Program 6: A World of Sophistry ~ int array[0, 1];

Sora awoke to a slight chill over his body. He recalled the pictures that Aruto had sent him and remembered taking a cold shower just before heading to sleep. While this had helped a bit, it did not completely stop him from the luscious dream that sent him into an unconscious state of arousal. Removing the covers, he slowly manoeuvred himself out of the bed and carefully headed for the bathroom. As he opened the door, he could see that his sister was sleeping on the couch and on the verge of falling off of it.

Upon reliving himself of his full bladder with his sail at full mast, he headed back to his room and navigated his phone to check his social media accounts. Before he could open up an application, a notification popped up. It was a text message from Aruto asking if he wished to befriend each other on the different social media services. Seeing no harm in it, Sora added her and checked out her Iscroller. She has a lot of pictures. How do girls take so many pictures of random ass shit? Well, at least she is showing off pictures that are meaningful, he thought as he looked through her pictures. Before long, he found a short video of her trying out a cosplay outfit. The video was something he found himself engrossed in due to the fact she showed herself from head to toe. She was dressed in a simple green tank-top and black pair of shorts. He could not help but feel enticed as she started to slowly change into each of the pieces of clothing one by one. As she got to her socks, she allowed the video to play out and record her slipping her foot into each sock. After she was done, Sora could see that she was posing like an anime character. See, why can’t more cosplayers do this? It doesn’t all have to be sexual arousal. Sometimes people just need a cute girl without shoes, he thought as the video ended. Before he could scroll through the other content, he noticed a text message from Aruto. She had asked him what he thought of the pictures on her Iscroller and if they were model worthy. For a moment, he thought about what to say.

After thinking through his message, he had told her they were great and noticed that she did some great cosplays. The two of them continued to text back and forth while Sora checked his social media accounts. Once he was finished, a notification from Riku appeared. Leaving her on ‘read’ had become a symbiotic relationship between the two of them. Even if others saw it as rude, he took the time to view her messages and she ensured to wake him up roughly an hour before school. This had been their ritual since the two of them got smartphones in middle school.

Before then, Riku would always rush to his house and wake him up. Often times she would be forced to kick him. If all else failed, she would resort to tickling under his armpits which would make him to giggle like a school girl. In retaliation, Sora learned that Riku was unbearably ticklish around her bellybutton and sides. In time, the two of them agreed to a truce before finally getting smartphones and simply turning into the relationship they had been in for nearly ten years.

Yeah, yeah, I’m up, Sora thought as he stood to his feet and started to get dressed in his school uniform. Exiting into the living he could see his sister still sleeping soundly as if she had no care or worry about anything in the world. Tapping her on the shoulder to wake her, he whispered her name to get her up gently.

“Come on plant lover, time to get up.”

“Five more minutes, foot lover,” Hime joked in a sleepy tone.

“You could at least act like a responsible teacher.”

“And you could be a better student. Now, make your wonderful big sister some black coffee.”

Sora sighed and made his way into the kitchen.

“Oh right, you didn’t buy any,” Sora said in a sarcastic tone.

“Oh dear looks like I don’t have my coffee and you don’t have your tissues,” Hime teased.

“You do realise I do more than just grind the whetstone, right?”

“So, you’re telling me you did not go through a box of five hundred tissues in the service of your mega cannon?”

“Well… I…”

“Huh, go on. I’m awaiting an explanation,” Hime said with a smirk.

“You see… a man has sexual needs. And due to those sexual needs, he has to release the demons from within. Because if those sexual needs are not contained through proper… sexual needs, the sexual needs of the man become the sexual needs he desires.”

“You said sexual needs six times. Also, your logic is flawed, little brother.”

“It’s perfectly sound logic.”

“You’re not a man. Boy does not equal man,” Hime giggled as she stood to her feet.

“And you’re not a woman,” Sora pouted.

“Awwie, you’re adorable when you pout and puff your cheek out like that.”

Sora glared at his sister and crossed his arms over his chest.

“See? Now you just need a cute fang tooth and you would be popular with boys into tsunderes.”

“I don’t like boys.”

“Awwie, afraid they have the cooties?” Hime teased as she gently played with Sora’s hair.

“You know I can beat you, right?”

Hime smirked as her posed changed to one matching Sora’s but of more confidence.

“You want to go, bro?”

Without warning, Sora rushed forward and wrapped his arms around his sister in hopes of pinning her on the couch. Before he could throw her down, she had managed to slip free and pin him onto the couch with his arms above his head. Straddling his stomach asserted her dominance as a playful smirk appeared on her face as Sora struggled to free himself.

“See? What did I tell you?”

“All right, all right, you are clearly the stronger one.”

Hime grinned as she playfully poked under Sora’s armpit. He giggled in a girly tone as he tried to stop her.

“S-Stop it, sis.”

“I see you’re still ticklish there. Now, who’s the best sister in the whole world?”

“You are.”

“Sorry, what was that?”

Hime continued to tickle Sora causing him to burst out into a paroxysm of giggles. He could not help but squirm as his arms instinctively tried to pry her fingers from his most ticklish spot. His laughter continued to echo throughout the room until he struggled to say the phrase that would get her to stop.

