Program 4: Conditional Amalgamation ~ if() {} else {}

Sora made his way back to the dorms and checked his phone as he headed up the stairs. Most of the messages were from Riku asking where he was. Another message was from his sister telling him that she had explained to Riku how he was feeling ‘sick’ and just needed some rest. After going through his social media accounts, he entered his dorm room and slipped off his shoes. Removing his uniform and allowing himself a moment to unwind, he stared up at the ceiling and wondered about what his sister was taking from that pill bottle. Stretching out on the couch for a brief moment, he relaxed his feet and legs while letting his mind drift into a cognitive state of rational and logic thought.

He had never seen his sister take any form of medication before. Sora knew that she was not a drug addict from what he recalled. As far as he could remember, she was always kind, cheerful and never showed any signs of being on medication. Still, he knew that there were times where she was often over analytical of information and would overthink to the point she would lose herself in her thoughts. Maybe she was just testing a pill for Miss Amaki, he thought as he stood to his feet. Making his way into his room, he grabbed a simple cyan coloured tee-shirt and pair of black shorts. The shirt was a size too small and slightly exposed his bellybutton while his shorts accented his slender and flawless legs. I should probably buy some new clothes at some point, he thought as he headed into the living room.

Sitting down at his computer, Sora turned it on and waited for it to boot up. As he waited for the computer, he could hear the sound of the front door opening. Turning towards the sound he could see his sister quickly removing her shoes and heading over to the couch. Planting face first into the couch, he could could tell that her day had been extremely busy.

“Rough day?”

“Teaching does take a toll but it is fun to see young minds engage in academic subjects. Riku was a bit much. She seems incredibly interested in my lectures.”

“You should take that as a complement. She has always wanted to go for film and television. Generally, she is bad with technical stuff and is a more visual learner. So, the fact that she can keep up with your teaching means you’re doing something right.”

“Thanks, bro. That means a lot to me.”

“No problem. Wasn’t there something you wanted to talk about?” Sora asked as he turned around in his chair.

Moving his mouse over the icon of one of the many video games he was planning to play, he waited for the startup launch to run.

“Right… I… wanted to ask if you wanted to build a video game with me.”

“You sure that’s what you wanted to ask?” Sora asked as he looked back to his sister.

“Yeah, I just figured you needed something more to focus on than what the school was teaching,” Hime said as she stood to her feet.

Hime took a moment to stretch as Sora turned back to his computer. Placing his left hand on the keys ‘asdf’ and his right kept firmly on the mouse that had numerous buttons for shortcuts and hotkeys.

“You got all of that just from my interaction with your lecture?”

“Yup! I can tell a lot about my little brother. Remember, your big sister knows best.”

“Sure.”

“I’ll get a bath and we can get to learning about game design!”

Sora continued to pay his sister no mind as he played his game without interruption. After a few minutes he could hear the shower shut off and before long his sister exited the restroom as she dried off her hair with a towel.

“Okay, change of plans. I need to get some new clothes.”

“Have fun.”

“You don’t want to come with me? We could check out the game—”

Before Hime could finish her sentence, Sora stood to his feet and rushed to his room. Opening up his closet, he threw a few clothes onto his bed. Removing his causal lounging clothes onto the floor, he changed into a green top with a white accents. He put on a pair of khaki cargo shorts that were popular for most teenage girls and a simple pair of pink girly ankle socks. In just a matter of a few minutes, he had returned to the living room dress and ready.

“Let’s go.”

“Guess video games are your turn on,” Hime said giggling in a teasing tone.

Ignoring his sister’s comment, Sora made his way to the exit and grabbed his pair of converse – a simple pair with a white-and-pink colour scheme. Hime put on her heels while Sora checked his pockets. Realising he forgot his phone, he made his way over to his computer desk and grabbed his phone. Exiting the his dorm room with his sister, he turned to her.

“Any idea what store you want to get clothes from?”

“I figured I would just go with the cheapest,” Hime said as she looked at the time on her phone.

“Okay, I will ensure you get something cute and will work with your personality.”

“Considering how well you dress yourself, I trust you, little bro,” Hime said with smile.

As the two of them made their way to the gate, the security guard smiled and greeted the two of them. Sora continued past him with a simple gesture of a wave while his sister politely nodded and greeted him properly. Pulling out his phone, he looked over the various messages that were popping up one after the other. He had often kept his notifications on so he did not miss anything of importance; however, from time to time he would end up with his phone blowing up and vibrating almost non-stop. Placing his phone on silent and shoving it into his pocket, he thought about what clothes would look best on his sister.

