Execute ~ Return –1;

Are we born in this world simply to die? Is there any true meaning to life? What is the purpose of living? Just a malediction of suffering? Various questions with no answer or meaning returned from the nothing of zero, flooding the mind of a girl who was focused to descend into the deepest void of the abyss. These questions continued to echo throughout Hime’s head to the point she questioned the pale meaning of her own existence.

The intervention of deities was something she did not accept. If they were truly real, they were sick, disgusting sadists who only abused the power they laid no claim to. She had never believed in the myths of fairy-tales and silly superstitions. Science was the only proof she needed, science and machines. Awaking to the existence the world around her, she processed that she had passed out with a blanket over her body. She recalled every action that had played out in her head. Work, laptop on her lap, phone in hand. Looking over to the table, she realised that her laptop was closed and the smartphone next to it. With all the information at hand, she knew her brother had put her stop up as she slept.

Removing the covers, she took a moment to check the time. It was nearing 05:00 hours and about time for her brother to get up. Taking a moment to get up and stretch, Hime sighed as she looked over all four pill bottles. Her life was now dependant on the drugs that kept her mind from spiralling into an endless nightmare of thoughts. Popping opening two of the bottles, she down the pills without the need of water. She had become accustom to swallowing them to the point it was autonomic for her brain. Once she had ingested the pills, her mind calmed the thoughts – if only for a bit. Downing another two pills, she kept extremely meticulous calculation of the milligrams that she was taking into her system.

Still, her brain did not stop. It was there, running in the background like an application. There was no way to end the task. Two more pills entered into her mouth and down her throat. Taking a moment to settle her mind and body, Hime tried to calm her never ending horror with a schedule of tasks to complete. She had a class to teach about the wonderful world of mathematics and she needed to help her brother achieve the life he wanted. The world was a cruel place and the university even more so. People did not care about each other, they used and devalued people to no end. It was a world she knew too well. While she had survived the hellish lands, there was still the mental traumatic nightmares that never left and the problem of her own mental state that continuously destroyed itself.

Standing to her feet, Hime made her way to her brother’s room. Since she had forgot to do the laundry, she needed a shirt for the rest of the day. As she made her way over to Sora’s bed, the sounds of a soft girly moan echoed out. She could see a bit in the darkness a brief outline of what was going on.

“Guess you’re engaging in the final boss battle,” Hime whispered with a soft giggle.

Before she could exit, she heard her brother’s voice calling out for her. It sounded as if he was having a nightmare but his mind was unsure as to if it was in state of pleasure or pain. Making her way over to him, she gently patted his head and played with his hair.

“Don’t leave me… sis,” Sora called out in his sleep.

Hime continued stroking his hair and smiled as she tried to comfort him while he slept. She was about to get up when the sound of her brother moaning louder took her by surprise. In that instance, she could see that he was awake and his breathing was faster than normal.

“What are you doing in here, sis?”

“Well, I was going to get you up but it seems you already did that. So, I was just doing my sibling duty to support you like a good healer during your final boss battle.”

“And what was it you wanted?”

“Oh, just wanted to get my shirt I let you borrow. I kind of need it since I forgot to do laundry. Hopefully you didn’t stain it with your condensed milk.”

Hime had always joked with her brother about his various indulges. She tried to make him feel comfortable and even if she was not into it or felt no sexual desires, she did enjoy helping her brother. Growing up, she knew that he was always isolated due to her intelligence. Throughout school he was often seen as an outcast and she did everything in her power to help him as well as include him. She wanted him to experience a safe place where both of them could be happy without the world crumbing down around them. Yet, she was unable to control people and the way they acted.

Sora had always been treated as an outcast and even when he did finally make friends, she knew that he did not feel included. It was exactly how she felt. Everyone around her was a just a shadow that held no value to her. The only light in the never ending abyss was her little brother. There was still one problem. In physics, black holes are a region of space-time where light cannot escape due to the overwhelming gravitational force. A black hole has a boundary upon which there is no escape, the event horizon where all matter of the universe is distorted into something beyond human understanding.

What if two black holes collided with one another? When one black hole collides with another black hole, they merge into one massive black hole. Yet, looking at it in another way, one black hole swallows the other, leaving nothing for the smaller black hole to do but succumb to the void beyond the abyss both space and time. Hime wished to escape the void of the event horizon through the return of zero or division by zero. Now, she had a goal, meaning, purpose. She was going to help her brother go beyond the event horizon.

“Here’s your shirt,” Sora said as he removed it and handed to her.