“P-Please, big sis Hime. P-Please stop tickling me!”

Once his sister had stopped her onslaught of tickling him, he realised his phone was starting to go off from within his room. He watched as his sister grabbed her phone from the table and took note of the time.

“Oh, we should probably get ready or we will be late.”

“And who’s fault was that?”

Hime giggled and gently poked Sora under his armpit.

“Poke.”

Sora twitched slightly at the tingling sensation.

“S-Sis…”

After Hime had decided to let him up, Sora returned to his room to see that he had missed two messages, one from Riku and the other from Aruto. Opening up the message from Riku he quickly skimmed the text and closed it. Upon reading Aruto’s text, she had asked him if he wished to walk to school together. With a simple reply of ‘sure’, he continued to get dressed and styled his hair into his trademark pigtails. Once he was ready, he headed headed for the exit while his sister styled up her hair like his.

The two of them slipped on their shoes and headed outside to meet with Riku. Aruto had also joined her as she stood there with a warm expression on her face.

“You were almost late, Sora,” Riku said as she placed her hand on her hip indicating anger.

“We had to get ready, gah. Unlike you, we actually like care about our appearance.”

Hime giggled as she tried to defuse the tension.

“You guys want to get a quick breakfast or drink? Sora’s treat.”

“Since when am I the one to treat people? Don’tchu go offering up things in my stead, sis.”

“But little brother, there are three beautiful girls here. Surely you would love to treat them to something.”

“Yeah Sora, you leave me on ‘read’ so you owe me.”

“I could go for a small drink if it is not too much trouble,” Aruto said with a smile.

“Come on, bro. Be a gentleman.”

Sora sighed. Money for small treats was not a huge waste. His father had left him with a debt card that he could use for things like lunches, clothes, food and various other needs. Of course he always tried to spend as little as possible to ensure that he could survive from month to month and buy things for his video game addiction.

“Fine. You three owe me though.”

Stopping at a local coffee shop, Sora paid for his sister, Riku and Aruto before finding out that his balance was only sixty-nine yen left for the rest of the month. Taking a sip of his drink, he looked to the others.

“You better like finish it all. I’m hella broke now.”

The others giggled as Sora sighed. He was happy to have put a smile on their faces but the blow to his practical reality was like an arrow to the knee. Taking another sip of his drink, he went with the flow as Riku and Aruto discussed various topics of fashion, news and all the drama behind the new branding of BlueBirdy into the new ‘Y’ which did not go over well with people.

“I just don’t like the logo. No idea why but it’s just stupid,” Riku said as she took the final sip of her drink.

“I’m sure there was a reason for it,” Aruto said.

“Sis, you’re a graphic designer. What are you’re thoughts?”

Hime remained silent as she sipped her coffee.

“I highly doubt you would want to know my thoughts on the matter,” Hime said with a smile.

“Refusing to use that Harvard education to your advantage?” Sora teased.

“Wait, Miss To— Miss Hime, you went to Harvard University?”

“Indeed I did. I got the tee-shirt… somewhere.”

“What’s Harvard? A school?” Riku asked.

“Harvard University is a private Ivy League school in Cambridge Massachusetts. I know my brother tried to apply but got rejected,” Aruto said.

“Ouch. Bummer,” Sora chimed in.

“It is definitely tough to get into any of the Ivy League schools,” Hime said as she finished off her coffee and threw the cup into a nearby bin.

“You say that and yet you were accepted by all those Ivy League schools, sis.”

“Whoa, Miss Hime, that’s amazing.”

Hime shrugged her shoulders. Sora could tell that she was not excited over talking about her education level. She often tried to talk as little as she could on where she went to school or how many degrees she had. In her eyes, she was nothing special; in Sora’s eyes, he saw her as a genius.

“Plenty of people go to Harvard. Where did your brother go after that?” Hime asked as she looked to Aruto.

“I think it was MIT but he ended up going for a major that he was not completely happy with.”

“I wonder if I could get into Harvard,” Riku said as she dreamed about life in university.

“Girl, you can’t even use words properly,” Sora said.

“I can too! You asinine asshole.”

“You had to look that word up, didn’t you?” Sora said in an unimpressed tone.

“Using arduous vocabulary is a quixotic ad nauseum that sequesters the procedural epistemology of a common person. It is better to lead by example, not by edict. Quod erat demonstrandum.”

“Sora, care to translate what your sister just said to us?” Riku asked in a mocking tone.

“You think I hella know what she spoke?”

Hime giggled.

“If the three of you manage to figure it out before we reach the school, I’ll give you all a one-hundred on a test.”

Sora thought about the sentence that his sister had constructed. He knew the word ‘arduous’ meant difficult or strenuous and ‘edict’ which was basically authority or rather a proclamation by someone regarded as an authoritative figure. The rest, his mind drew a blank.

“Do we get a hint?” Riku asked.

“You get one word.”

“Okay, Sora, so what words do you know?” Riku asked.

“Arduous and edict.”

“Aruto?”