Various types of outfits ran through his mind. He could envision her in a frilly Lolita style dress complete with thigh-high white stockings or fishnets. There were different types of skirts and shoes she could wear. In fact, considering how similar the two of them were in appearance, she could theoretically wear his clothes. Still, their difference in height and weight made it tricky if they were to try and wear each others clothes. There was also the fact that he lacked the flotation devices to entice and enhance his feminine quality.

Of course, under his skirt was the golden ratio that would truly make anyone forget to breathe. Sora always had a feminine body and dressing himself in girly outfits helped to create the illusion of a true feminine girl. His slender arms and legs, thighs that were just the right size, petite feet with perfect toes that could be worshipped and licked. Finally, his nearly girly voice and tone which often made many question if he was actually a girl. Everything about him screamed feminine; yet, he was a boy with a massive monster that lurked and crept out when he became sexually aroused. In short, he could have been a model for a magazine and no one would question it.

Yet, all the feminine cute clothes in the world did not change the fact that he did not have any many friends. Even if he was the talk of the academy, no one wanted to actually associate with him. Nearly everyone avoided him to the point that he was driven into isolation. Only when a guy tried to make a move on him did people stop and pay attention. Likewise, girls would even try their hand at dating him only to give up after a few days. He was hypercritical of everyone, even himself, to the point it drove most people away. His hobbies of maids and video games turned most girls away that before long, the only girls that tried their hands at asking him out were new girls or transfer students.

The only time he genuinely felt a connection with another girl that he had dated was an international transfer student who was from America. She was the only one that seemed to be okay with how he acted and able to understand him. He had grown found of her to the point that they dated for nearly a year. In that time, he had opened up to her about his foot fetish which he thought she would be understanding of. Yet, it did not play out as he had thought. Without a second thought, she had ended the relationship and wanted nothing to do with him. Even going so far as to transfer out of the school.

It was from that moment on that Sora learned he could not be himself around anyone. There was no one in the world that he could trust. Everyone either hated him or simple put up with him. Video games were the only true release from the prison of life he lived in. It was when he dressed in cute outfits or played video games that he felt free to be who he wanted to be. With his older sister back in his life he was able to – at least to so degree – be his true self without any fear or judgement.

“Is that the store over there?” Hime asked as she pointed to the building.

The building was a popular shop that sold various fashionable outfits for girls. Being influenced by the Harajuku scene and Akihabara. Inside, guys and girls were able to find all types of clothes, electronics and a maid cafe which was ranked number one in the area. Sora could feel his heart race with excitement has he and his sister crossed the street. Entering into the shop only made him weep with joy. He did not visit the shop often due to his obsession with video games. Yet, the urge to try on or buy all the outfits on display was eating away at him. Wait, no, I am here to pick out clothes for my sister, he thought as he turned to her.

“Thinking about me wearing some revealing outfits?” Hime teased.

“Do I look like I have a sister complex to you?”

Hime giggled and leaned in closer to Sora’s ear.

“You probably have a foot complex,” Hime joked in a whispered tone.

“I don’t have to buy clothes for you, you know that, right?”

“Sorry, sorry. So, what fetish outfit are you going to make your dear older sister wear, my darling little bro? I’m guessing a maid outfit without the shoes,” Hime giggled.

“If you keep this up I will pretend I don’t know you.”

Sora made his way down the aisle and looked over some of the outfits on display. Some were in the classic Gothic-Lolita style while others had a popular skater culture seen in America. Other styles of clothes from various cultures could be seen, showing influence from countries like North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Looking over one outfit that had caught his eye, Sora turned to his sister.

“I think this would fit you for more causal wear. You still wear a size extra small, right?”

“Look at you, remembering your sister’s size. You know, bro, that could be considered creepy,” Hime teased.

“Well, excuse me for being observant and actually taking the time to care about people who I treasure.”

“Is this the part where we enter our taboo incest relationship?” Hime joked as she grabbed the clothes from the shelf.

“We are not restarting incest over here. Just try on the clothes.”

Hime giggled and headed for one of the changing rooms as Sora waited for her get changed. Pulling out his phone, he looked over one of the servers in the Chaos;Chord messaging application. There was a discussion that had been ongoing for a few minutes on cover design for books. While he was not an expert in the field, he decided to post a reply stating that his sister had a degree in design and that she could offer advice. Yet, in an instant he was met with the rage of various users telling him to simply be quiet and that no one cared. He had not posted in the server for some time and more often than not, he would just read the comments without thinking too much about it.