As she watched her brother pull back the covers, she noticed that he had yet to wash his bed sheets which still showed the various existence of just how sexually active his mind was during sleep. She giggled and watched as her brother exited his room to go clean himself off. Looking over the shirt, she made sure there were no signs of any loot that he had left behind. Once she saw that it was okay, she removed her shirt and put on the crimson tee-shirt that proudly displayed the university she graduated from. Exiting into the living she managed to find one pair of denim jean shorts that she had missed when throwing things into the dirty waste bin to be washed. Judging from the fact there was no ordure, she realised that it was still fairly clean.

“Good enough. Just need clothes to get me through for today. I can do laundry and all that later tonight.”

Hime changed into the pair of shorts and sat down on the couch. She knew she needed to plan out a lesson for the class that was fun and exciting. Are mind raced with ideas but nothing came to mind. After some time, she could hear the sounds of the shower water stopping. Her brother was finishing his pipe clean and as she had just decided to do a bit of light reading, her phone started to vibrate. She noticed the message was from a group chat that her and the other teachers had created to work on the project.

While Sora headed back to his room to get dressed, Hime took more time to think about what she was going to teach the class. The academy did not have a fixed structure in how curriculum was taught. Teachers were able to pretty much teach as they saw fit so long as certain assignments were completed. In theory, she could always take the class outside so long as in the end all coursework was finished by a certain deadline. Students needed only to show merit, how they learned or studied did not matter.

“Hey bro, question for you.”

“Hmm?”

Sora was busy tying his hair into a pair of pigtails as he walked out into the living room. She could see he was already dressed in the academy school uniform. For a moment, Hime recalled her time at the Academic Institution of Magnificence Students which at one point was named the Academic Institution of Distinguished Students – this did not set well with most people and thus it was changed.

“How would you and the class feel about going outside for a lesson?”

“Personally, I’m not a fan of being outside but with how you teach, it should be fine. I’d imagine the others would love it.”

“Cool. Guess I know what I’m teaching for the mathematics class.”

Hime had learned various mathematical proofs, theories and real-world examples of how to apply different maths in life. She drew upon her knowledge in hopes of moulding young minds and seeing them succeed in the future. It was her drive of wanted to help her brother that made her passionate about education. There was a burning fire inside him that she could see and all she could do was nurture and set him on the path to a better tomorrow.

Once she had checked her messages and devised a method of teaching, she waited for her brother to get dressed in his usual gyaru style fashion. She found it amusing that he often took longer to get ready for school than she did. He was always conscious about his appearance, down to the accessories he wore. Recalling the first time he walked past a shop with cute feminine clothes, she could tell her brother was infatuated with female clothes and cute outfits. Their family was never one to question or judge what Sora enjoyed, after all, they valued merit over aesthetics. In their family, only skills mattered, everything else was second.

Yet, this left a gap in the emotional engagement that no one in their family could provide. Their father got a master’s degree from Harvard Law School and was well-established internationally while their mother was a well-known psychologist who earned a doctorate from Harvard University as well. Still, even with her level of experience, she was unable to provide her only daughter the emotional stimulation that she needed. Her mind was inherently logical and thought about things in a dianoetic fashion. There was no room for emotions. At best, all she could do was fake them.

During her time at Harvard University, she lost herself in the logical spiral of a black hole. Now, with the proper medication, she was able to function to so degree. Yet, this did not help the pain of emotional disfigurement. Their parents loved them but like her, they were unable to show it. Years of education and social isolation had caused them to simply show through logical actions and not emotional. In some ways, they were spoiled; in others they were unlucky to never understand the feelings that an average family felt. Family conversations were simple, straightforward and to the point. There was never any idle chit-chat about news, sports, current events or various other common topics that families discussed throughout their day-to-day lives. Even the simple act of bonding together was a rare thing to see.

The four of them only ever gathered together for public social events or if there was a business trip. During those times, Hime was left alone with her brother and they would have enjoy each other’s company. She grew up around Sora and understood him better than their own parents. He was sweet, gentle and a curious boy. That was something she loved about him, his ability to keep learning. There was always something he wished to learn when the two of them were together, be it the stars in space or the fish in the sea, she always tried to educate him on things that she had read or researched.

Yet, things began to change when a little girl moved next door to them. Riku Ashineeko showed Sora another world, one that Hime could not be apart of no matter how hard she tried. She noticed this change when her brother came to her asking if he could kiss her. His curious craving for knowledge was going outside the realms of what she could fathom. Emotional romantic attachment was outside her area of understanding. The most she could do was smile and allow him to experience it. A simple kiss on the cheek and he was happy. His mind did not understand the gesture of a kiss and what it meant, likewise she was unable to explain it without logical implications which would only confuse him.

