Reiki stared at the ceiling that was covered in mana circles floating in the air, he made two more mana circles and thought. Twenty-seven. He slightly moved his hand upwards as the mana circles floated toward the rest creating a domino effect. Reiki thought. Ender, I always wanted to ask this question. What are spells? He created a couple more mana spells with his hands while Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [Certain spells? Or just spells in general.]
Reiki thought. Twenty-eight… Spells themselves. He let out a yawn without bothering to cover his mouth, Ender said. [The spells are stored in the brain, the more spells you learn the less capacity you have to learn other spells.] Reiki gently moved the two mana circles up as they floated away from him, he thought. Makes sense. He created more mana circles with his hands, Ender said. [A small bit of information that’s been intentionally concealed is that the more spells you know the slower you cast.] Reiki easily created a mana circle in each hand, he thought. Wait… How does that even work?
With a slight movement, the mana circles floated to the ceiling while Ender continued. [Take Zeus as an example, how many spells does he know?] Reiki kept making mana circles with his hands and thought. Zeus is the god of lightning so there’s one spell… Maybe something similar to God's eye so he can analyze opponents? The mana circles slowly floated to the ceiling while Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [Zeus only knows two spells. Lightning manipulation and weather control, with the latter giving him a wider range.] Reiki quickly created a mana circle in each hand, he thought. That’s it? Two spells?-. Wait, how do you know Zeus only has two spells?
With a flick of his wrist, the mana circles flew toward the ceiling as it hit the other mana circles creating a chain reaction of them moving. Ender said. [He lost to me a handful of times and creating lightning bolts is the only thing he’s good for… That and starting forest fires.] He let out a mocking laugh while Reiki created a mana circle on each hand, he thought. He’s making fun of a major god… I’m liking my inheritance. He moved his hands up as the mana circles floated to the ceiling along with the others.
Reiki continued his train of thought. So, the main reason why you’re removing the blessings is so that I can cast spells in quick succession? He made a mana circle with his hands while Ender spoke in his head, he said. [No, the main reason why they need to be removed is because they placed them on your organs.] Reiki was about to move the mana circles into the ceiling but glanced at his body, he thought. My organs? Which ones specifically? Thirty-four. He lazily threw the mana circles as they hit a few others on the ceiling. Ender said. [Four of them are in your heart, the rest doesn’t matter. At least that’s how I see it.]
Reiki gently raised his hands as the two mana circles floated to the ceiling, he thought. In that case I should start actively looking for his two older brothers. Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [Finish your training first.] Reiki quickly created a mana circle in each hand, he thought. Give me three hours. He threw one of the mana circles at the ceiling creating a domino effect as all of them moved to one side.
~Three Hours Later~
Reiki was sitting on the bed with his legs crossed, he created a mana circle in each hand and thought. Five hundred. He moved his hands upwards as the two mana circles floated to the ceiling while Reiki stared at the countless mana circles emitting a blue light that lit up the upper part of the room. He thought. Finally done. Ender, what’s next? Reiki moved to the edge of the bed, put on the white indoor slippers, and made his way to the door.
Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [You’re going to create a mana string in the center of your palm.] Reiki opened the door, closed it on his way out, and made his way toward his older sister’s room. He was about to knock on the door but heard his older sister’s voice from the other side, Ketsueki said. “It’s open.” Reiki placed his hand on the doorknob and opened the door. He saw his older sister sitting on the ground by the kotatsu table while reading a book.
Ketsueki turned her head to look at her little brother, she said. “Reiki? What is it?” Reiki opened the door as he glanced at the computer by the work table placed in the corner of the room, he said. “Onee-chan, can I borrow your computer for a while?” Ketsueki raised a brow at him and said. “What are you going to use it for?” Reiki stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, he said. “... I need to look up a few things.” He made his way to the work table while Ketsueki closed the book she was reading, she said. “Let me turn it on for you.”
Ketsueki placed the book onto the kotatsu table and was about to stand up while Reiki pulled the chair by the work table back. He said. “It’s fine, I can do it myself.” Reiki sat down on the chair and leaned down to turn on the PC as it started to boot up, he thought. I just hope our internet is fast so I don’t have to wait years for a page to load. He sat up straight on the chair as Ketsueki stood up from the kotatsu and made her way toward her little brother. The PC booted up as Reiki stared at the monitor, he thought. Password… Can’t type it cause I’m not supposed to know it.