Admittedly, most of the users on the server were insufferable to the point Sora wanted them to die. They were egotistical, narcissistic and in general, always berated others. It was why he often avoided the server and wished that 90% of the users would just leave or be killed by a truck. He had been apart of the server since the early days of its inception and recalled how peaceful it was. People were nice, helpful and did not disparage other users, nor made them feel unwelcome. Now, it was a cesspool of toxic inbreeds and incels that amalgamated into a circle jerk of intolerable retards. Putting away his phone, he continued to wait for his sister to exit the changing room.

As he looked around the shop, he noticed a girl looking at the shoes. Her long black hair was tied in a pair of enticing symmetrical pigtails while her black square-rimmed glasses made her appear like she was of an intelligent academical education. Wait a minute is that Aruto Nakonime? She isn’t in her school uniform but I’m certain that is her, Sora thought as he watched her pick out a pair of shoes. For moment, he debated going up and talking to her but quickly remembered that the two of them never actually talked or even spoke a single word to each other.

“So, you would rather look at other girls than the clothes you picked out for me?” Hime teased as she stood there with her arms crossed over her chest.

Sora turned to see his sister dressed in the outfit they had picked out. It was simple in its design with a white frilly tube-top that exposed her shoulders, armpits and bellybutton. The tiger-striped camouflaged denim shorts revealed her thighs at just the right length exposing her flawless pale legs. She appeared like model on the cover of a fashion magazine from overseas.

“What do you think, bro?”

“I think your breasts are too damn big.”

“Hey, don’t be jealous of my lil Hime’s.”

“Please don’t name your boobs. But seriously, you look great. If I wasn’t your brother—”

“You’d ravish my feet. I already know,” Hime said with a giggle.

Sora sighed.

“You are aware that feet are not everything to me, right?”

“Really? Because with all the tissues you use, that would negate your statement.”

He knew there was no way to win against his sister. Sora had always been unable to beat her when it came to most things in real rather it was debates, academics, intelligent talks, anything that he tried to do, she was often better at it than him. Even in video games she was always better than him. He could never win against her. He always felt conflicted about his sister and almost always found himself in a superposition of love–hate ever since he was born.

While he cared deeply for his sister, Sora hated that he was never able to amount to what she was. This did not mean he was against trying to reach that height but it was often infuriating to see his sister go on to reach the heights that he was never able to. He loved his sister, after all, he continued to play video games in order to feel closer to her while she was away but he hated that even when he had finally reached a point that he was considered ‘S-rank’ there was a world beyond that ‘S++’ which was a realm he could not even hope to be apart of. Combined with the fact his sister had earned a total of four degrees of which one was a doctorate, two masters’ degree and a bachelor’s degree, it was painfully obvious she was in a league. It made him feel as if there was no reason to live in the convoluted universe. Often he found himself wishing to just end it. Normally, he was fine but day after day, he started to notice how he did not enjoy life. The people were redundant protoplasm that contributed to nothing more than a waste of oxygen and space. Everything he did never amounted to anything; everything others did netted them all the spoils and gains of a positive life.

“Anyway, you do look great.”

“Well, thank you. Still got to pick out some cute shoes,” Hime said with a wink.

Heading over to the shelves where the shoes were stocked. Sora noticed Aruto was sitting down and slipping off her shoes to try on a pair she had picked out. They were a common pair of sandals with a pink strap running along the top of the foot – just below the toes. In the centre was a single strap that flowed the curvature of the foot and branched into a shape that fit comfortably around the ankle. The ankle strap buckled nicely into the pin holes and kept the sandal in place.

Sora could only stare as Aruto slipped her barefoot into the other sandal and secured it in place. He realised that she did not wear any sort of toenail polish and kept them manicured like a well trimmed lawn. Her toes were perfect, the second toe just reaching below where the big toe stopped. While her feet were nearly flawless, a small mole or beauty mark could be seen on her second toe just below the nail. It was miniscule and did not detract from the beauty of her feet – in fact, it enhanced it.

“Oh hey, it’s Nakonime. We didn’t know you shopped here,” Hime said as she gently leaned on Sora’s shoulder.

