things out for himself. Also, while it wasn't the most socially acceptable thing to say out loud, but considering that he was the only guy here, with both girls younger than him at that, Arato felt that as an older guy, he had a responsibility to take the lead.

"Your funeral," Arato deadpanned. "And which toppings?"

"What do you mean what toppings? Arato, what are you talking about?" Yuka looked confused. Now she was the one who was looking weirdly at him. Arato felt confused. He didn't understand. You picked your ramen and then picked your desired toppings and style. That was how it was supposed to be. Arato knew himself to be correct as he had obviously eaten at ramen places many times before this.

"Not yet, that comes after. You have to send the order first," Olga cut in again. "Oh, but before you do, could I have a ramen as well? The basic one will do."

Even as he listened to her instructions, Arato felt himself get annoyed. What kind of madhouse place was this? To her credit, Olga hadn't suggested taking over the ordering again for them after the first time. Because if she did ask, it would have probably added to his irritation. After a few minutes, a notification pinged on the display informing them that it was their turn to be served.

"Now you can choose the way you like it." Olga said, although to Arato it came across more like teaching.

He didn't understand it at all. Wouldn't it be more efficient to settle everything at once? That's what every other ramen restaurant did. Why did this place have to be so special and try to do things their own way?

He looked at Yuka for the rest of her order. One of the draws of eating at these sorts of places was the ability to customize one's meals, from the firmness of the noodles all the way down to the amount of garlic used. Somehow he had a bad feeling when he saw Yuka take a deep breath and puff her chest out, but he tried to reserve his judgment.

After all, how bad could it be? It was just ramen.

That was when Arato recalled the thing that he had forgotten at the start. He remembered Kengo telling him about a popular ramen chain down in Sumida that served huge portions for low prices, which it did. However, there was one drawback, he said.

That it so happened to be packed full of nutjobs eating there.

Yuka looked straight at him, and then-

"Noodlesfirmspicydoubleveggieextraextragarlicporkfat."

"..."

Arato just blankly stared at her.

Yuka stared back at him.

"Noodlesfirmspicydoubleveggieextraextragarlicporkfat." She repeated, louder this time as if she was dealing with some old man that was hard of hearing.

"I heard you the first time!" Arato snapped. Maybe it was because he was embarrassed at being caught out so out of his depth, but he was starting to really understand just how clueless he was about things at the moment. "And where did you learn all of this?"

"Looked it up on the net while we were waiting. This was the top recommended order for this place."

It took him a while to realize that his little sister was using some sort of abbreviated ordering style. "Excuse me but could you translate that into normie language for me?" He was about to say but Olga had already dragged the screen to her side of the table and entered Yuka's order for him without asking.

"Yuka-chan, that's a joke guide made by mean Jirorians. You shouldn't take it seriously." Olga said.

"I still wanna try it though!" Yuka insisted.

"Jirorian...?" Arato asked.

"Ah, it's what fans of 'Jiro Ramen' call themselves." Olga explained.

"Sounds like a cult to me." Arato narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"It really isn't anything shady, Arato-san. We're just a cookie-cutter online fan club, honest."

"That sounds exactly like something a cult member would say." He growled. At that, Olga only laughed.

Wait, was that it? Had he been swindled into an initiation ritual for a ramen-themed cult of sorts? Was his sister in this cult as well? Was Olga a member of this cult? Or was she their leader? In the first place, what even was a 'Jirorian'? He just had so many questions and no good answers available.

Arato took one look at the listed order and blanched.

"Wait, just wait one second. Hold up. Am I reading this right or do you want your noodles to be cooked firm and spicy with double the amount of vegetables and extra-extra garlic and extra-extra pork fat oil?" Just to add weight to his point, Arato dragged the screen over to show her the warning sign that cropped up again on the 3D display.

Good grief. Even just saying it out loud was making him feel nauseous. What kind of monstrosity was she intending to create? And why did Olga call it a 'joke'? Were there actually people online who posted a standardized set of trollish instructions to trick people when they looked up recommendations on what to order at this place? Just how far did the rabbit hole go?

"Yup." She said, reaching over to press the 'Ok' button for herself.

"Don't come crying to me if you can't finish it. I ain't helping you eat it," Arato told her flatly before turning to Olga. "And you?"

"I'll have mine with extra firm and extra spicy noodles with the normal amount of vegetables, garlic, karame, and pork fat." She was even talking normally instead of whatever garbled nonsense Yuka spoke despite clearly knowing the 'regular' method of ordering at this weird place, perhaps to politely cater to his inexperience. His manly pride bristled at being pandered to in this way, but it was probably his fault for not letting Olga do everything from the start.

"Extra spicy? You sure you can handle it?"

"What's the matter with that? Are you saying it's strange that I can?" For some reason, Olga turned stiff. Arato didn't consider himself the sharpest tool in the box, especially when it came to girls, but he wasn't dim enough to not notice that he had touched on a sensitive topic for Olga. In the first place, weren't girls usually the ones with a sweet tooth? His image of a girl in his mind was of one who enjoyed cake and desserts a lot, a meat-loving carnivore like Yuka did not count as one because she was a unique lifeform, so he did think it was a bit strange for a girl to order something so extremely spicy.

Arato didn't want to risk stepping on any more potential landmines, he chalked it up to Olga being a girl and possessing a girl's strange logic that he as a guy was not privy to, so after sending their orders, he quickly turned to Yuka to use her as a shield, who happened to be watching a video on her phone and appeared to have not noticed anything out of the ordinary.

"Whatcha looking at?" He whispered for forgiveness to the heavens above as he shamelessly used his little sister as a convenient topic change.

"Lookie here, isn't it just the most adorable?" Yuka was showing him a video of a dog interacting with its owner. "Hey, Onii-chan can we get one?"

"No way. Besides, don't you already have Funell?" Arato replied immediately.

"That's completely different! Olga, you like dogs too right?" She set her pocket terminal on the tabletop to project the video using its 3D display. Arato wanted to tell her that the surface was dirty but the damage had already been done.

"Oh, dogs? They are nice pets to have. If you treat them well and feed them, they'll unconditionally love you in exchange. And even then, they'll still come back to you even if you do happen to fight with it every now and then," Olga remarked, her earlier tension seemingly gone. "In that sense, they're pretty predictable, which makes it comforting in its own way. Sometimes, dealing with people can get pretty tiring, so it's nice to have a less complicated interaction once in a while. Still, I wouldn't consider them a complete replacement for human relationships."

In the video, a shy Shiba Inu puppy was being coaxed by her owner to climb into her lap. The owner, a girl from the sound of her high-pitched voice, was patting her lap and calling out the dog's name every now and then. After some hesitation and more coaxing, the puppy finally gingerly snuck onto its owner's lap, where the owner then proceeded to stroke its soft fur along with scratching its chin and head.

All the while, the puppy expressed its pleasure with soft noises of happiness.

Arato didn't quite know why but watching the video was starting to make him feel sick to his stomach. A part of his brain was telling him to stop watching the video, or else something truly bad would happen to him.

"Hey, don't make it sound like I'm Arato's pet just because he buys me food!" Yuka whined.

"Oh no, I didn't say that. It would be pretty demeaning for a human to be a pet. I'm sure Arato-san just does that to spoil you, Yuka-chan." Olga said in a mature way.

His throat felt dry and his palms began to sweat. The part of his brain that warned him to stop thinking was screaming now. The world in his field of view began to fade away in a blur. Arato felt his breathing turn raspy and difficult. He did not understand, it was just a simple video, so why was he having such an intense reaction?

It was as if a house of cards was starting to crumble in his mind.

Right when he was about to snap at Yuka to turn it off, a loud voice broke through his rapidly fragmenting thoughts.

"Thanks for waiting! Here's the extra spicy ramen with noodles cooked extra firm with vegetables, garlic, and pork fat!" The voice of a young man boomed loudly.

"That's me." Olga said while raising her hand like a student volunteering to answer a question in class.

"Gotcha, babe!"

Olga blinked and looked confused at the sudden switch to English. "Uh? Yes?" She replied back in Japanese awkwardly.

Around this time, Arato would have said something but he found himself forcibly preoccupied with another matter at the moment. Not only was the broth in her bowl redder and darker than human blood, but the wafting steam which permeated the smell also had the effect of turning his eyes watery and his nose runny. Arato wasn't exaggerating when he said that just being in the vicinity of this hellish concoction made him wince in pain. Even sitting opposite from her, Arato could still sense how spicy her food was.

Olga however, looked at it happily as though she weren't staring at a vision of hell. She even sprinkled red chili powder on her ramen.

"And who has the large double char siu with firm noodles, double vegetables, extra-extra garlic, and extra-extra pork fat oil?" The waiter asked.

"Oh, that's mine!" Yuka squealed.

"Here you go, Ojou-chan!"

Arato felt his eye twitch. First 'babe' and now 'Ojou-chan'? How cringe could this punk be? Where did he get off calling his little sister that? Arato tried to suppress the urge to kick his ass.

