“.....”

In a room lit only by the glare of a computer screen, A boy sat motionlessly with a deadpan expression. His eyes scanned the screen with a look of disinterest as he once again fought against his mortal enemy, boredom.

click click click

With fast and imperceptible movements, he moved the cursor over various tabs and applications lurking behind the computer screen in an attempt to find something that would catch his interest. Like a veteran of a useless occupation, he clicked and entered various websites and seemingly attempted to boot up countless games only to close them up once again in a seemingly disinterested gesture. As if dissatisfied with his findings or lack there of, the boy repeated this course of action once again.

For months now, the youth lived within the square shaped bedroom, with only nothing but the screen as his constant companion. Time would fly by, he recalled, as the joyful invention lovingly labeled the ‘internet’ would keep his interest peaked with it’s seemingly endless options and material it offered. He would spend countless hours online, foregoing sleep and meals as his attention was sucked into the web of networks and data.

But only now, only recently did his joy reach a bottleneck.

About a week or so ago, he felt the creeping sense of boredom approach closer and closer into his now fragile psyche. Previous sites that would bring him pleasure now lacked the familiar sense of engagement, games which had once made his hands sweat and his eyes sparkle now lacked the sensation of excitement, and people and communities he had once thought of as interesting or exciting now felt more like an obligation he would unwillingly spend time with. Even arguing with the strangers he so often met online became more like going through the motions of a repetitive, and pointless action, rather than an actual cause spurred by a fiery sense to call this shameless charlatan on the other side of the globe a troll.

In one short sentence, the boy was bored.

He sighed and stretched his arms over his head and into the dark in which the light of the screen could not reach. He twisted his neck and turned his head to face the clock adjacent from him. The neon green numbers indicated it was now 12:54 PM.

The boy pondered and came to the conclusion that he had spent the entire night awake, but due to his dull sense of time, he avoided realising it had already been 3 days since he last slept, and 2 days since he last ate.

The youth leaned back and let his head rest on the pillow on his impromptu bed, A coalition of blankets and comforters strawn across the floor.

Earlier in the week, he had grown a habit of sleeping on the floor. As to why this had started, the boy already forgot, but his reasoning in that the carpeted surface felt better and more comfortable than his own bed was enough of a motive for him to set up camp on the ground. With a sprawled blanket a couple of pillows, some sheets and his laptop against the corner of the wall, he made comfortable enough space for him that allowed for easy transition between sleep and the internet.

The aching in his back held no relation (probably) to his new found sleeping arrangements.

sighing once more, he glanced up at the ceiling. The rotating fan above him gave of a rather calming effect. As his body began to relax and let loose the tension he had accumulated from 3 nights of no sleep, he felt the immediate effects of

what fatigue could do on the human body.

He blinked his eyes and felt the heaviness associated with insomnia. If it weren’t for his mop of messy black hair which cascaded over his face and his thick rimmed glasses which caught the reflection of the computer screen, the bloodshot red in his eyes that lay beneath would have alerted any passerby of his lack of sleep and gave any unknowing priest quite a fright due to his haggard look, which gave of a rather demonic appearance in the dim of light.

Only now did he experience fatigue and his weary self slowly shut his eyes and prepared to sleep for the first time in what felt like ages. Although his blissful time dreaming was cut short as a bang resounded in the once quiet room.

Bang Bang Bang

Rather than surprise, the boy felt a more nagging sensation as he twisted his neck to face the door. The knocking continued for a couple more times, giving the boy time to collect his thoughts and ponder whether or not he had the ability to sleep through the noise.

An feminine and familiar voice gave him enough reason to opt for answering the newcomer rather than going back to sleep.

Although the door muffled the voice to an extent that he could not understand what was being said, the familiar tone it gave off was enough to identify the owner. For a self-reliant shut in like himself, he could count the number of people who knew where he was on one finger, and out of that number, only one made any active initiative to visit him.

Grumbling he quickly opened the door.

A young girl with short light brown hair quickly stepped forward, willing her way into the dark room. Her knee length skirt swayed to the motion as her school uniform hugged her developing body. Although the girl was a first year highschooler, her short stature and slim figure gave off a younger appearance.

Carefully going around the trash strewn across the room, she made her way to the light switch and flicked it on, flooding fluorescent light, which had become quite rare in the months the boy had spent alone.

“ugh, Nanami...please, the light…”

The boy weakly complained as he dove into the sheets on the floor in a weakly veiled attempt to hide from the light.

Seeing such a response, the girl named Nanami pouted her cheeks and glared daggers at the boy. She sighed and made her way to the bed (the real one) and sat down directly above the boy.

“Really, Onii-chan, how can you live like this?”

“....well, I for one like this sort of lifestyle.”