Sora could feel his sister gently elbow him in the side as if to say ‘stop staring there’ with his eyes. He quickly turned his gaze to Aruto’s eyes. Her expression was soft and calm, gentle and cheerful.

“M-Miss Tokisaki and… um…”

It was clear to Sora that Aruto was unsure as to how she should address both him and his sister since they both shared the same surname name.

“You can just call me Hime, I don’t mind.”

“And you can just totally like use my first name. Totes easier than trying to be polite.”

“R-Right… Sora and Miss Hime.”

Hime giggled as she looked to Aruto with a kind and gentle expression.

“No need to call me ‘Miss’ since I am technically younger than you, Miss Aruto.”

Aruto blushed as Sora watched her avert her gaze. He did not know anything about her other than the fact that she was prim and proper. She never showed signs of being over the age of seventeen. Yet, she was technically old enough to have already graduated high-school.

“Sorry… H-Hime…”

“It’s fine. So, you’re looking to buy some shoes too?”

Aruto nodded.

“Yes, I was trying to find some cute ones that I could wear causally and maybe to the beach. I’m just having trouble finding ones that fit.”

“Well, it just so happens that my little brother can help with that. He’s great with fashion and could help you find a pair that fit.”

Aruto’s eyes glistened in amazement as she looked up to Sora. He was knowledgable in fashion and understood the anatomy of human foot well enough that he could pick out shoes with ease. Of sufficient notice was his ability to give relaxing foot massages that calmed the mind and stimulated the circulatory system. It was something he learned with practise in part due to his sister being willing to help him and studying about where pressure points were located throughout the foot. Yet, it amounted to nothing since no girl was ever willing to be in a relationship with him for longer than a week. The girl he had opened up to did allow him to massage her feet once. It was during that time that he enjoyed making the girl he cared about happy. She truly seemed to enjoy allowing him to massage her feet after school and it was clear that he had a talent for giving massages like a professional. Had he stuck with it, there was a chance he could have been a professional. Yet, he had given it all up and turned to video games.

“I mean, like, I guess I could or whatevs,” Sora said as he twirled the tip of his hair and averted his gaze.

“T-Thank you, Sora. I appreciate it.”

Sora turned to his sister and glared at her. He wanted to say something but could tell she was planning on letting them be alone for a bit.

“You two have fun. I’ll be looking at the shoes over there,” Hime giggled as she rushed off.

Sora sighed as he closed his eyes. She did that on purpose. Why are older sister’s such a pain? I wish I had a little sister, they are sweet and actually look up to their older brothers, he thought as he turned his gaze to Aruto.

“Alrite then, you said you wanted sandals for causal wear and the beach?”

“Yes, I selected these but they don’t quite fit and I’m not completely sure if they would look good on me.”

“Hmm. Okaies, stand up for me.”

“S-Sure.”

Aruto stood to her feet while Sora looked over the outfit she was wearing. She was dressed in a teal coloured tee-shirt with the design of a band that was foreign to Sora while her pleated white skirt had a small black lacy accent design around the hem. Looking over her fashion sense, it was clear to him that she just went with what was trendy on the market. Okay, if she is going for causal and beach wear then maybe the sandals she has on and some wedge sandals could work, he thought as he looked down at her feet.

“Um… Sora?”

“That’s my name.”

“Is there a reason you’re staring at my feet for that long?” Aruto asked as her cheeks flushed a light shade of red.

“Uh… Like… I got to ensure the style matches with you, ya know?”

“Oh, that makes sense. I’m lucky to have an expert like you. Truth be told, I don’t know how to dress with style. My clothes are just from some second-hand shop I went to about three years ago. I… finally got a job… it pays extremely well and I just figured it was time to update my wardrobe.”

“Coolsie. What’s the gig because I could like use some major cash on the side?”

Aruto blushed and averted her gaze.

“Oh… well, uh… it’s… just for a magazine. Modelling, you know?”

“Sounds right up my alley. Think you could get me the dets so I can apply?”

“I… uh… don’t have it on me, so sorry! Anyway, you were looking at my feet to figure out what sandals would match my style, right?”

Interesting how she did not want to give away the contact information. Maybe she deals drugs? Oh well, whateva. I’ll just pretend and not press the issue, Sora thought as he looked to see the original shoes she had worn. They were a simple pair of black boots that zipped up at the heel and stopped just above the ankles. Inside her boots were her black knee-high socks which were of a lighter and thinner fabric.

“Let me see your boot real quickies. Gotta see what we are looking at in terms of your foot size.”

