"…Really?" Suguha asked with an odd voice, somewhere between disbelief and hope.

"Uh, yeah?" Kazuto answered with a confused response, he hadn't really been paying attention to how Suguha normally spoke, but even he was able to pick up on how odd she had sounded as she asked. "I'm going to wash up first before going down, okay?" As he finished speaking he opened the door to his room.

Suguha took a step back, and with wide eyes she stared at Kazuto.

Kazuto blinked as he looked at Suguha, oddly enough he could almost feel a tense atmosphere as the girl in front of his room nearly appeared shocked. "So… yeah, I'll be down soon." He repeated as he maneuvered around the person standing still.

He only made a brief stop by the washroom, and as he washed his face and hands, his mind wandered.

It's been about four years now since he learned the truth, that he had been lied to, that his parents were dead and his aunt had adopted him. Four years have passed since he learned that Suguha wasn't his sister but actually his cousin. It was weird how a little shift could change everything, mostly everything they built together was forged on a false bond, none of it had been genuine.

Kazuto dried his hands and then for a moment he blankly stared at them. Faint memories of when he himself believed the lie swam around his mind. Moments where he held her hand and promised that he would protect her, because that was what a brother did. Moments where she held his hand and promised that she would always be on his side, because that was what a sister did.

Those were bittersweet memories, ones that he could still look upon fondly. When he had learned the truth, one of his biggest fears had been if Suguha also discovered it, he feared she would permanently sever that bond between them. Untainted memories were all that he still had, supposedly it was normal for siblings to not get along, maybe their close relationship should have been a sign that they weren't real siblings.

Four years had passed, and with each passing day the memories faded. Years of growing up together had been replaced with sporadic moments. That bond he once cried himself to sleep over was almost a foreign concept to him now. He shook off the meaningless thoughts and made his way to the dining room.

When he arrived, his eyes first noticed his cousin. She was currently sitting still, her food hadn't been touched yet. Rather awkwardly he sat down in front of his food, across from Suguha, who had been looking at him intensely from the moment he entered the room. "You, uh, didn't have to wait up." Kazuto nervously informed his cousin.

Suguha blinked, and then her eyes darted down at her food before she looked back up at him. "Oh, um, it's been a while since we've eaten together, I didn't want to be rude." Her tone had been muddled, as if she was somewhere far off.

"It's fine, but, uh, thanks." He almost felt like leaving, but this was a rather easy quest to accomplish, it didn't matter that he was feeling a little nervous. Kazuto steeled his nerves and shifted his focus to his food, he saw a plate of white rice with a thick curry layered on top, the curry itself had visible chunks of meat and vegetables. As he shoved a spoonful into his mouth, he nearly coughed it back up as he began to choke.

"What's wrong!?" Suguha immediately stood up as panic ran across her face.

Kazuto grabbed a cup of water and washed it down before he cleared his throat. "N-nothing. Nothing, it was just a little too hot." He waved a hand trying to placate his cousin, who for her part just looked confused at his reason.

"But I didn't use that much spice." She muttered as she sat back down.

"Ah, no, I, uh meant temperature wise." He clarified, he had previously been in the habit of eating his dinners cold, after everyone else had gone to bed. "Sorry for the confusion." As Kazuto decided that topic was over and he began to eat again, this time with smaller spoonfuls. He blinked as something registered with him. "Suguha, did you make this?"

Suguha avoided his gaze as she responded. "Y-yeah, s-sorry if it's not good." She muttered in a low voice.

The curry was fine, it wasn't anything amazing, but then again Kazuto had never been a food critic, all he could tell was whether or not he liked his meal. More importantly, his mind slowly put together that his cousin had in fact made dinner every time her parents weren't home. The meals he mostly ate absently as he focused on games had been made by Suguha.

Kazuto played games nearly every moment he could. He hardly studied and he didn't actively participate in any sports, he didn't even have any more hobbies aside from games, he only had a passive interest in computers something that he only really cared about in relation to gaming.

From his peripheral knowledge, he knew that Suguha spent most of her free time in the dojo. She was still practicing Kendo even though their grandfather had already died. Suguha also spent most of her allowance on study materials, and even then she still got lectured because her grades weren't ever steady. And she was apparently cooking dinner mostly every night.

"Suguha." Kazuto started and drew his cousin's attention with his clear tone. He met her gaze and gave her a smile. "You're amazing." He hoped that his praise would make up for never noticing that she had been cooking for him for a while now.

Suguha herself seemed stunned, and then she smiled as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

The rest of dinner went by in a rather comfortable silence, after they both finished eating, a screen appeared before Kazuto.

[ Quest: Family Dinner! Accomplished Successfully! - You've Gained 30 EXP! - Suguha Kirigaya is under the Status Effect: Happy! - Suguha Kirigaya's Entry has been added to The Encyclopedia! ]

"I'll do the dishes." Kazuto stated as he reached across the table, but his cousin snatched up her own plate.

"I'll join you." Continuing on with her behavior from earlier, her tone had been odd compared to the current situation. It almost gave off the feeling of desperately wanting something to not end yet.

Quietly as they stood side by side, they washed the dishes. Suguha was working mostly blind, her gaze kept focusing on Kazuto's face. He began to wonder if he had something on his face, but he wasn't a messy eater so he doubted that possibility.

As he busied his hands, he quickly read over his cousin's Entry in his Encyclopedia.