“I only know edict because my brother used it once.”

Sora thought about the sentence a bit longer.

“Yeah, I don’t know. You used too many big words.”

“I have to admit, I am at a lost as to what you said Miss Hime.”

While the conversation continued, Sora’s mind raced with what the sentence could mean. He had various ideas based on the way the conversation had gone beforehand. Still, there was little information to make an elucidative decision on what his sister had actually said.

“Sis, quixotic,” Sora simply spoke as he continued to stare at the ground while he walked.

Hime smiled and could tell that Sora was engaging his mind to figure out the meaning behind what she had said. It was not often but he did allow his mind and genius to surface when he was faced with an interesting puzzle or challenge.

“Quixotic: exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical.”

“Okay, so, I won’t get this right but basically your sentence is about using difficult words being impractical for a common person. This is why leading by example is better than trying to lead by being authoritative. No idea what that last part is but best guess is something demonstrative.”

Sora turned to his sister to see that she was genuinely happy. She patted his head gently and awaited her answer.

“I’ll give you fifty points for that on the next test. You did a good job, little brother.”

Before any of them could learn what Hime had actually said, they had made it to the main school building. Sora removed his shoes at the shoe-locker and started to remember what happened between him and Takashi. Crap, I have to go on a date with that weirdo, he thought as he looked at the slippers in his locker. With a heavy sigh, he turned to see Aruto opening her shoe-locker. She slowly removed her shoes and placed them in the shoe-locker and took a second to adjust her sock.

Sora could not help himself from staring as Aruto carefully slipped her feet into the slippers. Maybe I should date someone like Aruto or say I am so I can avoid the date with Takashi. No, if I do that, word might get around, Sora thought as he slipped on one slipper.

“Well, I need to head to the staff room so have fun. We will be learning some great stuff in today’s class,” Hime said with a smile.

After she had left, Sora slipped on his other slipper and followed Riku and Aruto to their classroom. Pulling out his phone, he quickly checked his social media accounts to see that nothing interesting was happening. After placing his phone in his jacket pocket, he entered the classroom and made his way over to his seat. A heavy sigh escaped his mouth as he laid his head on his desk.

“You look upset,” Riku said as she set her school bag down.

“I am because I have a date.”

“Who is the lucky girl?”

“Takashi Fujiwara…”

“Okay, you need to repeat that. I do not think I heard that right,” Riku said in a teasing tone as she pretended to clean out her ears.

“You heard me,” Sora said as he sat up.

“Did you lose a bet or have you finally decided to unleash your hidden desires and attraction to cute guys?”

“Shut up, hoe. I like needed my slippers back and so I agreed to go on date with Takashi in exchange for ’em.”

“I see. Hmm. I wonder what he did with your slippers.”

“I don’t wanna to think about it.”

The classes went on as Sora tried to pay attention to each of the lectures. He found many of the teachers boring with some class subjects mind-numbing and tedious. Only his sister knew exactly how to teach not just him but every student. He truly had respect for her and how she was able to make learning fun while still teaching valuable concepts. On top of that, she was able to draw upon her real-world experience and explain topics with the backing of both theoretical knowledge.

Hours passed until school was nearly over. Sora had managed to complete most of the homework assigned to each of his classes. In his sister’s class he was given homework in the form of logical programming problems – some of which Hime had to solve during her time in university. At the sound of the bell, Sora headed for the exit and quickly made his way to the shoe-lockers. Aruto accompanied him while Sora could not focus on anything but the date he had with Takashi tomorrow.

“Sora?”

“Hmm? Sorry, I was lost in thought for a bit,” Sora said as he stopped at his shoe-locker.

Removing his slippers and taking his shoes out of the locker, he continued to tune out everything but his impending doom. As he slipped on his shoes, he noticed Aruto still had put on her shoes. Wait, I was supposed to be listening to what she was saying, Sora thought as he looked up to meet her gaze. She was staring at him with a worried expression.

“Uh…”

“You weren’t listening?”

“Sorry, I just… have a lot to think about. What was it you were saying?” Sora asked as he stared into Aruto’s eyes.

“Oh… um… it was nothing,” Aruto said as she played with the tips of her hair.

Grabbing her shoes and putting them on, Aruto smiled.

“Well, I hope things work out. I have some stuff to handle before the beach trip.”

“Take pictures girl and let me know how it goes.”

“Uh… yeah, I’ll do that,” Aruto said with a smile.

Sora waited for a few minutes until his sister showed up. Both of them walked home as he continued to think about the date. He was prepared to play sick or hoped that he would actually get sick. There was little escape though as his sister would make sure that he went on the date. Entering the dorms, he sighed as he removed his shoes. Making his way into his bedroom, he pulled out all the clothes he had in his closet and placed them on his bed.

“Are you nervous about your date?” Hime teased as she stood in the doorway.

“Just hush. I don’t want to do it but I have to do it since you won’t blackmail him for me like I asked.”

Hime made her way over to the bed and sat down at the edge.

“Don’t say that, little brother. Takashi does not strike me as someone who would take advantage of you. Just give him a chance and be honest with him. Trust your big sis,” Hime said with a wink.