“O-Okay,” Aruto said as she twirled the tip of hair around her index finger.

Picking her sock out of the boot, Sora looked over the inside until he found the small information printed in a golden colour.

“So, you twenty-two centimetres was your foot size from three years ago.”

“Yeah, those boots do feel pretty tight on my feet.”

“Take off the sandals. If those are too loose and the boots are too tight, I can get take a guess as to what your size might be. Of course I’ll measure just to be safe.”

Aruto nodded and removed the sandals. Sora grabbed her foot and looked over where she was putting the most pressure. The soles of her feet were slightly red mostly around the balls of her feet and the heels. He could see signs that a blister was forming around her big toe. For a moment, he had lost himself in thought about trying to pick out the best sandals for Aruto.

“Now, let’s measure before I pick out the sandals you want.”

Grabbing a measuring ruler from nearby, Sora placed Aruto’s foot gently on the device and looked over the results.

“Yo, twenty-three centimetres on the dot.”

“R-Really? I guess I have grown a bit.”

Making his way to the shelf with Aruto’s range of sizes, Sora picked out the sandals she had wanted in her size and handed the box to her.

“Try those, should work.”

Trying on the sandals, Aruto could not help but feel happy as she stood to her feet.

“Wow! These fit perfectly. Thank you so much, Sora.”

“Don’t worries ’bout it girl. It’s good.”

“You know… since I don’t have that magazine information on-hand, I could just give you my contact information and text you whenever I get it,” Aruto said as she twiddled her fingers slightly.

“Sure, ’y not.”

After copying down the information in his phone, Sora noticed a text message from his sister as well as another from Riku. Ignoring both messages, he placed his phone in his pocket.

“Well, I’ll go buy these and if I ever need a friend to help shop for more shoes I will reach out,” Aruto said with a smile.

“Alrite.”

Once Aruto had left, Sora looked around the store for his sister. Finding her on the next aisle over, he glared at her with a half-moon gaze.

“What was that?”

“Did I do a good job setting you up with her or what?”

“We were supposed to be looking at shoes for you.”

“Still, aren’t you glad? I mean, I got you a friend and it’s clear she likes you, little bro.”

“Now that is a lie. Do you know how many girls want to actually date me? Zero.”

“You need to understand girls better, bro.”

“Do you plan on using your Harvard education to teach me that?” Sora joked as he made his way over to a shelf that held various types of shoes and sandals.

“Exactly. Got to use those years of education to the fullest.”

Hime made her way over to Sora and looked over the shoes. He was unsure about her foot size and what would fit her. There were many different types of sandals that could work with her relatively cheery personality. A simple pair of flip-flops, wedged sandals, the options were limitless. Turning to his sister, he stared down at her feet in order to get a better sense of what could fit her as well as ascertain her foot size.

“Trying to figure out my foot size?” Hime asked with a smirk.

“Yeah. I never noticed but your feet are tiny.”

“My foot size is twenty-one centimetres. Just for reference,” Hime giggled.

“Extremely tiny. So, this pair here,” Sora said as he picked out one of the boxes and handed it to his sister.

“Not going to slip them on my feet like a princess?”

“Just put the shoes on.”

Hime giggled and sat down in one of the chairs. Sora pulled out his phone and read the text message that Riku had sent. She had asked if he wanted to head to the local mall with some of her friends. He had put off on reply to her message for over an hour and decided it was best to simply ignore her. Placing his phone back in his pocket, he looked to see his sister had finished putting on the sandals. Her black toenail polish contrasted in perfect harmony with the rest of her outfit.

“I think these fit perfectly. What do you think, bro?”

“Yeah, it looks great on you.”

“Oh, why don’t we get matching outfits? That would be cool, right?”

“What are you, six?”

“Come on, please?” Hime pouted in a playful manner.

“Fine. I’m picking out the outfit though.”

Hime giggled and wrapped her arms around Sora.

“Thank you, little bro.”

A few hours passed and Sora had finally picked out the perfect outfit for both him and his sister. They were both nearly identical in their appearance from their hair down to to their feet. The only noticeable difference between the two of them was the tips of their white hair. Sora had dyed his a soft pastel sky blue colour while Hime had hers with vivid shade of pink. It was something the two of them did so that others in school could tell them apart.