Nanami sighed once more.

Seeing her precious elder brother in such a condition was quite painful. Especially if she took the past him into to consideration.

Nanami scanned the room with a protruding gaze. She took note of the tightly shut curtains, the trash on the floor, the tower of opened ramen cups in the near corner, everything that she recognized as unhealthy, and NEET-like behavior her brother had been doing in the past months. Even the conspicuous group of used tissues in the trash bin underneath the desk.

“This room...it’s really dirty”

“....”

The boy replied with silence as his eyes wandered to his sister.

Nanami continued to look around the room, not noticing the boy’s curious glances, which quickly turned perverted in nature.

In his time spent in solitude, he noticed that Nanami herself had also grown up.

‘It’s only natural,’ The boy reasoned.

Nanami was a person who had entered the tender age of 15, a time when puberty was rampant. And for a girl, growth occurred in numerous places. Although Nanami’s chest hadn’t really grown, other parts had certainly developed.

She had a slim figure, and coupled with her cute face and chipmunk like eyes, she would be considered quite attractive. Not a femme fatal type character, but one that elicited the urge to protect. Although if one inquired a bit more thoroughly, one might discover a rather feminine body lay hidden beneath the mass of school uniforms.

One particular area which attracted the boy’s glance was Nanami’s legs. her legs were more profoundly...adult, and gave of a rather charming appearance.

As the boy’s eyes moved towards Nanami’s thighs, he noticed she was wearing a rather short skirt. At first glance, it seemed to cover a much larger area of skin, but in her current seating position, the skirt had ridden up Nanami’s leg, revealing a rather gradius amount of skin. The show of skin was further complimented by her knee high socks that, when hugging female legs like Nanami’s, looked more like stockings than socks.

Such a combination of skirt and knee socks gave of a rather forbidden fruit type appeal, especially if one’s glance was centered on the space of skin between the two garments.

‘What was it called again? ...Absolute territory?’

The boy searched for the term he had heard while browsing the internet. He had stumbled upon a form of entertainment which was popular in the previous era called anime. With his interest peaked, he watched some and later developed an addiction for the art in his solitude, and more than often, his interest overlapped with anime that portrayed the female body in a rather dynamic viewpoint.

In one instance he had heard of a term used by many of the fans of a particular anime in a particular image board. This term was explicitly used to detail the area of the thigh between the skirt and the sock. That instance of skin which isn’t explicitly covered in cloth was said to leave quite an impact. Such an area was rumored to hold an incredible amount of sex appeal, especially towards the male populace.

While contemplating such things, the boy only now realized he was thinking a number of perverted thoughts which he had indirectly diverted towards Nanami, his sister. Although Nanami and him weren’t really blood related, but only step siblings, he still felt quite disgusted with himself.

To leer at a girl he had genuinely cared for and considered a sister for the better part of ten years of his life….such a situation brought a sense of shame to the boy.

But to the boy’s utter horror, his growing sense of shame only fueled his impending arousal once more.

Nanami glanced down at her elder brother.

“....”

Seeing him avoid her glance in a rather awkward manner showed the toll being alone for nine months took on him. His socialization skills, which weren’t great to begin with had greatly deteriorated, enough to cause such an awkward tension to form with his once close and clingy sister.

“Onii-chan? Hey, Onii-chan? Are you listening to me.”

Underneath the blankets, the boy recognized Nanami’s voice as her familiar attempt for attention he had grown quite accustomed to during the years.

As he recalled the younger Nanami, who had been quite affectionate in the past, his mind once again wandered and this time focused on another thing which was influenced by anime.

Nanami had always affectionately called the boy ‘Onii-chan’ in the past, but now, it stuck to the boy as a somewhat endearing, albeit perverted gesture due to his exposure to anime.

Although the boy himself wasn’t Japanese, his step-mother, along with his sister, was. When Nanami was tiny and first became his sister, not knowing much english, she would call him big brother in Japanese, and as time pass, the name stuck, and now he was affectionately called Onii-chan. In the past, he would find such a gesture normal, but now, thanks to his recent love for anime and manga, he found this sort of gesture quite appealing and endearing.

“How lucky~” was the first thought to enter the boy’s mind as he appreciated the innocent gesture his sister expressed.

“Onii-chan!”

“W-what?”

the boy returned Nanami’s gaze with a lethargic expression, as if to express the weariness he clearly felt from both human interaction and sleep deprivation.

“Like I was saying, you have to get out of this room, it’s unhealthy.”

“unhealthy? what’s so unhealthy about it?”

With an exasperated expression, Nanami exploded and lept up on the balls of her feet and gestured silently to the whole room in response to her brother’s apathetic response.