This time, the thud that hit the table was audible even in the noisy confines of the packed restaurant. The bowl that the waiter served could have been mistaken for a bowl of vegetables at first glance. There were so many vegetables, pork char siu pieces, and assorted side toppings piled high in a massive heap that Arato couldn't even see the noodles. Hell, he couldn't even see the damned soup. In no sane way could this be considered ramen, Arato thought to himself. His stomach hurt just by looking at it.

"What... is... that." Arato let out a dead voice. Olga looked over at him.

"It's Jiro's Ramen." She had a completely serious look on her face as she said that.

"But where are the noodles?"

"Beneath that pile of vegetables, obviously. Where else would they be?"

"I've never seen ramen like this." He was sure he resembled a soldier who had been in the trenches for too long with how numb he was acting. It was this ridiculous sight along with the earlier brain fog that dulled his reactions.

"That's because this isn't 'ramen', Arato-san! It's 'Jiro Ramen'! Don't you dare compare Jiro's Ramen to mere ramen! 'Jiro's Ramen' isn't just ramen, it's food for the soul!" Olga nodded as if she was sprouting some heavenly principles of guiding wisdom. Honestly, at this point, he wasn't sure if Olga was simply just playing out some massive in-joke from how crazy the things she said were.

He hoped he was witnessing a form of satire. But just in case, he made a mental note to tell Kengo to check on his sister more often.

Arato wisely thought not to ask about it. In any case, Olga looked about to go off on him whenever the topic of 'Jiro's Ramen' cropped up. He was pretty sure by now that Jiro's Ramen was a cult masquerading as a ramen shop, and their members calling themselves 'Jirorians' were just that, cultists. But still, he was starting to see how this girl and Yuka could become close friends. Their ridiculous mental wavelengths probably helped in that aspect.

He couldn't deny that he felt a bit weirded out that of all people, Olga had stumbled into this kind of niche otaku hobby that even he did not know of until today. It also felt pretty strange to find out something about his own country from someone like her.

Even so, of all things to start a cult over, why ramen? He wanted to ask something incredibly stupid like 'do you sneak the used bowls back to worship at home?' but thought better of it. He wasn't going to sit here and listen to any mentally draining conversion speech, no way.

"And we have the gyoza."

"Over here." Arato said.

"Sure, take it." The young man who seemed to be about his age shrugged and roughly slid the plate over to him, a far cry from how chummy he acted around the other two.

"You sexist piece of shit." Arato thought as he glared at the male employee. Being guys both, there seemed to be a common understanding between them as they mentally communicated with pointed looks. The digital strip that acted as his nametag above the breast pocket of his uniform blinked, but Arato made an effort to not read it. He simply reverted to calling this asshole 'Male Employee A' in his mind. He had to admit, it was a little petty of him but what the hell, it wasn't as if he was the one initiating the confrontation right now.

"I don't want to hear it from someone who brings two girls to a ramen restaurant to show off. As far as I'm concerned you flower-in-two-hands bastards are a hated enemy of men everywhere. I mean, here I am busting my ass in this sausage fest all day while you come in here acting like some protagonist from a shitty harem manga. Do every single guy in this world a favor and go die in an explosion." Arato translated the angry glare Male Employee A was giving him.

Arato wanted to tell this raging moron that it didn't look like what he was thinking. He was merely the designated luggage carrier of two girls who just so happened to be friends, of which one was his sister. Arato felt that he should have been pitied instead of envied. He was the one being used here, not the other way around. Why did people always jump to conclusions?

"What the hell is your problem!? It's not like I made the both of them sit on either side of me, right!?"

"Be glad you didn't. I would have poisoned your food otherwise."

"That's just flat-out murder! You're seriously going to kill me over a bowl of ramen!?"

"Think of it as taking out the competition. Nothing personal, kid." With a final mean look that apparently was supposed to intimidate him, Male Employee A stalked off to continue his shift.

God, what was wrong with people nowadays? Was everyone automatically an asshole or what? Whatever happened to the age-old value of minding one's own business?

"Is that all you'll be having, Arato-san?" Olga asked as she glanced at his plate of gyoza. Compared to the two huge bowls of ramen they were having, his food looked insignificant.

"I already ate earlier, so I'm not feeling too hungry."

"You just want to save space for Lacia-san's cooking. God Arato, you're so obvious sometimes." Yuka cut in before helping herself to his food.

"Hey! Don't steal my gyoza, you little gremlin!" Arato yelled, partially because of his stolen food and partially because... well, she was right on the money. He did want to eat Lacia's food. "You got plenty of food so why take mine?"

"Well, that's because if I don't do it quickly, you'll eat it all?" She explained while chewing on a piece of his gyoza as if he were a particularly dumb child.

"That's supposed to happen!"

"Why are you getting all mad for, Onii-chan?" Yuka used her chopsticks to pull out the half-eaten gyoza, still sloppy with her saliva, and pushed it toward his face. "Urgh fine, here you can have it back."

"Screw you! I don't wanna eat your half-eaten gyoza, that's disgusting as heck!" Arato screamed as she continued to try and force the offending item into his mouth.

"How is it disgusting? Onii-chan, you and I came out of the same place and we share the same blood, so what's wrong with a bit of saliva?" The pork and cabbage filling of the gyoza looked like a glistening, sloppy mush and it made Arato feel like he was about to retch.

"The answer's still no! Go to hell!"

"Wow, how incredibly rude! A cute girl is trying to feed you and you're rejecting her? I'll have you know that some guys in this world can only dream of something like this, you know? Why don't you think about how incredibly privileged you are to be tasting my body fluids instead?"

"I don't know and I don't wanna know! Get that thing away from me!"

"Yuka-chan, if you don't quickly eat, the noodles will turn soft. You don't want to breach the sacred etiquette, do you?"

"Ohhhh! Meat! Noodles! Let's eat!" Yuka crammed the half-eaten gyoza back in her mouth and then proceeded to tackle the giant bowl of... whatever it was (he refused to call it ramen) by stuffing her face.

Everyone knew that ramen had to be eaten quickly before it got soggy, but Arato wouldn't go as far as to call it a 'sacred etiquette'. That being said, he wasn't one to complain about rescues so he didn't exactly have a comment for that.

He wanted to tell Olga to start eating as well, but when he glanced over, he saw her staring at a piece of silverware. Her eyes darted back and forth between the fork and the restaurant staff. She had a clearly unhappy expression on her face and clearly looked unsure as if she wanted to speak up and say something.

"Here, it's still clean." He took his chopsticks which were still unused and motioned for her to receive them. Yuka didn't even notice what was going on around her as her head continued to bob up and down from all the noisy slurping she was performing. She really was too easily distracted when it came to food.

"Thank you." Olga said quietly as she took the paired utensil from him. She then fished out a hair tie from the breast pocket of her uniform and used it to neatly arrange her hair into a ponytail before starting to eat. Watching this reminded Arato of the differences that existed between men and women. If he was in her place, he would have simply started to chow down immediately. Girls really were more attentive to these sorts of things.

Even her method of eating ramen was different. Compared to someone like him who crudely grabbed the largest clump of noodles he could before transporting it into his mouth, Olga's dexterous fingers manipulated the chopsticks to grab a well-calculated portion of noodles along with a slice of pork to ensure that she had a bite of pork and noodles in each mouthful.

The way she ate was clearly more refined than his, from how she lowered her head to eat with minimal slurping sounds. She even took the time to carefully tuck the locks of her blonde hair behind her ears to avoid getting them dirty. It was a far cry from the war zone sounds Yuka made whenever she ate noodles, along with the resulting mess with her usually ending up with dirty cheeks and food-splattered shirts. She really had zero feminine charm, that one.

When he saw this Russian-looking girl deftly handle her chopsticks with a higher proficiency than him, Arato felt pretty depressed as a Japanese person. Although, Arato had to admit, seeing her using chopsticks this well made Olga look pretty cute. He chalked it up to 'gap moe' or something. When he studied her, from the traditional hairpin she seemed to always be wearing, to the surprising otaku hobbies she had and the way she could use chopsticks better than him, Arato sometimes had the feeling that Olga was more Japanese than him.

Heck, even her tsukkomi timing when it came down to it was pretty spot-on.

Looking at his plate of gyoza, Arato realized that his act of sacrifice had left him with no other option but to eat the gyoza with his hands.

"If it already tastes so good here, I can only imagine how amazing the real thing at Mita would be." He heard Olga sigh happily. Arato didn't want to ask what she'd meant by that. Some knowledge was meant to be forbidden. That being said, Olga looked supremely satisfied, way too much for a person simply eating ramen, and it confirmed his suspicions that Olga was secretly a cultist in disguise.

"Ew, why are you eating with your hands?" Yuka said. Arato rolled his eyes. Sometimes he really wanted to yell at her to try being more perceptive once in a while.

"Because I'm an uncultured barbarian, that's why." Arato dryly said as he popped another gyoza into his mouth.

He heard Olga laugh. The rest of their meal went on uneventfully after that. Well, that was except for the one scenario that Arato fully saw coming from the beginning.