Ketsueki was standing behind the chair Reiki was sitting on, she leaned forward as her large chest hit the back of her little brother’s head. Reiki leaned back even more, burying his head deeper while Ketsueki’s lips curled into a small smirk as she used the keyboard to type the password, Reiki thought. MySiblings. Ketsueki made her way back to the kotatsu and said. “Here, don’t stay up too late.” Reiki placed his hand on top of the mouse and clicked on the web browser, he said. “And here I thought you’d be watching over my shoulder.”
Ketsueki sat back down by the kotatsu table, she picked up the book and said. “You can search what you want, just be prepared for my questions after.” Reiki quickly tapped on the keyboard, he thought. More like interrogation. Ketsueki tried to search for the page she left on, she glared at him from the corner of her eye and spoke in a cold tone. She said. “I can make it into an interrogation if you want.” Reiki felt a chill down his spine as he reflexively turned his head to face her, he said. “I-I didn’t say anything.”
Ketsueki’s eyes narrowed as she glared a hole through her little brother while Reiki used the mouse to click on the search bar and quickly tapped on the keyboard. He faked a cough and said. “Since I’m already here. Do you want anything for lunch?” Ketsueki moved her gaze back to the book as she went back to looking for the page she was on, she said. “I’m fine with anything you make, you’ve had quite a talent for cooking these days.” Reiki right-clicked on the mouse, opened a few tabs. and clicked on the search bar again, he said. “Then can you buy some glutinous rice flour, food coloring, and some cornstarch?”
Ketsueki flipped to the next page and said. “What for?” Reiki grabbed the mouse and opened a few tabs using the links, he said. “I’m in the mood for some ice cream mochi.” Ketsueki's eyes lit up, she turned her head to face him and said. “Then I’ll be sure to buy ice cream for all of us.” Her eyes wandered onto the monitor of the computer as she saw a few images of people lining up for food. She thought. … Food for thought?...
Her pupils had a faint glow to them as she saw a better view of the images on the monitor, Reiki said. “Don’t buy too much, I still haven’t returned our neighbor's ice cream maker.” Ketsueki kept her gaze on the computer monitor, she said. “Sounds good.” On her second look she noticed the people in line were middle-aged men or older, Ketsueki thought. What is that? The glow in her eyes vanished as she placed the book back on the kotatsu table and stood up. She made her way to the computer Reiki was using, Ketsueki said. “Reiki, what are you looking at?”
Reiki turned his head to the side to look up to his older sister, he said. “A politician is doing a campaign, he decided to feed the homeless for a week and give them some basic necessities.” Ketsueki placed a hand on the top of the chair Reiki was sitting on, she stared at the monitor and said. “Reiki, what do you think? Does he deserve my vote?” Reiki scrolled through the website and thought. No, the food used leftover ingredients from restaurants that were about to throw them in the trash. Plus the quality of the necessities that were handed out was terrible.
He said. “The gesture is a nice deed, I’ll give him that.” Reiki stopped scrolling and stopped at an image showing a middle-aged man somewhere around his forties. The middle-aged man had a full set of hair with some early traces of a receding hairline along with some parts of his hair turning white, Reiki continued. “But, there’s just something slimy about his smile in this picture.” Ketsueki’s eyes were filled with disgust seeing the middle-aged man, she thought. Oh, it’s him. Reiki stared at the image and thought. How should I ruin his campaign? Should I reveal a few of his transactions?...
Ketsueki closed her eyes and slowly exhaled, when she opened her eyes the disgust in them vanished. She said. “... Why are you interested in his campaign?” Reiki shook his head sideways as he looked up at his older sister, he said. “I’m not, one of my classmates got his hands on a flier and decided to volunteer.” Ketsueki leaned on the chair her little brother was sitting on, she said. “Were you invited?” Reiki moved his gaze back to the monitor, he said. “Nope, just curious to know what he’s getting himself into.”