It did not take long before she realised her brother was exploring deeper into an abyss she could not delve into. When he would use the family computer, she looked over his browser history. His lust for female feet was something that grow uncontrollably. All she could do was delete his browser history and hope that he would be okay. This was not something she was able to guide him on and at best she could only offer a logical take on what she understood of the information.

When the day came that he had admitted he felt funny when he saw Riku’s bare feet, she was only able to smile and give her few thoughts on simply keep his fetish a secret. She explained that a foot fetish was common and completely normal for most boys. There was little else she could do other then giving him a box of tissues. During that time, she did not see her brother as much. His sexual drive had isolated him to the point that she wanted to reach out and just hug him. She knew he was doing it, not just for the pleasure, but for the emotional dopamine rush that it had on his mind. The reason she knew this was due to how loud he would moan when their parents were not around. He always believed no one could hear him but she could hear him as clear as day from her room.

The girly moans of him saying Riku’s name while begging for her foot to stroke enchanted sword that radiated with a heat of passion. She decided the best course was to put in headphones and pretend it did not happen. This happened a fair number of times. As the years passed, she started to notice a change in his browser history. He was now playing more video games and his sexual dive into erotica had decreased. She saw this as a chance to connect with him again. They could bond over a love of video games and she could use them to help educate him throughout his life.

This was the goal and dream she wanted to achieve. Yet, things turned awry when she found herself graduating with a high-school diploma before her brother. It only worsen when she applied to study for university overseas. While she did not think of herself as smart or a genius, she was treated as one. All the top Ivy League schools had accepted her. In that moment, her life started to spiral into a deep depression. She had always felt alone and isolated, even when she was with her brother, there was a gap that could not be bridged between them. The world around her could not see she was suffering, even though she was only nine-years-old. Her mental state was slowly shattering into a thousand broken pieces. This only worsened once she entered Harvard University.

Suicide, depression and anxiety swelled up inside to the point her mental well-being was at risk. She was having various panic attacks and mental breakdowns to the point she devalued her own existence. Her brother was the only thing that barely managed to keep her functioning and even then the other thoughts did not let up. It was as if she was trying to reach the light at the end of the tunnel but never could. Everything was so far and yet the only thing she could do was swallow the pain. Everything was masked by a hidden smile that she had learned to control. No one truly understood just how much she was suffering.

Carmelita Valentina Gonzales Cooper, who Hime had nicknamed ‘Tina’, was the only true friend she could take comfort in. Tina and her had bonded during their time at Harvard but she never could hide behind a mask with Tina. This was due to the fact Tina could see through it. She could see the pain and suffering Hime was going through; yet, Tina simply pretend to not notice for Hime’s sake. There were things she did not wish to unload onto her friend or burden her with. At the end of the day, the only thing Tina could do was provide an ear to listen and emotional support hugs.

On that day, everything changed.

Hime stared down at the scar on her arm. It was a near fatal cut that would have killed her had her room mate not returned in time. She could have died peacefully without pain or sorrow. The only regret she would have taken to her grave was the pain and sadness she would cause her little brother.

“Hey sis, are you ready?” Sora asked as he exited his room.

The sudden voice of her brother threw Hime from her thoughts. She stood to her feet and smiled as she turned to him.

“I’ve been ready. You’re the one that takes forever to get dressed. Maybe you should stop staring at your body in the mirror. Sorry, your feet,” Hime teased.

“Jealous that your little brother is cuter than you? It’s okay, I’m sure you could find a plant in their thirties.”

Hime enjoyed the playful banter that the two of them shared. It was something they did to dissociate from the world. Plus, in a way, it was fun for the two of them.

“You do realise I control your overall grade in my class, right?”

“And I control if you have a place to live or not.”

“Oh, right, about that. I actually have a place in the teachers dorm. I just treat that room like an office.”

Slipping on her shoes at the door, Hime turned to see her brother in complete shock.

“So… all this time—”

“Yup. I’ve been staying here to be closer to you, little bro, tee-hee.”

Sora sighed as he slipped his shoes on.

“Whatevs. Let’s just go, yo.”

Exiting the dorms and stopping at the gates, Hime realised they had managed to beat Riku and Aruto.

“I think this is the first time we have ever been early. Should we wait for them?” Hime asked.

“Yeah, Riku told me to wait for her.”

“Really? Because that is not what I’m seeing on that text message from her,” Hime teased.

“Can you not invade my privacy?”

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it. I will need to talk to her.”

“Just don’t make it worse. She already teases me enough in class.”

“You better be paying attention in class. If you fail my class because of your foot fetish I will ensure a harsh punishment.”

A few minutes passed before Riku and Aruto showed up. As the four of them walked to school, Hime noticed Riku was trailing behind a bit. Walking beside her, Hime smiled as she placed her hand gently on Riku’s shoulder.