"Uuu, Onii-chan," Yuka was weakly tugging at his sleeve and whining like a little kid. "My stomach hurts! I can't eat another bite!"

"What did I tell you!?" He snapped. "You'll get no sympathy from me. Don't waste food and finish what you've started."

Hearing him actually be firm for once must have triggered something inside her, for Yuka obediently went back to her bowl with a look of defeat on her face.

"You might want to leave the soup, Yuka-chan," Olga suggested. "But do make sure to finish the noodles and toppings, you don't want to face a lifetime ban from the master, do you?"

It scared him how Olga could say such scary things with a gentle face. Arato wanted to ask what kind of restaurant would ban its customers for life but then realized that this place was a cult pretending to be a ramen joint so the normal rules probably didn't apply.

"I'll do it! Don't underestimate me! I'm a tough bitch!" Yuka fumed and resumed her trip down ramen hell. He was about to yell at her for her language when Olga replied.

"Oh, I think you're more of a cute bitch, Yuka-chan." Olga said, the ridiculous words not matching her gentle voice in the slightest. Despite the refined aura she gave off, she seemed to have no problem keeping up with Yuka down the strange rabbit hole that happened to be teenage slang.

"You know, sometimes I want to be a cool bitch like you, Olga!"

"If only Shiori-chan was here, then our bitch trio would be complete," Olga pouted. "The cool bitch, the cute bitch, and the smart bitch. Three bitches eating ramen. My, what a sight that would be."

Arato just stared blankly ahead.

He was speechless.

He didn't know what to say.

His brain felt like it had crashed.

He recalled the saying that the concept of 'normal' and 'normalcy' was relative to the surroundings one found themselves in. And that if one were to drop a sane person in a world full of insane people, the sole sane person would be considered the abnormal one.

At the moment, Arato felt like that person. Even if this was supposed to be a part of 'gap moe', it was too hardcore for him to appreciate.

"Yuka, please don't speak like this in front of Dad." Arato let out a pained voice. He looked completely horrified. They were even getting odd looks from the patrons around them.

"Shut up Arato, a guest doesn't get to decide the lifestyle of the host!" Yuka snapped at him. "Bothersome outsiders like you should just stay quiet and keep your head down! The bitch club does whatever it wants!"

"What the heck is that!? I don't get it at all! I didn't raise you to talk like this!" Arato could feel the heat start to leak into his voice. He was seriously starting to get pissed. Rebellious phase or not this was far too much for him.

Seeing his rising anger, Olga cut in to hurriedly explain. "Shiori-chan, Yuka-chan, and I get together regularly for tea and snacks in a meeting dubbed the 'Council of Little Sisters'. Yuka-chan was the one who took to calling it the 'Bitch Club' and we just went with the flow."

'Council of Little Sisters'? Did he even want to ask? Why were girls so weird? Why couldn't they hang out normally and go to the arcade or something like he did with Ryo and Kengo? You didn't see him calling their friend group 'The Holy Knights of the Order of Elder Brothers' or some chunni name like that.

"Whatever. Just don't go overboard with it." Arato sighed, he had totally given up fighting this.

"Arato-san," Olga mentioned as if she was suddenly struck with an epiphany. "You're the type of guy that tries to act chill about everything but you're actually pretty straight-laced deep down, aren't you?"

"Oh, wouldn't you know it! Sometimes Arato here acts like an old man from the way he yells at me about stuff." Yuka agreed.

"What? No, I'm like totally cool with it, you know?" He tried to defend himself, but it came off as pretty lame. He didn't really consider himself someone with conservative values, as far as he knew, he only merely tried to do things the correct way and respect people's way of life as best as he could. Arato didn't consider himself perfect, and that was the reason why he avoided criticizing things about others too often. In any case, it would feel pretty hypocritical of him if he went around preaching to everyone all the time.

"It's alright, Arato-san. Everyone has their own way of living." Olga told him reassuringly. Someone he got the feeling that he was being judged either way. He didn't want to dig his grave any further so he focused on eating the rest of his gyoza. That was when Arato heard a loud, angry voice ring out through the restaurant.

"Hey, what the hell is this? I ordered it with extra garlic but there's none in this at all!" A man was raising his voice at Male Employee A, the very same one who had given him so much shit earlier.

"I'm very sorry, I'll have it returned immediately." Male Employee A bowed as he apologized. Compared to how he was acting to Arato a while ago, the way he came across surprised him. So even an asshole like him could play the role of the proper service staff if he put his mind to it. To be frank, Arato couldn't deny that he felt a certain sense of schadenfreude when he saw him berated like this.

"That's the second time you got it wrong! Are you brain-dead or something!?"

The man continued to yell, and the waiter continued to bow and mumble his apologies. All the while, Arato fought to keep his face from breaking out in a smile. Perhaps it was true that karma did exist in this world after all.

"In the first place, why is it you that's here? What happened to the usual hIE working here?"

"Well, you see, I was only called in this morning to fill the position temporarily. From what they told me, one of their hIEs had broken down all of a sudden. Basically, I'm just a part-timer from the Arubaito Network." He explained.

The Arubaito Network, or 'Arubaito' as it was usually called was the standardized job-hunting service that could track subscribed user locations through their pocket terminals and then inform them of job opportunities in the local area nearby that they could perform. From what Arato had heard about it, it was convenient for the hiring side as well for quickly filling in work openings of the light sort.

There were some people who were against such a system, claiming that it treated workers like expendable goods to be swapped around. But most people ignored them as the Arubaito Network streamlined all the necessary and often bothersome paperwork for the users who had signed up for it, which was the main target userbase of users looking to do last-minute, short-term jobs in the economy.

Also, Kengo had once mentioned that it was systems like this which proved that their pocket terminals allowed anyone with a deeper knowledge of technology to track individuals in society, but Arato wrote it off as another of his weird rants.

It wasn't like he was ignorant of such a thing existing, but considering that the only ones who were able to access something like that were the government or the police, Arato didn't feel that there was anything to be worried about.

"Well, tell us next time! We didn't come here to waste our time being served by a human." Arato could see Male Employee A smile bitterly like he was enduring a form of torture before excusing himself with an obviously feigned politeness. By now, Arato's earlier cruel joy at seeing someone like him be beaten down like this disappeared and he was starting to feel bad for him. He could imagine how apologizing to someone who was yelling at you would honestly feel like one of the worst feelings ever.

It was a far cry from whenever he found himself having to apologize to Lacia, who always accepted him with warmth and a smile, sometimes a hug even if he was lucky. For that Arato counted himself blessed that she turned out to be so nice compared to her little sister Kouka, even if it merely happened to be the calculated reaction of a robot.

From the corner of his field of view, he could see Yuka shift nervously in her seat. She had long finished her bowl of ramen, Arato didn't even want to know how she managed that, but she looked quite unsettled for some reason. Her gaze kept wandering from side to side like she was afraid something would jump out from the shadows, only stopping every now and then at the toilet at the rear of the restaurant. Her sudden mood shift reminded him of how she had acted around him earlier when they left her school.

That was when he understood. The kidnapping incident must have frightened her deeply enough that she feared going anywhere alone, and that was the reason for her bringing Funell along to her school. Arato kicked himself for not noticing it earlier. Of course, she would be affected, he felt angry at himself for thinking that she'd magically forgotten about it.

"Yuka," Arato asked her calmly, not wanting to alarm her too much when he saw her in such a pitiful state. "Do you need me to follow you to the toilet?"

"W-What!? No! God, Arato, have some delicacy will you!?" She sputtered.

"I'm serious. If you're that worried I can wait outside for you." Arato told her.

"Are you nuts? You, a guy waiting outside the female restrooms, do you know how would that look?"

"Like I give a shit. You're my little sister. If you wanna do it, just go." He growled. Did she really think something like that would stop him? How shallow did his little sister think he was?

"Ew gross, why are you trying to act all cool for? Just cut it out, won't you? I don't care what Olga here says but you can't pull off the reliable big brother part even if your life depended on it! Listen, Arato, I don't mind if you spoil me but don't go and turn into a helicopter parent! I'm not a kid anymore! A tough bitch like me can go to the toilet myself!" Yuka yelled at him but not before grabbing Funell and storming off in the direction of the washroom.

Arato stared at her back as she left. This left him alone with Olga. After realizing that Olga was here to see all of that, embarrassment was starting to creep into his body. "Sorry that you had to see that," He told her before grimacing. "I bet you think our relationship is strange. Crap, I wonder if she hates me now."

"I wouldn't worry about that. If you must know, Yuka-chan talks about you all the time when she's with us. She might not seem like it, but she does treasure you dearly. As to whether your relationship with her is strange, well that's to be expected, you have to play two roles with her after all."

"I don't quite understand."

"Your father is busy with work and hardly has time to come home, doesn't he? For most of her life, you're the closest thing to a father Yuka-chan has ever known. In that aspect, you're brother and father to her both." She told him simply.