He thought. … It would’ve been easier to burn the venue to the ground… But with how close everyone is, the casualty would be too high… Reiki used the mouse to scroll down while Ketsueki glanced at her little brother as he stopped at an image of homeless people standing in line for food. She said. “... Reiki, do you think we have that many homeless people in our country?” Reiki leaned on the backrest of the chair and said. “We do.” Ketsueki’s brows furrowed in confusion, she said. “Then why hasn’t a single news covered it.”
Reiki let out a yawn and covered his mouth with his hand, he said. “That’s because the government themselves is hiding the fact.” He stretched while sitting on the chair while Ketsueki reached for the keyboard and used the shortcut key to create a new tab. She said. “I doubt they would go that far.” She quickly tapped on the keyboard and typed homeless people as the website quickly loaded the results. Ketsueki scrolled down as her gaze narrowed the more she scrolled down, she thought. Definition of homeless… Cause and reasons for homelessness… That’s a wiki… That website always exaggerates its title…
She moved her hand away from the mouse and placed a hand on her hip, Ketsueki said. “... Maybe it’s because they haven’t interviewed someone homeless yet…” Reiki stopped stretching, he said. “I think there’s around five figures of homeless people.” He thought. It did get better in the later years, at least that’s what the government told the public. Ketsueki spun the chair her little brother was sitting on to face her, she said. “If there were that many, why aren’t the streets filled with them?” Reiki glanced at his older sister’s large chest, he said. “Menial jobs.”
He turned the chair to face the PC and continued. “Half an hour past six pm, they start setting their makeshift bed in parks, below bridges, under highway intersections, and the most famous spot, Sumida river. Despite being homeless they keep themself clean since a public bath costs two hundred yen at its cheapest, they hide their luggage under blue tarps which confuses some tourists because they think the area is under construction.” Reiki was about to type something on the keyboard as Ketsueki pulled the chair back and started typing on the keyboard.
The chair Reiki was sitting on softly rolled back as it lightly tapped the wall creating a soft thud, he said. “Onee-chan, if you asked I would’ve given you the chair.” Ketsueki didn’t reply, as he stood up from the chair and dragged it toward his older sister. Reiki said. “Here you go, Onee-chan.” Ketsueki sat down and said. “Thanks, Reiki.” The website quickly loaded the results as she used the mouse to click on images, Ketsueki continued. “There’s nothing here.” Reiki stood next to his older sister as he stared at the monitor, he said. “What did you expect? How would other countries think if they knew our country had this problem?”
Ketsueki turned the chair she was sitting on to face her little brother, she said. “Reiki, there are homeless people in other countries too.” Reiki thought. Oh, I’m very aware of the state of other countries in my old world. He gave her older sister a wry smile and said. “I know that.” Reiki raised his hand to stop Ketsueki who was about to say something, he continued. “For some reason, Japan has been viewed as a perfect country by the rest.” Ketsueki gave him a deadpan look while her little brother forced out a chuckle, Reiki said. “You know what I mean, sunshine and rainbows.”
He thought. Which is ironic given Japan once had the second-highest suicide rate and the most misogynist among the countries given how a politician made… Comments during the olympics… Ketsueki stared at her younger brother and said. “... How do you know so much about this?..” Reiki thought. After the orphanage sold Shiro, I burned it down and was homeless for a month and a half until I met… Her… He pointed at the window that had the curtains untied, Reiki said. “On my way home from returning late-.”
He stopped mid-sentence seeing the cold look in Ketsueki’s eyes, Reiki let out a sigh and continued. “Do you want to scold me or hear the rest of my story?” He stopped pointing at the window as Ketsueki glanced at it from the corner of her eye, she let out a soft exhale and said. “Continue.” Reiki placed his hands inside his pockets, he said. “I was returning home at a later hour than I should have, an old man was sitting on the park bench and asked me if I had five hundred yen to spare.”
The cold look in Ketsueki’s eyes was instantly replaced with worry, she said. “What did you do?” Reiki moved one of his hands out of his pocket and scratched the back of his head, he said. “I ran away because I was scared he might have turned violent if I said no.” Ketsueki nodded at him as she leaned on the backrest of the chair, she said. “Good…” She stood up from her seat and made her way to the kotatsu table, Ketsueki continued. “You can use the computer again… I’m done with it.” Reiki sat down on the chair while Ketsueki sat on the ground near the kotatsu table.