“Have you seen how he acts? Do you truly think I am safe with someone like him? He probably wants to get me into a movie theatre and do naughty things to me.”

“I mean, you do dress like a—”

“Shut it.”

Hime stood to her feet while Sora continued to look as if he was hyperventilating.

“Sora, just relax. Trust me, if I did not trust him, I would not be allowing you to go on this date. In fact, I would have destroyed his life that day you told me he confessed to you.”

“If I feel anything touch me that is long and hard, I’m killing him and kicking you out.”

Hime giggled and approached Sora with a warm smile. He could feel her wrap her arms around him in a loving sibling embrace.

“Do you trust me, little brother?”

“With my life, sis.”

Sora held his sister tightly. He trusted her and knew she would never lie to him.

“You’re safe with Takashi. I promise. If it makes you feel better, I’ll even keep tabs on the two of you. In the event something happens, I’ll step in. Okay?”

“Okay, I trust your judgment, big sis.”

“Great! Now, let’s pick out an outfit that shows off your thighs. All boys love thighs.”

“Did you learn that in Harvard?” Sora joked as he picked up a cute feminine top.

“Yes. I learned from the wise grandfather Harvard University that boys love four key areas: breasts, thighs, ass and feet.”

“Glad to see you invested money to learn that, truly. Now, seriously, what should I wear?”

“How about this?”

Hime picked out the outfit and showed it to Sora. He looked it over for a minute and decided to try it on. Putting on the outfit – which consisted of a pink tee-shirt and a black short skirt with a pink accent at the hem – he twirled for a second to show it off. Grabbing the black beret with the pink bow on it, he looked himself over in the mirror. Looking over his many different socks, he thought about the best ones to wear. Okay, wearing a pair of stockings here is better than open-toed shoes since this isn’t like a formal thing. Plus, no need to show him my toes. I know exactly how guys are. So, many I should go with the white stockings, he thought as he looked at the various stockings before him.

“White or black?”

“I think you should just go barefoot. Make all those heads spin,” Hime teased.

“You realise I am a guy?”

“Yeah, you should use those feet to your advantage. Get a free meal or something. Actually, why don’t you become a FootTuber. Show your feet on-camera as a virtual avatar. Guys will throw money at you.”

“And screenshots will be heard around the world as guys use my feet to…”

Sora stopped himself for a second.

“Uh-huh, don’t be a hypocrite bro. Show your feet so guys can beat their meat,” Hime giggled as she tried not to crying from laughter.

“I’m starting to question if you’re truly a plant lover.”

“I am asexual. It’s just easy to joke around you. Besides, it makes you feel more comfortable, right?”

“I mean, I’m at least glad I can be myself around you. So, it helps.”

“All right then, time for you to be a FootTuber and get some money.”

“Tell you what, get me into Harvard and then I’ll consider it,” Sora said in a half joking tone as he picked out a pair of white stockings.

Pulling the white lace stockings up to his thighs, Sora looked over himself in the mirror once more.

“Almost.”

“Yeah, you’re missing your trademark,” Hime said as she grabbed two hair ties.

Hime tied Sora’s hair into two perfectly symmetrical pigtails and then stepped back to see him in full view. Twirling on the ball of his foot and striking a cute pose, he smiled just like a character from an anime.

“You look beautiful, Sora.”

“I know. I am the cutest boy after all, tee-hee!” Sora giggled like a cute schoolgirl.

“Let me get a picture.”

“You’re not taking a picture to post on social media,” Sora said with a half-moon glare.

“Okay, fine. Let me take one of your feet so we can see how well it does.”

“The hell would I let you do that— Actually, never mind. No point in trying to stop you because you’ll do it anyway.”

Hime giggled and pulled out her phone. She carefully took a picture and looked it over.

“Let’s upload it to Iscroller under the name ‘Sorahime Ashizuki’ and like have a cool backstory. So, this avatar could be a single person with two split personalities. That way, I can be in on this too,” Hime said as she started typing on her phone.

“Your mind thinks too much. Also, isn’t it bad to use our real names like that?”

“Relax, no one will know you’re Sora or a foot lover. Besides, my name is attached to this too. Don’t worry, in the event something was to happen, I’ll be right there with you.”

“You seriously going to tell people you have a foot fetish just to ensure I am not alone?”

“Of course! This is what big sister’s are for. You fall, I fall.”

“Thanks, sis. If anyone makes fun of you for loving plants I’ll tell them I love them too.”

A chuckle escaped Hime’s mouth as she snorted from laughing too hard. It was the first time Sora had ever heard that from her.

“Sorry, it’s just hard to believe because you’re super sexual bro. I love the sentiment though. Truly, I love you.”

Sora watched as Hime finished typing and navigating her phone. She smiled and showed him the phone. He could see that she had created an account on Iscroller for their virtual avatar. The only post was the picture of his feet.

“I bet no one will care,” Sora said as he looked back to the mirror to see how cute he was.

“Give it about an hour.”