"I'm her father figure, huh?" Arato mused. He couldn't place any fault on his Dad. He needed to work to financially support their family, after all. It was understandable why he couldn't be there for them much in person.

"She takes after you more than you realize." Olga remarked.

All of a sudden, Arato couldn't help but feel queasy at a realization that hit him. "Hey, this might come off as weird but... is my little sister really as popular at school as she says?"

"I think so, although I can't be sure since we don't go to the same school. But she does seem like she has quite a few friends of her own. At least among the three of us, she's probably the most popular that's for sure."

"Huh, you being serious right now?" Arato didn't believe her, especially considering that both she and Shiori were attractive in their own way. He just couldn't see how someone like his little sister who possessed zero, no less than zero, negative even, feminine charm could be more popular than them.

"I think it's got something to do with her easygoing personality?" Olga offered. "That's why we decided on the roles with Shiori-chan taking up the label of the smart one, with me and Yuka being the cool and cute one respectively."

"I see." Arato didn't know what exactly to make of that so he defaulted to the usual neutral reaction.

"Well, if you think about it, it does make sense. After all, you can see why both Shiori-chan and I might come across as difficult to approach, right? I mean, at times Shiori-chan gives off the aura of an honest-to-goodness Ojou-sama which scares people off and I'm well... me." Arato might have been imagining it, but he thought he could detect a slight hint of bitterness at the end.

"I don't think Shiori is that unapproachable. Although even if I say that, even she's been acting a bit strange around me recently."

"That's because you two are childhood friends. It's different for you," Olga explained as if she was saying something extremely obvious. "As to your second point, that's because just like Yuka-chan, Shiori-chan is also growing up as well, albeit in a different direction."

"It's not just her behavior that's changed, even the way she's been eating is different too," Arato mentioned. "Whenever I'm with her, all I see her eat these days are salads and soups. Is she on a diet or something?"

"That's because she wants to be seen as a girl," Olga said mysteriously. "You know, Arato-san, you really should shake off the rigid view you have of girls. Shiori-chan isn't a robot. She won't say no to a good hamburger like anyone else. It's just that she avoids indulging in front of you."

"If what you say is true, then how do you explain why she takes so long to get ready whenever I mention I'm coming over to her house? She used to greet me in her pajamas, but nowadays I have to wait thirty minutes in the foyer for her to come out of her room, sometimes even longer when we hang out." He asked. Although not on the overwhelming level of someone like Lacia who dominated his thoughts these days, Ryo's little sister still confused him.

Hearing all that, Olga simply closed her eyes, looked up to the ceiling of the restaurant, and clasped her hands together in front of her in a way that resembled a prayer.

"Oh, Shiori-chan. He might be denser than a sack of bricks but keep up the good work. I'm sure you'll get through to him one day. Here's rooting for you. You can do it." Arato heard her mumble, which only added to his confusion.

Well, if what Olga said was true about her growing up, then it was most likely that Shiori was starting to feel a sense of discomfort considering that they were still opposite genders at the end of the day. In that case, Arato told himself to be more aware of her personal space the next time they met.

"That being said, hearing you say that my little sister is popular doesn't exactly make me feel comfortable." He changed the topic again, mainly because Olga was giving him a wry look.

"Are you getting nervous thinking about how she might bring home a boy one day?" Olga let out a soft laugh. "Do you think you'll have problems getting along with the one she chose? Oh dear, I can see it now Arato-san, you getting all fired up and interrogating the poor guy."

"Of course not! What kind of person do you take me for? I'll just sit down with a nice cup of tea and have a friendly chat, that's all. I'm sure if we talked things out properly, we'll come to an understanding." Arato tried to say calmly, but he was sure his shifting eyes gave him away. Olga must have seen through him because she immediately followed up with another question.

"And if it turns out that person did something you felt was untoward to your precious little sister?" Olga asked with a knowing smile on her face. Was he really that easy to read?

"... Depending on what he said, he might find himself eating through a plastic tube for the rest of his life." Arato mumbled very quickly.

Olga simply laughed at his answer. "Aw, it's cute to see this defensive side of you when it shows up. Arato-san, you really do love your little sister, don't you?"

"No, I find her pretty annoying actually." Arato said. How else was he supposed to interpret her behavior? She was incredibly spoiled, annoying, and childish. Sure, there might have been flashes of cuteness that naturally came from being a fourteen-year-old girl, and he did find her cute on occasion, but she remained mostly annoying in his eyes.

Seriously, where did his precious little sister, the one who clung to him and cried during their mother's funeral go? Even nearly a decade later, he could still recall the memory clearly in his mind. For it was the first time in his life he had seen Yuka seriously bawl her eyes out like that, beyond her usual cries for attention. That was the moment when Arato swore to himself that he would make it his mission in life to destroy anyone who would have made her ever cry like that in the future. There was no way he was going to let anyone get off scot-free if they hurt her. He would make them rue the day if the time came.

In fact, just remembering how the kidnapper had hurt her was starting to make him internally lose his shit. It brought about an instinctual, primal reaction from his body, making his muscles tense and his hands clench. Even now, Arato could not deny feeling a dark joy when he recalled the pulped face of that person in his mind. But that was in the past, and Arato knew better than to needlessly linger over such negative emotions. It was better to look forward than to find oneself stuck in the past. And that was why he brought his thoughts back to the present and to the subject at hand, his little sister Yuka.

Although Arato had to admit, if she really did act that clingy and needy all the time, it would seriously creep him out. But still, he thought that she could afford to be a bit sweeter to him once in a while.

Well, in a way that was a blessing as well. Because the more she acted like a tomboy, the lower the chances were of a guy getting attracted to her. Okay, time to stop thinking about a scenario like that, he told his mind. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

"But you love her anyway," Olga pointed out. "You might grumble and complain, but you'll always come through for Yuka-chan."

"I can't say you're wrong." He admitted. In the end, Yuka was right when she said that she would always be his little sister, and he, the older brother. It was an absolute law of nature that would never change no matter what. In a way, the bond of their blood remained an eternal status.

Arato used the lull in their conversation to take the chance to pull up the bill.

"Really, you don't have to." Olga told him.

"I already said it's fine," Arato said, more gruffly than he had intended. Her comments had touched him more deeply than he'd thought. "You can pay me back by continuing to watch over my stupid little sister when I'm not around."

Olga only showed him a smile tainted with a hint of wryness. "I hope you don't do this for every girl you meet, or else you're setting yourself up to be taken advantaged of for sure."

"I'm not, why does everyone tell me that?"

Ryo and Kengo had both said the same thing about him being easily catfished. At that time he shrugged them off, but somehow hearing it come from a girl made it sting in a way that it didn't before.

"Well, I get the feeling you're the type to go all-in on someone if you like them."

He had to admit that she was getting scarily close to the mark there. Again, was he seriously that simple of a person that Olga could easily tell something like that? Was it her woman's intuition again? How else could he explain the fact that people kept figuring him out like this?

"Isn't it normal to want to make someone you like happy?" Arato asked.

Since getting the honest opinion of a girl in person was a rare opportunity, Arato thought to himself what the hell, might as well go for it. In any case, Olga didn't come across as the type to make genuinely make fun of him at his own expense.

"Sure, to a certain extent. But not to the point where you'll come off as soft." She replied.

So even she had him pegged as the 'soft' type. Somehow, Arato didn't like that.

"Well, it's just... you know..." Arato couldn't help but shift uncomfortably in his seat. He knew that he had said 'to hell with it' earlier in his mind, but the truth was that the reality of the situation was starting to catch up on him. What the hell was he doing, talking about these kinds of personal things with a younger girl? He shoved aside the part of him that cringed and said quietly as if he said it softly enough, she would not hear. "Won't girls really like me if I never turn them down or disagree with them?"

His mind went to Lacia when he asked that question. Arato knew that the tool calling herself 'Lacia' wasn't really a 'girl' and that her reactions to him would always default to the positive, at times even verging on pornographic, sort, but Arato didn't want to take her calculated affections for granted. He felt that if he kept stubbornly treating her like a human, then one day she might start to see herself as one. It was a wish borne from a purely emotional way of thinking, he understood that, but even so, he still wanted to believe that there was a person inside of her in the end.

"Pfft-! Oh, I'm sorry, that was mean of me," Olga quickly stifled her laughter and apologized. It seemed that she recognized that he was being serious and tried to do her best to take things seriously as well. It still hurt though, when he saw a girl automatically laugh at him like that as her first reaction. "Not at all. If anything that just makes you seem like an easy guy, and by that, I mean it in a bad way."

"It really stings to hear you talk about me like that so bluntly." Arato dryly said. She didn't even try to mince her words. Like an anti-air missile battery weapons system, Olga simply locked on and delivered her punishing salvo. Her response was a far cry from what he would have expected from someone like Lacia would give, and it only served to remind Arato of the difference between a real human girl like Olga and an hIE like Lacia.

"It's true though when I say that there's a difference between being nice and being easy. Us girls are great at spotting things like that straight away. Look here Arato-san, and I'm being serious when I say this, but you need to turn people down every once in a while, or else the other party is going to get the wrong idea."