“Just so we’re clear, I don’t want you harming my brother.”

“I don’t plan on it. Don’t worry. I mostly just wanted to get closer to you.”

“I know.”

“Hime, every since we were kids, I’ve always been in love with you. Everything about you made me happy. I know I’m dumb as nails when it comes to all that intelligence talk but my feelings for you have never changed. Still, I want to be by your side until the end of time.”

“I know, Riku. You were always a sweet boy growing up.”

“You think Sora knows I’m biologically a male?”

“I’ve never told him but I think he is aware and is pretending not to notice and just treat you as you wish to be treated. The cute adorable girl who cosplays and takes people’s money by modelling their foot pictures,” Hime giggled.

“Hey, Sora proves that guys are into feet and thighs. I see no reason not to capitalise on it.”

“I’m sure Harvard would be impressed,” Hime giggled.

“But seriously, thank you for always being so kind to me, Hime. You and Sora of two people in my life that helped me feel comfortable being in my own skin.”

“No problem. Hey, you think we should try and get my brother and Aruto together? They could be a cute couple,” Hime said as she looked ahead to see Sora and Aruto chatting among themselves.

“That shouldn’t be too hard. Sora isn’t stupid.”

“Oh, no, he’s clueless. I don’t think he notices the signs Aruto is giving off.”

“Guess I need to have a talk with him.”

Hime giggled as the two of them entered the main school building.

“Just be gentle. Anyway, I need to catch a staff meeting. Do me a favour and watch out for my brother when I can’t, please?”

“Provide me with a leash and I could do that,” Riku teased.

Heading down the hallway, Hime pulled out her phone as she checked the various applications on her phone. Upon turning the corner, she ran into something which forced her to fall backwards. Taking a second process what was a squishing her breasts, she heard a familiar voice.

“Pass auf, wohin du gehst—”

“Dir auch einen guten Morgen, Eliza,” Hime said with a smile.

“H-Hime!”

“That’s my name, Eliza. Now, do you plan to kiss me?” Hime teased as she giggled.

Eliza quickly stood up and helped Hime to her feet. Bushing off the dirt from her clothes, Hime picked up her phone and the shoe that had slipped off of Eliza’s foot.

“Shall I slip the shoe on your foot like that one fairytale?” Hime joked.

“You best be talking about the best version of that story and not that American horseshit.”

“Right, the version where it was more violent and the stepsisters actually mutilated their feet to try and make the slipper fit.”

“Exactly. Truly the best version,” Eliza said as she slipped her foot into her sandal.

“Anyway, you going to the meeting?”

“You think I’d waste my time listening to that useless principal of ours?”

Hime giggled as she covered her mouth. Standing behind Eliza was a young girl with long rainbow coloured hair and dressed in a black dress shirt with a red plaided kilt. Her white stockings stopped just below her knees and she wore a pair of black lace boots. A simple black beret completed the outfit.

“Wow, you’re right, Eliza. Tell me more about our ‘principal’, I daresay.”

“She’s so useless that all she does is sit in her office and play with her tits all day. I’ve never once seen her do a damn thing and whenever I try to voice my ideas she rejects me. She is such a… a… Stück Scheiße!”

Hime could not stop herself from laughing and watched as Eliza started to realise why.

“She’s behind me… isn’t she…”

“Ja.”

“Mist…”

Turning around, Eliza felt her heart stop. Hime continued to giggle but tried to contain herself. The face on the principal appeared happy but it all the teachers understood that deep down, her smiling as a sign of the end times. Even Hime did not wish to get on their boss’s bad side.

“Miss Eliza, would you care to tell me how I should do my job?”

“M-Miss Lorna… I—”

“I have friends in extremely high places, Miss Eliza. If I wanted you killed I could easily have it happen. You would be eased from existence and buried six feet under. I have trained with both the CIA and MI6 as well as been in wars. I know how to kill a man with a pencil. Hell, I killed a man with an eraser, erased him from existence. Get it?”

“G-Got it, Miss Lorna.”

“Now, get your ass to the staff room or I will ensure you never see the light of day.”

With haste, Eliza rushed down the hallway until she was out of sight.

“I think that is a new record for her,” Hime said as she timed the event on her phone.

Lorna giggled as she used her walking cane to take the weight off of her leg.

“I still can’t believe she falls for that. How can she believe I was apart of the CIA or MI6? Hell, this bloody wound is just from car wreck I suffered years ago. Only real power I have is the ability to fire someone or decrease their pay.”

“True. What is the big announcement anyway? That e-mail you sent out sounded important. Are teachers getting a raise or something?”

“Actually… Hime… This academy is going to be shut down.”