#

Sora stared at the window of a nearby cafe, checking his hair before making his way to the meeting point that he and Takashi had agreed to meet at. Turning the corner, he could see that Takashi was standing at the heart of the local market square. The place was a major hub for commercial businesses and various small shops. Well, let’s hope this date won’t end up with him trying to do weird things with me, he thought as he tried to fake his best cute and happy expression possible.

“I hope I didn’t like keep you waiting long,” Sora said in a cheerful tone.

“All is well my ashen flower. The sun doth glisten past the eve of an hour,” Takashi said as he stuck a flamboyant pose that made him stick out.

On lookers stared up for a moment before returning to what they were doing. Sora could feel his body cringing at just how outlandish Takashi was. Okay, I don’t feel so bad now for making him wait a bit, he thought as he continued to put up a fake smile. Behind his facade of happiness was a half-moon stare that wished for the day to be over with.

“Shall we go, beauté cendrée.”

“Alrite. Where we going bro?”

Takashi stepped forward and held out his hand.

“Take my hand and we shall good to the land of which you love.”

“Uh… okay?”

Taking Takashi’s hand, Sora walked beside him. He was a bit surprised that Takashi only held his hand and did not try to put his hand in various other areas. There was also the fact that Takashi appeared to be matching his pace to Sora’s own walking speed and not the other way around. From what he had read and seen in most anime, the guy was the one who always took the lead and forced the girl to keep up with them. Yet, this was not the case for Takashi.

Sora continued to walk until Takashi pointed to a nearby building. In that moment, Sora’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. He had no words to describe what he was seeing before his eyes but he was happy. It was hard for him to process his thoughts as it was a dream come true for him. There was no words he could say. Turning to Takashi, he could only speak the antediluvian language of gamers who dealt with anger and frustration in their native tongue.

“qwertyasdfgjkl;zxcvnm!”

The sounds of Sora’s feminine voice echoed throughout the streets. All eyes were fixed on him as he continued to blush like a schoolgirl, covering his mouth in hopes of containing the excitement.

“Shall we, ma belle fleur?”

Sora had always dreamed of going to the maid cafe known as Agrypnia which was considered the best for its service. Unlike other maid cafes, this one allowed maids of various nationalities and even feminine boys who were extremely popular with both genders. Entering into the cafe, he was taken aback by the cute maid who greeted them at the door. She was slender and petite but cute in her appearance. Atop her head was a pair of car ears that blended in with her long black hair.

“Greetings, master, princess. I’m Neko-Neko-Nee and I’ll show you to your nyeble!”

The two of them followed the cat-girl maid to a table a sat down. Sora had figured the place would have a lot of people but he was surprised just how packed the cafe was. It had only opened recently and the owner was said to be a Frenchman but Sora did not care to do much digging into the establishment. He just wanted to enjoy the cute girls in maid outfits.

“Here’s a nyenu for the two of you. I’ll return in nyit.”

Sora looked over the menu. While he did not have the sense of design like his sister, he had a strong feeling that she could have designed something better. Having seen the layouts his sister did, there was no denying that she would have something to say. There was a part of him that wanted to say something too. Even if he did not fully understand design, he was bothered by something about the menu. He was unable to tell what it was and while he wanted to try to solve the problem, he decided not to.

“Get whatever your heart desires, my ashen flower.”

“You sure about that bro? These prices are hella crazy.”

“’Tis no l’embêtement for moi.”

“Yo, like can you fur’real not talk like that, gah? What are you some kind of alien?”

Takashi laughed as threw up his arms.

“Thou would be wrong, my fair flower. I, Takashi, am the trifecta of an epicurean.”

“Okay, I’ll give you props for the epicurean word since I don’t know that one. Still, bro, like form proper words, yo.”

The maid returned with a smile on her face.

“What can I get for the two of you?”

“Chocolate parfait!” Sora said in a happy tone.

“Crème brûlée, if you please, ma chère dame.”

“I’ll have your orders out soon, nykay!”

Sora pulled out his phone and checked through his social accounts. He had recalled that Aruto had decided to go to the beach with her friends while Riku was busy cleaning her room. After a few minutes of waiting in silence, the maid had returned with their orders. Without hesitation, Sora ate his treat with a cheerful expression on his face. Meanwhile, Takashi ate his as he watched Sora act like a teenage schoolgirl. Before long, Sora had finished his treat and leaned back in the chair. He enjoyed the chocolate parfait and interactions with the maid.

Exiting the cafe, Sora allowed Takashi to take the lead to their next destination. Upon turning the street corner, Sora noticed a small clothing shop that sold various Lolita style fashion. His eyes were glued to the dresses like a kid seeing a candy store. These clothes are so cute… and ridiculously expensive, he thought as he felt a pain in his heart.

“Shall we partake in perusing this fine establishment, my ashen beauty?”

“Bro, everything is like rich person level. You need hella money. Plus, it’s in… I don’t even know what currency that is.”

“Ah. That is the Sol used in Perú. A glorious country, that uses Soles after they replaced the Perúvian inti.”

“So, like, Peruvians are into feet or something?”

“My beauty, do you care to indulge yourself in the adornment of fine de luxe fashion?”