"All this stuff about being taken advantage of sounds way too depressing to be true. Aren't you just being paranoid at that point?" He tried to defend himself but he could clearly see that Olga was not convinced. But he knew better than anyone that a lot of bad things came from overthinking stuff too hard. In the end, it all depended on the relationship and the trust between the two parties, or so he believed.

After all, one was used only if they believed they were being used.

"No, not at all. The way you are right now, Arato-san, you're prime fodder for those bad women out there to totally suck dry."

The stuff she said sounded way too cynical to come from a girl, especially one that happened to only be in her first year of high school.

"As if, you watch too many TV dramas."

"Tsk, tsk," Olga clicked her tongue and wagged her finger at him. "How naive. Girls can be much more frightening and manipulative than you think, Arato-san. In fact, the way you think that we're all sweet innocent things is only proof that our propaganda strategy is working."

"Now you're just trying to scare me." He said.

"You need to use your brain properly when dealing with girls. Don't just blindly do or believe everything they say, you got that?" Olga chided.

Great, now he was being lectured by a girl two years his junior. How did things turn out this way?

"Hey, I just realized," Arato mentioned out loud the thought that struck him. "All this talk about girls being calculative and stuff, doesn't it apply to you as well?"

"Huh!?" Olga verbally stumbled, looking hesitant. It seemed that for the first time in their conversation, he had the upper hand over her. It took a while to get here, but finally, it was his turn to play offense. "W-Well, of course! I'm a girl too, you know! I'm as sneaky and manipulative as they get! Someone like me can instantly make any guy hopelessly putty in my hands! After all, I'm a... I'm a..."

She took a deep breath and raised her voice.

"I'm a bad bitch!"

If he looked hard enough, he could probably visualize the steam coming out from her ears.

"Don't force yourself if it's impossible." Arato deadpanned at her desperate delivery.

He guessed that it was safe to say that Olga was obviously not someone like that. A total sweetheart like her wasn't the manipulative type, nor could she be if she wanted to.

"What? You don't believe me? Look, I even got you to pay for my food!" Olga insisted. "I'm a total man-eater!"

"Yeah, yeah, save it for the variety TV panel," Arato dryly waved her off before asking in a more serious tone. "I got a question for you. If what you say is true, then how do I get past the fear of disagreeing with someone I like?"

"Hm, well, instead of automatically thinking of all conflict as bad and to be avoided, you should ask yourself this question. If your relationship isn't stable enough to withstand a certain amount of differences, doesn't it simply mean that the relationship wasn't all that strong to begin with?"

"So you say, but doesn't there exist the case of many relationships failing because there's too much fighting going on?" Arato replied.

"Well, you might see it that way, but for me it's different. I think it would be exhausting if I had to put up a facade around the person I like all the time," Olga said. "For example, think back to how you interact with Yuka-chan compared to everyone else. I believe I'm not wrong to say that you feel a certain sense of comfort around her that cannot be replicated by anyone else."

"Yuka's different, she's family. No matter what happens, that's something that'll never change. What I'm talking about are relationships that involve romantic attachment. I think those require more conscious effort put in them."

"Eventually, if a relationship like that goes on long enough, they'll become part of your family too, Arato-san. Or are you saying that you'll continue to walk on eggshells around those who you plan to be with for the rest of your life?" Olga pointed out.

Family, he pondered the term. Sure, he might have considered someone like Lacia to be on the same level as a family member, but the fact remained that at the end of the day, even if she did agree to become part of his family, it was still an arrangement that only worked if she continued to consider him as such. His heart twisted at the possibility of her deciding one day to discard him. He didn't want that at all. Far from it, the idea of her leaving his life terrified him more than anything else.

It wasn't like he himself didn't know that he still needed to have a proper talk with Lacia one of these days. About her origins, her goals, and the reason why she was created by an ultra high-performance AI. But in the end, his fear of everything breaking apart overrode any desire about knowing the truth behind her. It was a lie, but Arato thought if ignorance was the price to pay for maintaining the current happy illusion between them, then it was something he would gladly pay.

He could tell from the way she turned evasive whenever he tried to press her. Ever since that fateful night, Arato felt like there existed an unspoken social contract between them, with him playing the part of the oblivious Owner and her, the role of the perfect domestic partner.

"Still, I feel it's a bit selfish to think that you can afford to continue acting exactly the same way as you used to when you enter a serious relationship. I think that at some level, people change for the ones they love. And if we go from there, shouldn't it be right to say that the capacity for change is tied to the amount of emotion invested in the relationship?" Arato said.

To be honest, Arato thought that such a way of thinking was a tad willful. That one should accept others for who they were without compromise. It sounded wonderfully idealistic on the surface, but he knew that in the end, all it only managed to do was to breed a subset of people who turned out to be intolerant of everything that did not perfectly align with their own individual values. In the world, everyone was constantly making small personal compromises to maintain the smooth operation of the social fabric that made up society. In the same vein, if it was for the sake of someone he loved, Arato felt that it wasn't wrong to try and adjust himself in their direction.

"We all have to put up with minor inconveniences when interacting with others, it's probably the same way for the ones we love. However, I don't think it should be to the extent that you would set yourself on fire to keep your partner warm," Olga said, it seemed that she didn't agree with his way of thinking in the slightest. "You might not realize it, Arato-san, but the human heart is like a glass bottle. Every lie that's told for the sake of avoiding the eventual conflict only builds up like how pressure accumulates in a glass container. Initially, it begins in a way almost similar to how cracks form on the surface of a window. Soon enough, resentment gathers and the person might find themselves despising the ones they once loved. Over time, more lies are required to cover up the cracks but eventually, the glass walls of the human heart finally break and their true emotions come flooding out. That's why it's usually better to have smaller disagreements spread out over time rather than a gigantic one that destroys the entire relationship at once."

Olga gave him a look he couldn't quite read. Somehow he got the feeling that she was telling him something that she truly believed in.

"Every lie accrues a debt to the truth. No matter how much you might convince yourself of something in your mind, eventually, the truth comes to collect, with all the accumulated interest along the way."

The atmosphere had become so heavy that Arato didn't know what to say. Right when he was about to apologize to clear the stale air, Arato heard the telltale buzzing of a cellphone set to its silent mode vibrating away from the direction of where Olga was seated.

"It's my parents, excuse me." Olga said as she left to take her call outside the restaurant, bringing her bag with her.

This left him waiting at the table all alone on his lonesome. He could feel an itching sensation on his skin. Arato was getting pitiful looks from the patrons around him. They must have thought that he had been ditched with the bill after sugaring two girls for no apparent reward. It really ticked him off how people were so judgemental based on appearances.

He pulled out his phone to pass the time, but even while trying to surf the net as usual his mind felt distracted somehow. A sense of slowly burning anxiety and low-key discomfort was affecting him, and it showed in the way he restlessly shifted in his seat and looked around. Arato didn't know how to explain it, but it was the same sense of unease that one felt if they forgot to bring their cell with them when they went out.

That was when he realized the reason for his discomfort. Lacia wasn't by his side as usual. It had been a while since he had done anything without her around like this, and Arato was surprised to find that she had affected his lifestyle so deeply.

Just like a cell phone, humans had gotten so used to the comforting weight and presence of a tool like that in their pockets that without it, Arato felt like a part of him was missing. In the modern day, people were more or less attached to their electronics, be it a pocket terminal, a smartwatch, a pacemaker, or some other device. He figured that the same logic applied to the objects known as hIEs, which were tools created to serve humans.

"What was I thinking, trying to act all considerate earlier?" Arato muttered under his breath. He didn't understand why he had said something like that to her. The hiE Lacia might not have possessed feelings, or even a heart to be moved, but for some reason, he felt a sense of satisfaction all the same whenever he tried to treat her like a human.

At the end of the day, his mental image of Lacia kept bouncing back and forth between both that of a 'girl' and a 'tool which so happens to look like a girl', and such an inconsistency colored every single one of his interactions with her, for better or for worse. In the end, his messy lovesick emotions always seemed to have a certain way of warping his logic when it came to her.

In any case, considering how painful it felt to be away from her, he resolved to bring Lacia along next time no matter what. He knew that it was selfish of him to think that way because as an hIE, Lacia would never refuse him even if it was a bother for her. Having said all that, Arato felt that it was okay to be a little bit selfish and indulge himself once in a while.

After processing the payment for the bill, Arato left the restaurant to get some fresh air away from the pork-infused fumes. Arato took a deep breath, he didn't think that going out for some ramen could be this tiring. He spotted a vending machine nearby and decided he might as well go for some coffee to perk himself up. As the slim can clattered into the dispenser and he cracked the beverage open, he noticed Olga, who happened to be waiting near the entrance of an alleyway at a distance from the restaurant. She was easy to spot even in a street full of people, thanks to her unique hair and appearance.

From the way she was standing, Arato guessed that her call was over and he walked over to talk to her. Or he would have had he not found a young man going up to chat with her instead.