Once they were finished shopping, the two of them returned to the dorms. Sora noticed he had missed two messages from Riku and another from Aruto. Opening the message from Aruto as he slipped off his shoes, he read through what was meant to be a simple thank you but turned into a novel of thought about how she enjoyed his company and wished to accompany him in the future.

“Who’s that? Riku or Aruto?” Hime asked as she removed her shoes and untied the hair ties that held her pigtails in place.

Sora decided to reply to the message with a simple, ‘Okay’ and allowed his sister to remove his hair ties for him.

“Both. I only replied to Aruto though.”

“Leaving Riku on ‘read’ again, little bro,” Hime said with a giggle as she placed her bags of new clothes beside the couch.

“Well, she deserves it. She’s just like our mother.”

Sora entered into his bedroom and pulled out his causal gamer clothes – along with his sister’s – and headed back into the living room.

“You care to take a bath?” Sora asked as he handed her the clothes.

“Together?” Hime asked in joking tone.

“Sure,” Sora said calling her bluff.

“Okay! Let’s go,” Hime said as she grabbed Sora by his hand.

“W-Wait… S-Sis…”

Sora sound found himself standing in the bathroom as his sister started to remove her clothes. For a moment, he was unable to form words as his eyes gazed upon the massive mounds that laid bare before him. She was so short, her body in the form of a child and yet the maturity of her chest was like that of an older woman. There were many words that failed to form in his mind. Wait, why am I acting like this is weird? I don’t have any sexual attraction to my sister, he thought as he noticed his sister moving closer to him.

“Come on, bro. Take off your shirt and strip. The sooner we bathe, the sooner we can practise programming,” Hime said as she started to remove Sora’s shirt.

Hime threw Sora’s shirt into the dirty clothes hamper nearby and waited for him to removed his shorts and socks. Removing his shorts, he throw them over to his sister followed by his socks.

“You planning on washing those clothes or something?”

“Hey, you know I can wash clothes. Cooking is the only thing I can’t do.”

“All right, just figured Harvard didn’t prepare you for that,” Sora joked.

“I think you’re just scared of your sister washing all your socks.”

“Why would— oh… Sis, don’t be gross. I’ve never used my sock like that.”

“Huh. Really? Figured you would with how you go through the tissues,” Hime joked as she entered the shower.

“We forgot to pick up tissues…”

Sora entered the shower and sighed. He had meant to get a large pack of tissues to ensure that he would have enough for a month. Still, he was not in desperate need of them. Watching his sister turn on the hot water, he felt the drops of water hit his neck and trickle downwards. The shower was fairly spacious and held two people comfortably. A small shelf at chest height held a bar of soap and two bottles of shampoo. Sora had not seen the other bottle before and did not remember buying it.

The bottle of shampoo was simple in its design – a sky blue colour with white type ‘Vital Placenta Shampoo: Cabello más fuerte y vital’ in a sans-serif typeface – and contained a thousand millimetres of the liquid inside of it.

“We can just buy some another time. Anyway, you mind using that shampoo on my hair?” Hime asked.

Sora opened the bottle and poured out a small bit of the shampoo into his hand.

“Is this some special shampoo you bought overseas?”

“Yeah, it’s a good shampoo.”

Lathering up the liquid in his sister’s hair, Sora scrubbed deeply from the top of her head and working his way downwards. He continued until he had reached the bottom and started to rinse her hair out.

“Cold shower!”

Without warning, Hime turned the water over to ice cold. Sora could feel the cold drops hit his body like tiny pin pricks.

“The hell, Hime!” Sora yelled in a girly voice.

The sound of Sora’s girly voice echoed throughout the bathroom as he rushed to turn the tap back to hot water. He took a moment to let the water warm his body back up as he looked to his sister. She was grinning like a mischievous playful faerie.

“Did you miss bathing when we were younger now?”

“No, it made me remember why I wanted to bathe alone. You always did things like that.”

Hime giggled. Sora began to remember all the times he and his sister had bathed together. They were always close and enjoyed each other’s company; yet, he hated when she would randomly decide to turn the tap to cold water. It was almost like a tradition when they bathed together.

“Come on, it’s just sibling love,” Hime said with a smile.

“Love? More like a hell.”

Hime stood on her tip-toes and tried to be eye level with Sora.

“You know I care about you, right, Sora?”

“I know that if you stand on your toes like that it will lead to problems.”

“I’m serious here. You are my the most precious family in the world to me. Seven years was a nightmare.”

“Hime… I…”

Sora struggled to find the right words.