Nanami was irritated (but mostly concerned) with her brother’s condition. For months now, ever since her brother had locked himself in his room 9 months ago, Nanami’s concern only continued to grow. Nanami had tried getting close to her brother the whole time. Many of these events involved knocking on her brother’s door countless times, pleading, crying, and trying to bait him with food, manga, and at one point porn(?)

There was an instance in which Nanami’s agitation had reach a level in which she tried to forcefully break in to her brother’s room. Such attempts were dotted with trying to lockpick the door open, attempting to enter through the window (which proved quite difficult for a 2-story room with no ledge) and at one point, an attempt at faking a fire.

through out the nine months, not once did her brother open his door, but now, today he unexpectedly responded. In Nanami’s mind, this was a rare opportunity to convince her brother to leave the room.

At the boy’s side, his rationale for letting Nanami in was due to a mixture of boredom and need for a new electric generator which was required for his computer. During these nine months, his current generator was in need for replacement, and since everything in his room required electricity to work, this was quite a predicament for him.

“Onii-chan, staying inside here is obviously not good for you. I-I’m worried about you.”

The boy laughed nonchalantly as if verbalizing an ‘there’s nothing to worry about,’ through gestures and laughter alone.

This action further irritated Nanami who resulted in throwing a passerby pillow in retaliation.

“Geeze! I’m serious here Onii-chan!”

“ I’m serious too.”

With a somewhat not so serious expression, the boy stated whilst fighting back a yawn.

“...Have you been eating at all lately?”

“Um, I’ve had some cup ramen recently…”

The boy made a sidelong glance at the tower of cup ramen cups in the corner of the room.

“...what about water? It’s important to stay hydrated you know.”

The boy scratched his head and looked down as if embarrassed.

“I’ve been using the bathroom sink…”

“....!”

Nanami made an expression as if she couldn’t believe it.

The boy had a connected sink and subsequent bathroom attached to his room, which further made his stay in solitude much more easier. But still, drinking straight from the bathroom sink wasn’t something he thought his older brother would ever do. From her perspective it was a somewhat unsanitary source of water.

“Y-you can’t do that Onii-chan!”

“Relax Nanami, relax. I have a filter so it’s okay.”

The boy pulled out a water filter from under a pile of laundry as if to prove his point. He had bought it online at a whim, but who knew it would prove useful in his time of need.

“O-onii-chan…..”

Nanami made another exasperated expression followed by a sigh. She had thought her brother was in a miserable situation before, but now, finally seeing exactly to what extent he was in…

“I think it’s time for Onii-chan to leave his room.”

Nanami made a serious face.

“No no no, Nanami, really..I’m fine living in this room by myself.”

“Onii-chan! Just look at yourself! Your hair’s a mess, your skin is pale, and this entire room reeks!”

“....”

the boy looked up at the ceiling in an attempt to avoid Nanami’s scrutinizing glares.

“And what about school? You haven’t gone in 9 months.”

“I properly take online courses you know. In this day and age it’s quite possible to live your life without ever leaving the house.”

‘Or in my case, bedroom.’

The boy secretly thought to himself.

“What about social interaction. I’ve noticed this Onii-chan, but you’ve gotten considerably bad at talking.”

“....There’s a thing called forums and image boards. I’ve actually conversed with quite a number of people online.”

He failed to mention that the conversations he was having were mostly two-sided heated debates on whether ramen was the pinnacle of last century’s innovation and other, just as pointless topics.

Nanami began to shake. Her brother’s insistence that the Shut in lifestyle was actually a good thing was increasing Nanami’s already high levels of irritation.

“T-then...bath.”

“eh?”

“What about bathing Onii-chan?”

“....I shower every now and then.”

“....”

“....”

“...But you smell.”

“...That’s just the cup ramen in the corner...”

“...”

“...”

“...Onii-chan…”

“....”

Nanami’s body started shivering in fury. She was frustrated at brother’s attempts to stay inside. She was concerned at her brother’s current state and subsequent future. She was especially lonely that her brother had abruptly stopped spending time with her.

With all these raging emotions swirling within Nanami she broke down.

Seeing Nanami’s face make several varying expressions in under a short period of time, the boy couldn’t help but be concerned.

“Um...Nanami?”

“ONII-CHAAAAAAAAN!!!!”

Nanami shouted in a fit of frustration as she lunged at her brother aiming for the pair of glasses on his face, knocking him down onto the sheets below. After a bit of struggling on both parts, Nanami pinned her brother to the floor using her legs as a base. In the end, Nanami sat on top of her brother, with a pair of glasses in one hand, and her other on his chest, Seemingly holding him down.

“....And why are you even wearing glasses in the first place? Your eyes aren’t that bad.”

The boy made another side long glance, avoiding eye contact with his now teary-eyed little sister.