As he got closer, Arato could overhear their conversation.

"Oh hey, those school clothes, are you a transfer student from overseas? Just my luck! Hey, are you looking to earn some easy cash? If so, then I got just the job for you!" The multiple questions being asked all at once by the Yankee wearing a gaudy suit seemed to have the effect of throwing Olga mentally off-balance. "Crap, can you even understand me?" The man said out loud before switching to English. "Uh, hello. How are you? For how long will you be staying in Japan?"

"I was born here. I am Japanese. Using Japanese is fine." Olga said testily. From the way she was clenching her fists, Arato could tell that she was getting mad. She might have possessed a gentle character, but it seemed that even she had her own limits.

"Oh, wow, you can speak Japanese! And without any accent as well! It's rare to see someone like you speak Japanese so well! It's really an amazing thing to see, you must have studied a lot!" The man was like a machine gun, talking rapidly without pause. The silver chain around his neck rustled as he spoke. He had dyed blond hair, but the shade looked cheap and artificial compared to Olga's natural locks of gold. Overall, judging from his ear studs and gelled hair, the man was the sort of good-looking guy who seemed to follow the latest fashion trends, at least, if one could discount the air of sleaziness he carried.

Compared to Olga who wore her high school uniform without any modifications, the difference was like night and day. Considering that the guy looked like he came straight out of a skeevy host club, Arato thought it an apt comparison.

"...You didn't even listen to a word I said did you." Even while standing a ways off and listening in, Arato could hear her mutter bitterly.

Arato was starting to get an idea of what exactly was going on, but just like before at their school gate, he told himself that there was nothing concrete that he could do. This probably happened to Olga on a regular basis, and even if he stepped up to yell at the man right there and then, what would it really change? It wasn't as if the problem would magically disappear forever even if he stopped the current event.

If anything, there was always the underlying dark desire to try and perform such an act for the sake of one's own ego. To feel good, to feel like a just, maybe even heroic person, and pretend that they weren't all hypocritical pieces of shit underneath it all. To indulge in one's manly instinct to stand up for a girl in her time of need and protect that source of feminine fragility.

"There's a place I know that's always looking for new girls! It's shift work so it's flexible! Young people like that these days right?"

"I'm fifteen." She seemed exhausted by his constant talking. Arato supposed that to be his strategy. To keep hammering away at someone without giving them a chance to respond until they cracked under the pressure.

"Aw come on, don't look at me like I'm some sort of shady guy," He waved at her glare and laughed in that overly false way that Arato hated seeing in people. "I'm not asking you to work for a pink salon here. It's nothing that underground. It's all legal," He insisted. "All you have to do is to wear that school uniform, pour drinks, light up cigarettes, that sort of stuff. There's no physical contact involved. All you have to do is smile and chat with them and before you know it, you're up four thousand yen for just an hour's work. And that's not counting any extras if you're so inclined. With the way you look, you might even pull double that! Plenty of guys go crazy for white skin. Now consider it carefully, would there be anywhere else that pays a student that much? I'm sure there's something you want for yourself right? A bag? A new phone? Fancy clothes? Come now, all students these days have something they have their eye on. How about this? Let's start by exchanging contact info. Don't worry, I'm a feminist, you know? I like helping women realize how they can earn so much more just by understanding their true value. You know what? Why don't you come down and talk to the other girls yourself? Yes, just follow me and you'll see for yourself how I'm not such a bad person."

He was rambling on and on, all the while slowly moving his hand towards Olga's wrist.

"ты мне противен."

Olga said something in Russian that Arato couldn't quite understand, but he got the gist of what it meant from the disgusted look she gave the pushy scout, one that resembled looking at trash.

Arato knew that he talked up a big game earlier about not interfering with Olga's business, but somehow looking at the hollow expression on her face moved his heart, along with his legs. Maybe he was doing it for the sake of his own male ego, who knew anymore, but Arato found that he couldn't force himself to remain still when he saw a girl look that forlorn.

"Olga, could you go check on Yuka? She seems to be taking a while." He said, cutting into their one-sided conversation.

A wave of relief washed over her face. Olga looked like a sudden weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Yes, leave it to me." She then walked past him and out of his field of view.

That left him all alone with the other guy. Well, that and the can of Boss still in his hand.

"Now why did you have to go and do that for?" The man with gaudy blond hair complained to him. "You do realize that in this line of work, we get a cut for every girl we pull in right? I got my own family to feed, you know."

"Or how about you pick an industry that doesn't involve exploiting women's bodies instead? Ever thought about that before, genius?" Arato growled. He knew he was being hypocritical to say something like that, considering the financial benefits he received from Lacia's modeling job with Fabion MG. But Arato didn't want to think a scumbag like that guy and he was the same.

"Oh yeah, I bet you feel real good playing the hero and saying these sorts of things, don't you? Hell, she might even suck you off with those bright green eyes of hers wide open later as thanks," He snarked and turned around to leave, but not before getting in the final word. "Word of advice, kid. Gaijin girls might be an easy lay but that's all they're good for, fun. Soulless, materialistic creatures like them don't make faithful wives. When you grow up into an adult, you're going to want to settle down with a proper Japanese girl."

Arato stared at his retreating back. A metallic twisting sound reached his ears and made him glance at the source. He had subconsciously crushed the can in his hand and thanks to that, coffee had spilled onto his hand and wrist.

"Piece of shit." He muttered as he tried to shake the liquid off.

In any case, it wasn't like he could drink any more from the ruined can, so he went back to the vending machine which he initially bought it from to toss it into the recycling bin beside it.

As he tossed the crumped metal can into the hole, a voice called out to him.

"Thanks for just now. That guy was really getting on my nerves." He heard Olga's voice come from the direction of the vending machine. He couldn't see her, but he could guess from the way the vending machine tilted just so slightly that she probably had her back resting against it. Apparently, she had been waiting for him.

"Nah, I just wanted to take the chance to look good in front of a girl." Arato said dryly as he leaned on the vending machine as well, using his body as a sort of counterweight.

He heard Olga let out a laugh, not her usual gentle one, but one tinged with bitterness. "Did anyone tell you that you're terrible at lying?"

"So I've been told."

"Also, I wanted to apologize for earlier. You know when you asked me if I could handle the spice? I was oversensitive there, and that was my fault."

"Oh, you know, I just thought girls usually preferred the sweet stuff." Arato said.

"Yes, I've noticed. Which is why I said it was a misunderstanding," Olga explained. "But honestly, Arato-san, while it's true that most of us are sweet tooths, not all are. I still meant what I said back then about changing the rigid image you have of girls."

"Well... Sorry about that."

A moment of silence passed between them. After a while, she spoke up again.

"I might not seem like it, but I'm normally quite wary around men," The bitterness was back again in her voice, and somehow it made him uncomfortable how a high school girl like her could sound so weary and jaded. "I hope you don't think I act like this around everyone else."

"Of course not. That's just silly. People portray themselves differently depending on who they're hanging out with." Arato knew that better than anyone. He himself shifted his way of speaking and his persona to suit the context of the situation. It wasn't like he spoke the exact same way all the time. Obviously, how he spoke to a teacher or a police officer differed from the way he spoke with his friends. A girl like Yuka might have been fine with speaking to everyone in the same carefree way, but it stemmed from her immaturity and she was clearly an outlier in that aspect.

To begin with, the maintenance of regular operations in civilized society required the people living in them to don a different persona depending on the situation. A persona, also known as the alter ego, or simply put, another side to a human. Personas were the personality that one chose to present to the world outside themselves. These were the sides of themselves that a human decided to be seen by other humans. In a way, they could also be thought of as an armored disguise that one donned in order to confront hardships. Just like how ancient warriors in martial society donned their armor before setting out for war, the modern human in civilized society donned their personas before stepping out of their homes.

Take for instance, how an adult in the office would be expected to put aside their personal baggage and act professionally when on the clock, including changing their language and speech patterns. Their individual personality was discarded in order to conform to an agreeable ideal for the sake of harmonious operation for the organization. In that sense, Arato guessed them to be similar to hIEs.

But unlike hIEs who did not possess hearts, and who could not be hurt, of what use could a persona offer to them? In the end, the main reason for the existence of personas remained to act as the layer between the outside world and the human heart.

So why did humans create hIEs to act similarly to humans, when they were not human to begin with? Was it really like how Kisaragi Asuna had said and that it was all a trick to fool humans into being endeared, or enamored even, with them? Was that the reason for Ryo's face turning scary every time he looked at an hIE?

Could it be that the 'Lacia' he thought he knew merely happened to be a persona developed by the highly advanced AI pulling her strings? In the end, was Lacia just tricking him to fall in love with her?

To be honest, he did not know the answer to any of these questions.

But what he did know was that whenever she was in close proximity to him, his mind turned fuzzy from all the overwhelming emotions that surged through him, and that these sorts of painful questions only popped up whenever he happened to be away from her.

So maybe it would be better after all if he stuck to her side all the time from now on, to avoid this kind of thing from happening again.