“I just wanted to say…”

“Yes, little bro?”

As Sora leaned in closer, he smiled.

“Cold shower.”

Turning the handle to cold and stepping to the side a bit, Sora could only laugh as he watched his scream in way that made her sound like an adorable anime girl.

“Nya~ ¿Qué diablos, Sora?”

“I don’t know what you said but now we are even.”

“No voy a lavarte el pelo por ti.”

“What? Now you’re not going to speak in your native tongue?”

“Ya que hiciste eso, no conseguiré que Tina te dibuje más ilustraciones.”

“Okay, look, sis… I am sorry. I love you. Please forgive me.”

“Te perdono pero sigo hablando español.”

“Seriously, I can’t—”

“Giro de vuelta.”

Hime gestured for Sora to turn around. He was still unsure as to what his sister was going to do. For a moment, he feared the worst. Hearing the sound of a liquid pour out and into her hands, he closed his eyes. Right, I still need to wash my hair and then rinse it, he thought as he felt his sister’s hands lather his hair from the top of his head and downwards. After a few minutes he rinsed out the shampoo and turned to his sister.

“Thanks, sis.”

“De nada.”

“You really hate me, don’t you?”

“No silly, I could never hate you. I’m just teaching you a lesson.”

“Which is not to piss my older sister off?”

“Exactly,” Hime said as she giggled and patted Sora’s head gently.

The two of them exited the shower and headed over to the sink. Sora plugged in the hair dyer and dried his sister’s hair while she did the same for him. Once they were clean, Sora changed into his causal set of gamer clothes while Hime slipped into hers. He exited into his room for a moment and found that he had missed a few text messages. One of the messages was from Aruto was an image she had sent of her wearing her new sandals with the casual set of clothes that she would wear to the beach. I should not save this but I will do it anyway, he thought as he downloaded the image to his phone’s storage. Texting back a simple thumbs up emoticon, he sent the message and opened up the other message from Riku. It was a message asking why he had not returned her texts or calls. Leaving her on ‘read’ like he always did, Sora placed his phone on the end table and headed into living room.

His sister was sitting at the computer as she typed away on the keyboard. Sora could see a few windows that he was unfamiliar with along with what appeared to be a text editor.

“What are you doing, sis?”

“Installing porn onto your computer.”

“Seriously, what are you doing, big sis?”

“Installing pictures of girl’s feet onto your computer.”

“I’m kicking—”

“Okay, okay. I am installing a complier so we can make use of a programming language.”

“Which means?”

“Come, sit down and I’ll show you,” Hime said as she scooted over and patted the empty area beside her.

“There is not enough room for the two of us to sit in that chair.”

“Please, we can both fit.”

Sora sat down in the chair and watched as his sister position the two different windows he was seeing on the screen.

“Okay, so, I’ll show you exactly what we can do. First, what I have on the screen is a text editor. To the right is a terminal.”

“And we are going to build a game with that?”

Hime nodded and began typing in the text editor. Sora watched as his sister typed out a few lines of code in six seconds.

#include <iostream>

int main() {

std::sout << "Game over!" << std::endl;

return 0;

}

Once she was finished, she moved over to the terminal and typed out so more stuff that Sora did not understand. Upon seeing his sister hit the enter key, another black window appeared with green coloured type on it. There was some things he could not understand but he did notice the words ‘game over’ appeared on the screen.

“So, you just printed out the phrase ‘game over’ and had it appear on the screen using only a few lines of code?”

Hime and opened up another file that she had saved on his computer. Sora could see it was labelled as a school project and inside were a few files. One was an executable file, another a text file and some other subdirectories.

“This is a project some friends and I did. We made a first-person shooter. Also had a bit of help from Tina who did the lines for the voices. The game could have been a top seller but we all agreed it was best to release it for free to world so everyone could learn from it.”

Sora started up the game and was greeted by a start menu. Navigating through the various menus, he could hardly believe the amount of detail that went into the game. Click on the ‘new game’ button, he quickly found himself engrossed by just what he was seeing. The game simple in its mechanics but still felt like a professional polished game.

“Sis…”

“It took about ten million lines of code although at least half is comments. Well, give or take. I forget how many exactly but yeah. I had to program this game.”

“And you did this all by yourself?”

“No, no. I had a fair bit of help. I did program a good chuck of the game but there were others who did parts of the code.”

Hime manoeuvred the mouse to one of the file folders and clicked on a file called ‘inventory.spp’. Sora could not understand any of the code on-screen but he could see there was a lot of code involved.