“I mean, hell bro, if you want to waste your cash on me…”

“Anything for you my ashen angel is nothing in comparison to see your face sing like the chorus of a harmonious choir.”

Sora turned away quickly so that Takashi could not see his cheeks blushing a slight shade of red.

“Gah, you’re such a weirdo but if you want to buy me cute clothes I’ll take you up on that.”

Entering into the shop, Sora felt a warm and fuzzy feeling as he looked over all the different dresses on display. As he pursued the aisles, he noticed a cute pair of sandals that he wanted. According to the price they were 1,000 Sols which translated to about 272 dollars or roughly 38,700 Yen.

“Why are these so cute but so expensive?” Sora cried slightly as he stared at the sandals on display.

“Madame, we wish to sample the wares you have,” Takashi said as he spoke loudly across the store to the lady working at the counter.

The woman smiled and made her way over to them. Sora could see that she was young but at least over the age of eighteen. She wore a Lolita style white dress and a cute pair of white thigh-high stockings.

“Hola, I help?”

“Yes, we require you to unlock the enlightenment for the angel standing before you.”

“No hablo ingles.”

“Uh… Hola… I … try… sandals… on my feet?”

“¿Esperas probarte esas sandalias?”

Sora turned to Takashi and whispered under his breath.

“Do you speak Spanish?”

“Not a word!”

Sora was unsure what to do before pulling out his phone and quickly asking his sister for help in translating. For a moment, he did not hear anything until he noticed her entering into the store.

“Oh, sis! What a coincidence. You happen to speak Spanish. Maybe you can help.”

Hime nodded and looked to the woman.

“Hola, mi hermanito estaba deseando probarse esas sandalias,” Hime spoke with a smile.

“¿Ese es un chico?”

“Sí. Quiere impresionar a su cita con los pies.”

“Puedo dejar que se los pruebe e incluso darle un pequeño descuento.”

Sora turned to Takashi.

“Are you sure you have no idea what they are saying?”

“Words!” Takashi ejaculated.

“Well, no shit Sherlock.”

Sora listened as his sister continued to chat with the woman in the lady’s native tongue with ease. He was impressed by how Hime had learned not only English but also Spanish. In contrast, he had barely managed to learn some of the basics of English to be able to to talk to a high-school student. Once his sister was done, he watched as the lady – who he presumed was the owner of the shop – unlock the special glass case that held the sandals. She smiled and handed him the sandals to try on.

Untying his shoelaces, Sora sat down and slowly removed his shoes and slipped off his socks. Upon revealing his petite bare feet, he wiggled his toes slightly and slipped his feet into the sandals. Standing to his feet, he looked at one of the nearby mirrors and checked out how the outfit worked together.

“Magnificent! Truly no star outshines your radiant beauty, my ashen flower. Tu es ma seule déesse.”

“Uh… thanks bro?”

“Those sandals look great on you, little bro. You should keep them on,” Hime giggled in a teasing manner.

“Yeah, I love them,” Sora said as he continued to look over himself in the mirror.

He could not help but stare at himself and how cute he looked. His petite feet were perfect with his pink toenail polish accenting the flawless skin in just the right way. Sora was almost starting to fall in love with his own feet. I do feel like a beautiful princess, he thought as he looked over to Takashi.

“You sure you cool with buying these, bro?”

“Anything for you, ma belle fleur.”

After buying the sandals, Sora and Takashi continued on their date while his stayed behind to chat with the owner of the shop. Sora stared down at his feet and could not help but enjoy seeing his feet in his new sandals. He felt like a true goddess. Passing by a few stalls on another street, Sora noticed one selling a new flavour of ice-cream. Pointing to the sign, Sora had asked Takashi if he wished to try the new type of ice-cream and after a bit of waiting, he had the treat in his hand. It was a simple white coloured Popsicle that was said to be creamy and called condensed milk.

Sitting down at a nearby bench, Sora eyed the treat. Shoving the hard stick in his mouth whole, he sucked gently on it and manoeuvrer his mouth with skill. Sucking harder on the creamy white liquid, he found himself enjoying the thick cream of the condensed milk flavour Popsicle. Licking from the base of the wood and up to the tip, the cream was starting to drip downwards as he tried to lick up every bit.

“This is so good but so creamy and a bit sticky. I hope I don’t get it on my clothes.”

“Ah. I shall attain something to wipe away the ooze that may fall upon you.”

Without another word, Takashi headed off to find some napkins while Sora sucked on his ice-cream some more to stop it from dripping. This flavour is kind of nice. I bet my sister would like it, he thought as he noticed three guys approaching him. They were fairly average looking and dressed in bland tee-shirts and jeans. For the most part they seemed like the lame bandit or thugs you fight in RPGs and were not worth the time to interact with.

“Hey girl, you out here alone and want some company?” one of the guys asked with smile that oozed evil intentions.

Sora continued to keep the Popsicle in his mouth as he stood to his feet. Holding the base of the thick wooden stick, he slowly slid his mouth from the shaft up to the tip and looked to the guy that had tried to hit on him with a deadpan stare.