[ Suguha Kirigaya - Lvl: 8 - HP: 1,220/1,220 - Str: 30 - Vit: 28 - Dex: 27 - Agi: 29 - Int: 19 - Wis: 16 - Cha: 16 - Luk: 6 ]

Her stats were the first thing he read, and her values were surprisingly high compared to his own. Then he unsurprisingly realized that he sat in a chair all day while she practiced kendo during that time. He continued reading further on.

[ Titles:

Oni Girl: As a result of hellish training from a young age, she has displayed strength that others deemed unnatural. As a result she has been isolated from her peers who fear her. Grants 15% Buff to Intimidation Skills.

Rising Star: After displaying her prowess with her Kendo, her name has been uttered around by those who saw her potential. Grants 10% Buff to Training Effectiveness. ]

Kazuto barely remembered when he first heard call his cousin Oni Girl, it was soon after he quit Kendo and with his free time he tried to make some friends, but apparently the fact that he was related to Suguha scared off everyone. He could also recall calming her down when she came home crying one time, rumors had begun circulating about what a monster she was and even kids who had never met her began throwing pebbles at her.

'Just another reason why people are trash, but I guess it's nice that some people can tell that her hard work is paying off.'

[ Skills:

Passive:

Advanced Kendo Proficiency (Lvl: 2): 220% Effectiveness increase in Active Kendo Skills.

Advanced Shinai Proficiency (Lvl: 2): 220% Damage increase to Attacks made with a shinai.

Active:

Fudoushin (Lvl: 5) (Cost: 100HP per second.): 100% Reduction to the Effects of Fear and Anger. Increase Combat Skills by 10 Levels. ]

'That's… wow. Her efforts are definitely showing. I hope she doesn't push herself too hard with that last skill.'

Kazuto had just finished wiping dry the dishes he had washed as he continued.

[ Profile: Name: Suguha Kirigaya. - Alias: (None.) - Titles: Rising Star, Oni Girl. - Job: (None.) - Age: 13. - Status Effects: Happy! (Additional 5% Gain in EXP!) - Bio: Suguha was born - ]

Kazuto skimmed over a few paragraphs, it was mostly things he already knew, stuff like where she was raised and what she has done in her life so far, he was just about to stop reading because he didn't think this was important, but then he read the final paragraph.

[ When she was nine years old, Kazuto Kirigaya suddenly became distant to her. He started to avoid her and her mental state plummeted in the absence of her pillar of comfort, in response to a bully taunting her, she pushed him to the ground before stomping on him. The bully wasn't seriously hurt and he didn't tell anyone about what happened, but even so that event still haunts her.

As Kazuto grew colder and colder, and her parents started to spend more time at work, and with no one else she could rely on, she eventually grew close to her hellish kendo instructor, her grandfather. Eventually he taught her how to manage her raging emotions with kendo, and then she started to truly excel under his teaching. Additionally, since no one paid any attention to her, his lessons grew more and more intense. With every day she gained more bruises and her emotions were tempered further down.

After her grandfather passed on, she couldn't manage to feel joy or grief. It was only around the time her puberty began affecting her mind that could feel emotions again.

In the absence of her teacher and the realization that she was abandoned once again by her support, she truly acknowledged how isolated she was from the world around her. Ever since that day she trained in trying to suppress her emotions once more, however without the fear of pain and the harsh words from her teacher, she couldn't accomplish anything.

Shortly after she suffered a loss against a girl younger than her in a kendo match, she contemplated taking her own life if the only thing she could feel was shame and sorrow, but after stumbling across her old pictures diary, she has begun using her old memories as a reason to continue living.

Her dream is to one day reconnect with Kazuto. She hopes she could at least learn what she did wrong and why he started to hate her. Her wish is to hold Kazuto's hand once more before her death. ]

'… what the fuck? What? What is this? This isn't real, right? I'm actually crazy, I just gave a cousin a wild backstory because my life was boring, that's all this is.'

But what if it wasn't? That thought destroyed any semblance of comfort he could construct. If what his powers had told him was the truth, then his image of who Suguha was as a person had been completely wrong. "Suguha?" Kazuto called out to the girl who had been standing next to him as he had been blankly staring off into space.

"Y-yes, Onii-chan?" She looked into his eyes as she responded.

Kazuto peered into his cousin's eyes, and he saw that a void rested just beyond the veil. "Uh," he swallowed his fear, not sure why he was afraid, "I don't hate you, and sorry if I felt distant, I'm, uh, just going through puberty, so uh, sorry if I was being difficult, uh, my teenage hormones and stuff was clouding my mind."

"Really?" She asked with a tilt of her head, her eyes met his gaze and he nearly took a step back. "You don't hate me? I didn't do anything wrong?"

"Uh-huh." He didn't trust his mouth to form words.

"That's great," she smiled and closed her eyes. "Onii-chan!"

'Onii-chan, Big Brother, she still believes we are siblings. I can't tell her the truth, now more so than ever.'

Kazuto looked away from his 'sister' and began walking to his room, it was still early in the night and he could get a few hours of gaming in to unwind. And then a screen appeared before he left the dining hall.

[ Quest: Family Match! - Objective: Have A Kendo Match With Your Family. - Upon Success: x2 EXP Gain for Seven Days. - Upon Failure: All Combat Skills Degrade by 1 Level. - Time Limit: 2 Hours. ]

He kept in a sigh as he spun around and started spewing bullshit. "It's still pretty early isn't it? What do you say we visit the dojo and go for a match? I want to see just how far you've grown from when we were young." Kazuto also remembered that, when he had quitted kendo, Suguha had told their grandfather that she would work twice as hard in his stead.