“For example, this code here checks the player’s inventory and what is in it. Basically, it is just a simple array that stores data in it.”

“I don’t understand it but this is so cool!”

“While every game is different, I want you to start trying to think of video games in simple code. For example, how would you make a character move?”

“I guess at its core, you program the game to get some type of input from the player like a key or something and then have that action happen.”

“You’re on the right track. We do that but there is also the problems you need to think about and conditions. For instance, what if the player jumps while moving backwards? What about when the player is doing more than one action? Is it even allowed? Is there a condition where one action outweighs another? These are just small things but as a programmer this is stuff that they work out when creating games.”

“It’s hard to believe that so much code goes into making just one game,” Sora said as he continued to play the game.

“What is crazy is that this was just a basic game. The big named games that you play have more to them. Regardless, all video games have core elements once you break them down.”

“Can you teach me how to make do what you do?”

“Well, do you have over $100,000 on you? Because it costs money to get my educational degree, you know?”

Sora felt a sense of disappointment as he paused the game and looked to his sister. He had always loved video games but it had never crossed his mind to actually design them and bring his ideas to life.

“Relax little brother, I’ll teach you what I can to at least give you a leg up in computer science if that is truly what you want to do. Bare in mind that computer science isn’t just programming and video games. Hell, even game design isn’t just creating and playing games.”

“Wait, it’s not?”

“Nope. You would be surprised how little game design and playing is done. In the real world, you end up doing more than just playing games. You expand into fields you’re not accustom to. Learn things that may not be of interest to you and so on.”

“So, what does a person with a computer science degree even do?”

Hime stood to her feet and took a moment to stretch her legs.

“Computer science is basically the study of computation, information and automation. There are various theoretical disciplines such as information theory or the theory of computation. These academic subjects are often applied to things like engineering, science and mathematics. Best real-world example is in the design and implementation of hardware that we use like laptops or software such as those games you play. Computer programming is just one aspect of what I do,” Hime said as she pulled out her phone and checked the time.

“I want to learn what you do, sis. Please, teach me.”

Hime could see the passion in Sora’s eyes as he stood to his feet. He was always playing video games but with programming, he could make them.

“If I teach you, I want you to promise me one thing. You need to have a backup if it falls through. This means, actually doing well in school,” Hime said as she gently patted Sora’s head.

“But you didn’t have a backup, sis.”

“I know. That was poor judgement because if I made even one mistake in my life, I was done.”

“Didn’t you graduate from Harvard University? Doesn’t that count for anything since it is like a top school over there in America?”

Hime giggled as she made her way over to the couch.

“You would be surprised just how little a degree does for job applications. Now, do not get me wrong, having that degree is incredibility beneficial. It definitely got me most of my jobs. Still, just a degree alone isn’t enough. In the real world you need: education, experience, technical skills and soft skills. That is the true understanding of someone that is qualified in their craft and field.”

“That does not seem fair at all.”

“Sadly, life is not fair. I’ve seen friends have trouble getting jobs even though they have degrees from Harvard, Caltech, MIT, Duke, Yale, Stanford, Rhode Island School of Design… the list goes on. They did not have the experience or they were stated as being too overqualified. Contrast that to people who had no degrees but experience. I mean, they had trouble getting jobs too but it was a lot worse for them because some of them truly had education that was equivalent to a bachelor’s or master’s degree but no one cared because they did not have that education.”

“That… sounds rough.”

“I almost did not get any jobs because of my age. Luckily, my professors recommended me when I was interviewed. It was a nightmare.”

“I had no idea, sis…”

“It’s fine, little bro. I’m here with you now and that is all that matters with me. We should get some sleep. We both have to do our best at school, right?”

“Crap, I should do the homework you assigned.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. All I did was give you guys the travelling salesman problem. It is an NP-hard problem used in theoretical computer science.”

“So, what is it used for?”

“All right, the short answer is the problem, in its purest formulation, is used in planning, logistics and the manufacture of microchips. That is just a small list of things.”

“Are there any other types of problems out there?”

“Okay, think about this problem while you sleep. If the solution to a problem is easy to check for correctness, must the problem be easy to solve? There, take a stab at the unsolved problem seen in computer science.”

Hime laid down on the couch and closed her eyes. Sora thought about the problem for a moment.

“All right, I’ll think about it. Good night, sis.”

“Buenas noches.”