“W-well, you know, they’re those you know. Glasses that enable you to stare continuously at a screen for long periods of time without straining your eyes, I bought them online…”

“...”

When Nanami made a similar disinterested face the boy had donned earlier and stared blankly at her brother and feigned a response, the boy hastily continued, as if justifying why wearing a pair of glasses on his head could avoid the conversation of his growing nature as a shut-in.

“There convenient for someone like me. Since I like the room dark, normally my daily habit of looking at a computer screen would damage my eyes, but with the glasses I can avoid that. And since it doesn’t really use magic, even someone like me can use them….So, it’s you know, convenient.”

After his tyrad on the helpful nature of the pair of spectacles, he turned his face forward to meet his sister’s glance.

The two made eye contact for the first time since Nanami entered the room, no, since the day the boy had shut himself in 9 months ago.

As if triggering all the pent up emotion and concern Nanami has towards her brother, tears in her eyes continued to accumulate as her face began to turn a shade of beet red. Eventually she burst into a fountain. Droplets of transparent liquid gushed out her eyes as snot began to trickle down her nose.

The whole thing from the boy’s perspective was a little bit overwhelming. Knowing he made a girl, much less his own sister, who was always so positive, cry, made him feel a sense of shame.

It was the first time he had ever felt ashamed for shutting himself out.

Not knowing what to do the boy blankly stared at Nanami.

As she continued to cry, she eventually lowered her head onto the boy’s chest and tried to limit her cry into a small whimper. While whispering onii-chan, onii-chan into his snot soaked shirt, the boy eventually responded and lowered his hand onto his little sister’s head.

He patted her mane of short light brown hair. He found it to be glossy. And silky. But most importantly, he found it to be a familiar sensation. With a rhythmic motion of rising and falling, the boy ran his finger over her hair. Feeling the softer than silk hair of his little sister, it brought on a familiar atmosphere as he remembered the countless times he patted Nanami’s head.

Whenever Nanami felt scared, upset, or sad, the boy’s most frequent response was to pat her little head. For Nanami,

such an action represented their closeness, their bond, and the safety she felt towards her reliable Onii-chan.

Although from the boy’s perspective, he thought of himself as quite the useless person. But from Nanami’s view, her big brother was someone she looked up to. Someone she knew would always be there for him. Someone who knew exactly what to do in all situations. Someone who made Nanami feel safe and loved all at the same time.

In the past 9 months, all traces of such a reliable brother were all but gone. Nanami had felt lonely, an unbearable loneliness as she longed for the connection she used to enjoy quite liberally. Now, with the familiar warmth of the hand that rested on top of her head, Nanami enjoyed that feeling of safety once more.

She cooed quietly into the boy’s shirt as her whimpers subsided.

Like a cute puppy, she nuzzled up against the boy’s chest and breathed in the familiar scent of her beloved Onii-chan. Her whimpers subsided as she eased herself into the crook of his chest.

The room entered silence once more.

But this silence was different. It held none of the awkwardness as before, only the sensation of familiarity, and comfort both felt at the exact moment.

Truth was, the boy also felt a sense of comfort from patting Nanami’s head. He felt a familiar wave of nostalgia as he continued to blissfully stroke her hair. eventually his hand found it’s way around her back as he hugged her in an all but familiar manner.

The boy sighed as he continued to stroke her hair. Before long, Nanami had ended up falling asleep.

The boy gently placed his little sister onto his impromptu bed. Nanami squirmed and cooed in response as she naturally moved her body to the crevices of the blanket/pillow combination. Seeing such a blissfully unaware Nanami fast asleep spurred emotions of envy as the boy remembered exactly how tired he was in the first place.

As his eyelids continued to outweigh his sense of judgement, the boy slowly lowered his head and followed suit to Nanami as he prepared to drift away.

Before his mind completely shut down, the boy heard Nanami whisper in her sleep.

“...O..ni-chan...letter…”

With Nanami’s words, the boy’s gaze slowly followed along the carpeted floor until it found it’s way to a crumpled up letter in front of the entrance.

Slowly moving his neck to face the door, the boy read the front of the envelope with half glazed eyes.

‘To Kelp, You Useless Son!’

Kelp smiled bitterly just as the automatic lights activated and the room entered into the familiar darkness he had grown accustomed to. He was irked for a moment due to the reminder of the complex he had with his weird name, but more so from the expected content of the envelope, which he conjectured to be a lecture from his parents. Although he did want to read the letter, (since it would be the first real contact he had with his oh so beloved father and mother) his body felt heavy and the comforting darkness lured him to the fictional land of dreams.

Like the lights in his room, Kelp's body followed suit, his eye’s finally shutting tight and sleep overtaking him, this time, for good.

Prologue

Chapter 2