“Yeah, no thanks. Like I don’t need anyone, okay? Laters.”

Before Sora could walk away, he felt the guy grab onto his wrist. As he felt himself falling backwards, Sora was suddenly in the hands of the creep that tried to hit on him.

“How would you like to suck me like you did with that ice-cream.”

There was a sharp pain in Sora’s wrist as he felt the guy’s grip tighten.

“Gentlemen, I would ask the lot of you to leave that delicate flower alone.”

The sound of Takashi’s flamboyant voice echoed out. It was the one of the voices that Sora wish he had not heard. While Takashi was sweet, if a bit weird, there was no way he could fight a person.

“Oh yeah? This your girlfriend? Clearly she needs a real man to look after her, not a sissy like you.”

“I shall not repeat myself, rid your vile hands from that beautiful flower or I will be forced to challenge you to affaire d’honneur.”

Sora watched as he Takashi pulled out a white glove and put it on his left hand. There was something different in Takashi’s eyes and it was a side of him that Sora had yet to see. Even if Takashi was prepared to fight, there was no way a person like him could beat three guys in a fight.

“A what? Screw it, Machida, show this clown some manners.”

Machida was a fair bit taller than Takashi and had more muscle mass on him. In Sora’s eyes, the odds of Takashi winning were almost none. As Machida stepped forward within range of Takashi, Sora was shocked by the events that transpired within only a few seconds. The sound of Takashi’s backhand had hit Machida so hard like a person hitting water. He was on the ground and out cold.

Sora watched as Takashi causally strolled past the thug and closed the distance between him and the other two. The thug standing next to the leader decided to take his chance but was met with the same faith of end up on the ground after three blows. As Takashi grabbed Sora like a knight protecting a princess, he turned to the final thug that did not know what to do. Once the thug had regained his composure, he readied his fist in hopes of hitting Takashi in his face.

“The three of you should be ashamed, nay, appalled by your actions.”

Blocking the thug without much effort, Takashi used an open palm to slap the man to the ground. Sora was lost for words as he continued to allow himself to be held by the guy once saw as weird.

“Are you hurt, my little belle fleur?”

Sora could feel his heart beating as his cheeks flushed a shade of red.

“I-I… I’m fine. Thank you, Takashi,” Sora said in a flustered tone.

After the events that had transpired, Sora and Takashi returned to the school dorms. As they stopped in front of Sora’s dorm room, he twirled the tips of his hair. There was a side of Takashi that he had not seen and he realised that he was not as creepy as he first believed him to be.

“Would you… like to come in for a bit?” Sora asked in a shy tone as he played with the hem of his skirt.

“Ah, it pains me to decline your invitation my fair flower but alas, I must bid you adue.”

Takaishi gently kissed the back of Sora’s hand and exited stage right. Once he was out of sight, Sora entered his dorm and removed his sandals. He laid down on the couch and thought about the events that transpired. His cheeks were slightly flushed red as he recalled how cool Takashi acted. Turning onto his back he stared up at the ceiling and closed his eyes. It was hard for him to understand what he was feeling. Maybe it was just a moment of appreciation but there was something in his heart that made him wish Takashi had joined him. Before he could continue to think about what was going through his mind, the sound of the door opened. He gently rubbed his feet together and pulled out his phone.

“So, what did you think of Takashi?” Hime asked as she grabbed a soda from the refrigerator.

“I thought he was just this flamboyant weirdo but he means well.”

“Did you manage to fall in love with him?” Hime teased.

“He was just nice, okay? No need to make it weird.”

“You say that but you were licking that ice-cream like a horny girl.”

“Glad to know you enjoyed watching. Now, do you plan to teach me more programming?” Sora pouted.

“We can study tomorrow. I’m sure you want to gush over your date with your boyfriend.”

“Very funny. Now, you plan to teach me something?”

“Don’t worry, tomorrow we will work on a short little game and I’ll teach you some concepts.”

“So, I have to wait for you to teach me something. Lame.”

“Here’s a question for you. Do you know why game companies use S++ instead of any other language?”

“Because every other game company uses it?”

“The reason is because S++ combines speed with low-level access and high-level constraints. Most game companies have invested in various S++ resources and programmers.”

“Is there anything that can’t be done with the S++ language?”

“I mean, it depends. Some are better for certain things.”

“Is there a language that is hard to learn or difficult?”

“Factory is considered the hardest to learn.”

“Have you ever used it?” Sora asked as he watched his sister open up a text editor he was unfamiliar with.

After a bit of typing, Hime finished and turned to Sora.

.text

.global _start

_start:

mov eax, 4

mov ebx, 1

mov ecx, message

mov edx, 13

int 80h

exit:

mov eax, 1

mov ebx, 0

int 80h

message:

db “Hello world.”, 0Ah

SWI 0

Sora was unsure what he was seeing before his eyes.

“That simply prints out ‘hello world’ onto the screen. Just the same way I showed you in the S++ language.”

“And you use this?”

“I’ve used it a bit but I’m not about to teach you this language unless you care to go beyond programming games.”

“Yeah, that looks incredibly confusing. I’ll stick to S++ and programming games.”