Reiki pretended to type something as Ketsueki vanished from the room, he turned his head to the side and saw that his older sister was gone. He thought. I needed to soften her heart but the plan worked. Reiki grabbed the mouse and clicked on a different tab, he continued his train of thought. The campaign is in twelve days… He leaned on the backrest of the chair, Reiki spoke to himself and said. “... In his earlier days, I vaguely remember him buddying up with the yakuza…”
Reiki opened a new tab and started typing, he thought. Let’s see if I can find a digital footprint. He typed his name on the URL as the results quickly loaded, Reiki continued his train of thought. … I’m fairly sure our internet wasn’t this fast… He grabbed the mouse and created more tabs by right-clicking on different links. He switched to a different tab and started scrolling down the social site, Reiki thought. Look at all these photos… I love getting dirt on those out-of-touch fogies, thinking they’re invincible just because of some chump change in their bank accounts.
He stopped scrolling when an image of a teenager smoking something in his mouth and hugging a girl around the same age as the two of them stood beside a man in a suit with a scar on his right eye. Reiki thought. Yep, that’s weed. Sold enough to know it at a glance. He saved the image and continued his train of thought. Now I need to place it in a folder where Onee-chan won’t find it. Reiki browsed through the folder and hid the image as Ender’s voice suddenly rang in his head. Ender said. [She’s back.]
Reiki’s hand moved like lightning as he quickly deleted all the new tabs and went back to the campaign. Ketsueki appeared beside the kotatsu table as she sat on the ground and said. “Reiki, you’ve been staring at the campaign for three minutes now.” Reiki slowly turned the chair he was sitting on to see his older sister sitting by the kotatsu, he said. “It's the slimy smile, it keeps putting me off…” He pointed at the middle-aged politician on the monitor as Ketsueki let out a chuckle, she said. “Reiki, why do you have a tab open for Umeda district?”
Reiki stared at her older sister for a few seconds in silence, he said. “... Onee-chan… I need some money…” Ketsueki picked up the book on the kotatsu and said. “How much?” Reiki had a hint of surprise on his face, he thought. I was half expecting her to cut it in half… Ketsueki’s eyes narrowed, she said. “I will throw this book at you.” Reiki pretended to hesitate and said. “A hundred thousand yen…” Ketsueki placed the book back on the kotatsu table before she could get a chance to open it, with wide eyes she said. “Why do you need so much money?”
Reiki placed his elbow on his thigh and rested his chin on the palm of his hand, he said. “I need a grill.” Ketsueki gave her little brother an odd look and said. “Reiki… We have that mini stone grill, it even has a metal handle.” Reiki thought. That’s a fire hazard waiting to happen. He said. “I need a bigger grill for a seafood platter-.” Before he could finish his sentence Ketsueki was standing right in front of him, she took out a roll of ten thousand yen bills from her pocket. Ketsueki handed him some cash and said. “Here’s two hundred thousand yen, you can keep the change.”
Reiki had a surprised look on his face as he stared at the money Ketsueki was handing to him, she continued. “Do you need more?” Reiki slowly reached for the cash and said. “No, it’s more than enough.” He took the bills off his older sister's hands while Ketsueki placed a hand on top of her little brother’s head, she said. “I’m fairly sure there’s no grill big enough that goes for a hundred thousand yen.” Reiki pocketed the money as he looked up to her and said. “There isn’t, I’m going to make one so I need to buy a few tools.”
Ketsueki messed up her little brother’s unkempt and scraggly hair even more, she said. “That explains the large sum of money you need.” Reiki thought. I hope I still remember that video tutorial… He said. “Most of it will go to tools and the body of the grill.” Ketsueki moved her hand away from the top of her little brother’s head, she said. “What’s the grill going to be made out of?” Reiki stood up from the chair he was sitting on and said. “My first thought was wood, but I can easily picture it catching fire.”
Ketsueki had a contemplating look on her face, she thought. Yeah, I can see that happening. Reiki continued. “So I decided on a steel barrel instead.”