Having said all that, Arato still considered himself a teenager first and foremost, and judging by the way how easily he found himself strung along by his own passionate emotions, it was clear that his persona was still underdeveloped when compared to that of an adult. There were plenty of times when his own discipline broke down and he found himself unable to fully don the mask of a controlled adult in emotionally-charged situations. It would probably take another 10 years, likely even more, for him to fully mature.

After all, the development of a persona came naturally, as one progressed in their natural stages of life. As their life experiences broadened and as they went on to meet new friends and people. It also followed closely the mental development of the human mind and how it saw the outside world.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm the biggest liar of them all," The weight pushing against the vending machine lowered itself closer to the ground. Even though Arato couldn't see her, from the way they were leaning, he could guess that Olga had sunk to the ground and was probably sitting on the floor from the direction her voice was coming. "Every day I try to convince myself and everyone around me of something that I'm not."

Arato vaguely had an idea of what she was talking about, but it wasn't like he had an easily available answer to a heavy topic like that. So he kept listening in silence.

"Say, Arato-san, do you think it's strange to want a world populated only by hIEs? They don't judge and they treat everyone the same regardless of who you are or how you look. Wouldn't that be nice?"

A world without humans. Arato was sure if such a thing existed, all conflict would immediately cease, that much was true. But even so, he didn't think that was the answer. After all, a world without hate was also a world without love.

But he knew that he didn't possess the right to lecture Olga about his answer. If she came to such a conclusion, then something in her life must have pushed her toward the answer she had discovered on her own. He didn't have the right to, he didn't.

"One time when I was in elementary school, around the third-grade I think? The vice-principal took over as a substitute for my Japanese class as my usual teacher called in sick. When my name came up, he said to me 'Origa, you have to put in extra effort studying Japanese, or else you're going to fall behind the rest.' I told him that I am Japanese, and he gave me this strange look but didn't say anything else. At that time I didn't understand what he was trying to say, but I do now."

Her parents had given her a Russian name, probably because she took after her mother's Russian looks. However, as 'Olga' was considered a foreign word, under the Japanese writing system it was written using Katakana. Legally, her birth name and what she was called in school and formal institutions defaulted to 'Suguri Origa'. Even her desired name couldn't be rendered properly. He couldn't imagine how it must have felt, having one's own name act as a reminder of one's status as an outsider.

"So I listened to him and I studied hard. By middle school, I was at the top of my class in Japanese. But then one day, when the test results came back, my teacher got mad and gave the entire class a good scolding. He singled me out and said, well I don't remember the exact words, but he said something along the lines of 'Why is Origa number one? I mean, Origa doesn't even speak Japanese at home. She's at a disadvantage compared to you all. So can someone explain to me why Origa here is better than everyone else in the national language? Aren't you guys just being lazy?'"

Her voice was trembling now, it sounded like she was holding back. Arato couldn't see her face, but maybe it was due to precisely just that that Olga felt comfortable enough to spill her personal troubles to him. After all, didn't confessionals at a church work the same way? With a screen acting as a shield of anonymity between the priest and the one confessing.

"And then you know, I was there sitting at my desk with my head lowered. And everyone was giving me this dirty look that said, now why did you have to go and do something like that? Because of you, we're getting lectured. Can't you see it's your fault? They were even whispering and calling me names like showoff and attention seeker," Olga whispered. She must have been holding something like that in for most of her life, and it seemed like everything was spilling out at once like a broken dam. "I kept thinking to myself as I sat there, things like 'why me' over and over again," She laughed, but it wasn't really a laugh, for a laugh was meant to carry joy and happiness. The sound that left her felt more like an expression of bitterness than anything else. "Maybe I should just focus on improving my English instead. Since everyone sounds surprised when they find out that I'm pretty terrible at it."

"That son of a bitch," Arato muttered. He was getting angry just listening to her. He wasn't even an adult and even he knew how embarrassing it must have felt to be singled out in a class full of her peers like that. Of all people, he expected adults to be more aware of such things in life. "I hope you reported him."

"When I informed my homeroom teacher, he told me that it was my fault for taking the top spot in Japanese class, and that I should have been more aware of the feelings of the people around me and how it would look. He said that if I wanted to fit in better, I would need to learn how to be more considerate of others. When I told him that I was born here, he took one look at me and said 'Yes, that's true. But that isn't the same thing.' The things I was told made me doubt myself. For the longest time, I carried that guilt with me like you wouldn't believe. I convinced myself that I was the one at fault. I know better now but, the damage has been done, sadly."

"It's all rotten, huh? Top to bottom. All of it." Arato said, his tone starting to match hers.

"I had to show the school a medical note from the hospital to prove that this is my natural hair color. And even then, I was still told that it would be better if I dyed my hair black and put on contacts."

"That's illegal." Arato pointed out.

"You're right that it's illegal. And it is, they can't force me. But what they can do is 'offer advice'. So technically I misspoke, they didn't tell me to dye my hair. I was 'advised' to," Even though he couldn't see her, Arato could only imagine the bitter smile on her face as she spoke. "After all, it's not a crime to suggest."

"Sorry." Arato replied automatically. He couldn't come up with anything else. The problem that she was describing was too large, too complex for him. It wasn't something that could be solved overnight or in a single eloquent speech. He didn't want to be the kind of hypocritical person to comfort Olga with shallow platitudes like 'We're all not like that' or 'I'm sure things will change in the future'.

Arato was just a kid, he didn't have the power to change society like that. Hell, he doubted that even if the Prime Minister came on TV and told everyone to stop being pieces of shit all the time, it wouldn't have made a difference. In this country, the problem rested in the very structure of society itself. It had burrowed deep into the roots of their culture and it remained there festering in the bones like a tumor. It had become so normalized that no one had noticed it, not even him.

Before today, Arato didn't even think about such things in his life. Something like that wasn't a part of his life, neither was it an issue that bothered him. Without realizing it, he too had become part of the problem. He lived his life mechanically, carrying out his daily routine. Arato didn't hate anyone based on where they came from, not at all. But it could be said that apathy could sometimes be even worse than outright hatred. And as he had mentioned earlier, Arato understood he himself had fallen into the cycle of apathy without even consciously realizing it.

The worst part was that when he realized just how messed up their world had become, it fed into a small cynical part of him that whispered to him to continue living his blissful life, to not stick his neck out for anyone. Why should he risk painting a target on his back for someone else?

After all, someone like Lacia clearly didn't care about how she was viewed by society. So if she didn't care, why shouldn't he just indulge in her pornographic personality in blissful ignorance? Wouldn't something like that be amazing, the dark voice in his head said, to have all the benefits and pleasure that a girlfriend would bring, without the responsibility of one?

He rejected that thought firmly. Because in the end, not everything was based on a selfish calculation to advance one's own personal interest and nothing else. Lacia was emotionally important to him, and that was the honest truth. Her interests had risen in his internal value system to become nearly as important as his, and that was the fact.

Even if she didn't care, Arato would. He would provide the feelings in her stead.

"I will never be Japanese," A voice broke through his thoughts. "Even though I was born here. Even though I was raised here. Even though I will most likely die here. But no matter what I do or say, how I adjust the way I dress or act, I will never be Japanese. It's something that will never change."

From the way she sniffled and how the vending machine trembled, Olga probably had her hands wrapped around her knees. "Hey, tell me, what should I do? Should I dye my hair black and wear contacts? Should I go for plastic surgery to restructure my face? Should I head to the family court when I turn eighteen to get my name changed so that it's written in kanji?"

Again, the problem felt so overwhelming that Arato didn't have any ready answers for her. It felt like he was walking on a minefield, and every step he took risked detonation. But there was no one else around, and if Olga had come to him like this, then probably it was because she had no one else to turn to. So he had to try, using all of the accumulated data from his seventeen years of life as a human being to figure out what was the best answer to give.

"This country isn't like America or Europe where they accept a lot of immigrants, and then these same immigrants go on to then start a new life abroad calling themselves citizens of the new country they find themselves in. Nobody over there really questions it because to them their image of citizenship is based on language and allegiance. To them, as long as you have a common love of the nation, they will gladly take you in and call you one of their own."

Arato didn't think now was the time to mince his words, so he tried to give her his opinion as honestly as he could.

"Over here it's different. The people here tend to assume that nationality is intrinsically tied to ethnicity, and most likely this is something that's going to take a very long time to change, if at all. If you were to ask most people about their opinion, they would tell you no matter how much an ostrich flap its wings, it will never be able to transform into a true bird of flight. Mind you, this is the same nation that takes pride in lecturing others about the meaning of the soul, how they understand it uniquely in a way that no one else does, and other nonsensical ideals like how things are supposed to be judged by their effort and intent, rather than the outcome. In the end, we're just like the rest, nothing but a shallow people who only care about the looks of something, rather than the inside."

He smiled thinly as he started to understand his feelings for Lacia better. Arato was projecting, and he knew it. He knew it, but he couldn't help but place the image of Lacia over Olga's problems and connect them.