Hime started up a game on the computer and smiled as she turned to Sora.

“Care to watch your big sister play Phantasy Realm MMXXIII?”

“It’s boring to watch others play a game, you know that, right?”

“I actually find it fun sometimes. It’s interesting to see others play-style.”

“Whatever you say. Guess I’ll study some programming,” Sora said as he browsed the Internet on his phone.

“Translation, you’re going to watch porno videos,” Hime giggled.

“I can kick you out any time.”

“You could but then you wouldn’t get the amazing book I got for you.”

Hime headed over to the counter in the kitchen and pulled out a box with various rainbow coloured wrapping paper. Sora watched as she smiled and handed him the box. Unwrapping the paper, he was at a lost for words by what he was seeing. In his hands he held a massive thick book entitled: The Beginners Guide to Programming Video Games in S++.

“You actually… bought me a book?”

“No, you use it to throw at a person you hate,” Hime joked.

Without warning, Sora hugged his sister tightly, embracing her to the point he did not care about pressing against her chest. He was so happy to have her and was glad that he could now pursue something he cared about.

“Thank you so much, sis.”

“That book wasn’t cheap. So, you better study and work hard to pay me back one day,” Hime said with a smile.

“Well, considering I’m letting you live here, I think we can call it even.”

Sora quickly rushed to his room as he heard his sister call out to him.

“Don’t forget you have school tomorrow.”

“I should be telling you that. Don’t you have duties as a teacher?”

“Good thing about being a computer science major, we work smarter, not harder.”

Spending many hours alone in his room, Sora looked at the clock to see that it was 01:00 hours and he had to be up within roughly four hours. Exiting into the living room, he could see his sister sleeping without any clothes on, her clothes thrown on the floor. With a heavy sigh, he covered her up with a blanket and folded up her clothes on the table.

He noticed two pill bottles on the table. Upon picking them up, he read the inscription on them: escitalopram and fluoxetine. After looking up exactly what the drugs were for, Sora started to feel something in his heart. Before he had time to put the pills back down, he noticed his sister had awoken from her sleep.

“Morning, bro.”

Sora placed the two bottles on the table.

“Sis… you’re not…”

“I was hoping to wait a bit but I probably should tell you,” Hime said as she rubbed her eyes.

“Can you at least put on some clothes?”

Hime stared down and realised that she was naked.

“Surprised you aren’t at half-mast,” Hime joked.

After putting on some clothes, Hime was silent while Sora sat down on the couch beside her.

“As you can clearly see on the labels, they are for depression. I have to be on two of them and take one pill each day. It’s why I’m always in such a happy and cheerful mood.”

“I don’t understand why, sis. Did being at Harvard cause this?”

“No, apparently, it was well before Harvard. I saw a psychologist but at the time they did not think anything was wrong with me. Yet, even though they said I was fine, nothing felt fine.”

Hime picked up one of the bottles.

“Originally, I was only on five milligrams of citalopram after having seen a psychologist in the states. They figured I was just feeling a bit anxious since I was just nine years of age and entering Harvard University. While I know the psychologist tried, I think there was something deeper inside me. Something in my mind that was just off. A chemical imbalance.”

Picking up another bottle, Hime continued on.

“I was put on ten milligrams of sertraline alongside the citalopram. Still, none of it helped. Over the years I started to pretend I was okay. My mind was slowly deteriorating that by the age of fifteen I took a box cutter to my wrist… hoping to end my life.”

“Sis… I—”

Holding out her left arm, Hime traced over the scar that people some mistook for a tattoo.

“I was supposed to die since I hit the vein in my wrist but my room mate had just made it home and reacted quickly. She had studied nursing so she inadvertently saved my life by being quick and calm about the situation. It was then the doctors monitored me around the clock and after a few months I was finally put on twenty milligrams of escitalopram, fluoxetine, sertraline and citalopram – switching out two medicines as not to get addicted to them or overuse to the point they stop working.”

“Why… why didn’t you say anything?”

“Our parents decided not to tell you and I was never sure how to bring it up. Wouldn’t exactly make for a nice phone call, you know?”

“You were hurting and you didn’t talk to me, sis…”

“There were so many times I wanted to tell you. I wanted to call you but I didn’t because I was so far away. You were one person I wanted to hold me and tell me it was fine. I needed you more than you know, little bro. So many nights I spent crying and alone. My mind never stopped thinking about everything. I couldn’t shut it off. This the curse of being a genius as some might call it. Many think it’s cool because animations and books showcase super smart people who can calculate problems in like six seconds but in truth people who are smart like that often end up being the most depressed and alone.”

“You can always open up to me, sis.”

“I know. It’s why I’m telling you all this because I trust you with all my heart, bro.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, sis.”

“It’s fine. There was nothing that could have been done. I have my medication and it helps to stabilise my mental state,” Hime said as she downed two of the pills.

“You just downed those without any water.”

“Yeah, I can swallow pretty big things,” Hime said with a giggle.

“Should you be joking about something like that?”

“Figured I would lighten the mood! Now, let’s get dressed and start today.”