"We really are some of the most hypocritical scum of the Earth, aren't we?" He said bitterly, knowing that it applied to him as well. For all his big talk about discovering Lacia's soul and finding the girl inside the robotic shell, in the end, he found that his feelings for her were still tainted by a very human-like sexual desire. "There's no point in forcing yourself into becoming something that you're not. At least, not for this rotten place. It doesn't deserve it."

Indeed, something like that was pointless, and Olga was living proof of that. Despite perfectly adopting the language, customs, mannerisms, and way of thinking of the society she lived in, she still found herself shunned.

But it was not something that surprised him. After all, society was unjust, cruel, and fickle. It was a humongous behemoth that ground onwards unceasingly, crushing and devouring everything in its path. It expected, no, demanded change from the individuals living in it to fit into society, with no gratitude shown or given to those who did bend the knee. Before today, he had believed that everyone needed to play their part to ensure the smooth operation of society, but looking at how society had failed a radiant individual like Olga made him question that belief. Was it really worth it, then, to fold to such pressure?

"Arato-san, you too don't think of me as Japanese, do you?"

The loaded question pierced through the defenses of his persona like a sharpened tip of a rapier penetrating steel plate. Arato closed his eyes. Already he could almost feel the automated response about to slip from his tongue, one that had been ingrained into him by society. 'Of course not!' The manual labeled 'generic human interactions' would instruct him to say. Throw in an awkward laugh to smoothen everything over and it was a perfect answer that no one in their right mind could criticize.

Yes, it would be a perfect, almost hIE-like answer.

But sometimes the correct answer doesn't lead to the correct outcome.

It was that experience, along with having heard Olga spill her heart to him, that made his heart move. Arato did not want to become a hypocritical, two-faced piece of shit like everyone else. She had opened up to him, so he would peel away the false persona and answer her with his heart as well. She trusted him, and Arato didn't want to spit on that trust.

"Sometimes, yeah," He answered honestly. "It's funny. I know that you were born here and you're as Japanese as much as any of us. But I find that I have to consciously remind myself of it. And at times, I still slip into bad habits if I don't watch myself. I'm a real piece of trash, aren't I?" Bitterness laced his words like venom, and Arato embraced the self-hatred that flowed through his body like an old, familiar friend.

A pause of silence. And then after a while, the vending machine shifted again, this time in her direction. He heard footsteps, and soon her face appeared in his field of view.

"Thank you," Olga said, her eyes puffy and rimmed with redness. As he had thought, she had obviously been crying. "Most people would just tell me what I would like to hear at times like this. I truly appreciate your words. For what's it worth, Arato-san, I don't think you're as horrible as you make yourself out to be," She forced a smile on her face. "Otherwise, that'll be implying Shiori-chan has bad taste."

"Well, considering that her family runs MemeFrame, I think I would get my ass kicked by some very friendly men if I did anything to ruin her reputation."

Olga just stared at him. After a while, she sighed deeply, closed her eyes, and clasped her hands in front of her as if she was praying.

"Do your best, Shiori-chan. Fight on."

Arato did not understand what she meant about Shiori. He really did feel that girls had a mysterious way of speaking.

"You keep mentioning Shiori, but I don't get it at all."

"It's not my place to say," Olga told him. "Why don't you go talk to her soon? As I recall, she's been complaining to me that you've been ignoring her recently."

Arato seriously did not like the accusing look that Olga was throwing at him.

"Ah, well you know... I've been, uh, busy with stuff recently," An image of Lacia's perfect smile appeared in his mind and Arato couldn't help but wince. "Yes... important... stuff." He trailed off, hating how he didn't sound convincing at all even to his own ears.

From the way Olga stared at him, it seemed that she wasn't buying it as well.

"Well, just talk to her soon. And by that I mean in person, don't just offload it to a phone call. Oh, and Arato-san, just a word of advice?" Olga deadpanned. Even though her eyes were still red, it seemed that she had returned back to her usual self. "You should prepare a gift as a peace offering. She likes sweets from Marion Crepes. The White Snow Strawberry in particular."

"Is she mad at me? But it's been only a couple of days!"

"Exactly. And that is why you need to apologize," More mysterious talk that could only come from a girl. "Now then, let's go pick Yuka-chan up, or else you're going to find yourself apologizing to two people in the near future."

"Yeah well, it's just wonderful to be me isn't it?" He started to complain but then realized Olga had already walked off. Somehow, while he was grateful that their conversation had ended lightly, Arato wasn't foolish enough to think that her problems had disappeared just because he had a talk with her. In fact, they still existed. That being said, he had seen so many sides to Olga he did not know once existed. But between the witty, cheerful, gentle girl and the burdened soul crushed by the cruel world around her, Arato wondered himself who was the true 'Olga'.

His only answer was that all of her personas were equally valid, both the surface and the alternative sides, and that it all came together to form a human consciousness called the 'soul'.

Still, watching her back like this, she almost seemed lonely. Arato understood that she possessed her own problems troubling her and that he was just a piece of her inner universe. It might have been a small piece, but it was a piece nonetheless.

However, the amount of change he could affect her was also limited to the size of that piece. If he wanted to increase that share, he would also need to increase the footprint and space that he took up in her world.

And along with that increased involvement, the intimacy that came with it. Perhaps romantic, maybe platonic, but it was intimacy all the same. He could see it, how he would stand up for her and spend more time with this girl, and maybe, who knew, a spark might form between them. After all, love was an emotion that was just as much developed over time as it was sudden and illogical.

Frankly speaking, Arato felt like he wasn't ready to offer the amount of commitment required to Olga in order to seriously change her life for the better. Of course, he could try to help and support her, but considering the current state of their relationship, something like that was limited to a certain level. Crossing that line would mean something more. The crossroads that defined and separated a 'friend' and 'family' stood before him, but unfortunately for Olga, Arato already had the roles mapped out clearly in his mind.

That was the crux of the issue. Arato was just one person, he had his own problems and situations to deal with. At the end of the day, like all humans, he needed to pick and choose which battles to fight. And the fact of the matter was, he had chosen to use his limited amount of time and energy for Lacia's sake. As an hIE and a Red Box, she had her own problems to be tackled in society. Arato wasn't a superhero who could effortlessly rescue everyone. With his limited capabilities, he could only defend a select few, of which his little sister Yuka and Lacia happened to be at the top of that list. They were the ones he had chosen to dedicate his life to.

If a world existed where Lacia did not exist, then maybe Olga could fill that vacant spot in his heart. With the countless possibilities of the multiverse theory applied, and the classic question of 'what if?' who could say for sure?

Maybe, in another world perhaps.

But this wasn't that world.

It was with this calculated rationale that he used to comfort himself as he watched Olga walk off by her lonesome. The girl with blonde hair and unique looks, even at a distance and in a street filled with people, was instantly recognizable at a glance. No matter where she went, she would stand out, and Arato knew that Olga understood such a thing as well.

But even though he had made the reasoning in his mind, he couldn't help but still feel a pang of loneliness when he looked at her. An image of her tear-streaked face from earlier appeared in his mind and he found himself swallowing the lump in his throat once again.

Before he knew it, Arato found himself running after her.

Maybe in the end, for all of his grand declarations about focusing only on the ones truly important to him, that was all he was, a hypocritical self-serving person who always sought the broadest solution that only ended up making nobody miserable, but at the same time, no one truly happy as well.

But even so, as the wind whipped in his hair, he felt like he was moving forward. Whatever it was, he just didn't like the idea of a heartless world that forced an innocent girl like Olga to cry like that.

"Let's exchange contacts!" The words came out in a rush without him really thinking about it as he pulled out his phone from his jacket. Even though he couldn't head down that path of the crossroad, even so, he thought to himself, maybe he could shift the signpost indicating its borders a bit.

Her body turned rigid, and Olga looked at him stiffly. "Oh, um. I'm very happy to hear this but unfortunately..." Her voice came out pained as if she was forcing the words out.

Arato immediately felt like facepalming. How the hell did he get rejected by a girl without confessing? Okay, maybe he should have worded it better.

"Not that!" He almost yelled out loud. It felt seriously embarrassing to have Olga think that he was hitting on her. "I meant it more like, if it ever gets too much for you and you want someone to talk to, I'm here so just give me a call! I won't promise I have all the answers but I can listen!" Arato insisted. "But not after 11pm though, I have to sleep." He added quickly at the end, in order to try to play it off without sounding too creepy about it.

"A curfew at your age, Arato-san?" Olga laughed gently. "You really are straight-laced."

"Yeah well, what about it?" Arato growled. "So are we doing this or not? The offer ends in five seconds from now."

She shook her head and laughed again, the orange shade of evening light reflecting beautifully on her blonde hair, and before he knew it, the chime of a notification rang on his cell to inform him that a contact named 'Suguri Origa' had been automatically added to his contact list.

He changed it to 'Olga'.

They walked the rest of the way back to the ramen restaurant where as expected, his little sister proceeded to stomp on his foot and complain about being abandoned and left behind. When Olga saw that, she smiled, and Arato couldn't deny that she looked better this way.