In modern-day Japan, on a small hill just outside of a nearby town, was the house of a Japanese CEO.  The house itself was huge, given that there were only two residents not including the security team, who rarely entered the house.  The house itself was a combination of old and modern culture. There were sliding paper doors and matted floors, yet there was an electric system in the house.

The sounds of running water, clanking dishes, and soft humming echoed around the quiet house as Yutsuki, the daughter of the CEO, cleaned the dishes after dinner with her father while he took a call. For the last several years, she had begun to cook for herself and her father after he heartily praised her the first time she cooked. 

Yutsuki was around 13 and already showed that she would become a lovely young lady; a perfect blend of her paternal Japanese and maternal Caucasian descent. Yutsuki’s personality was rather introverted and straightforward.   Her shyness was the reason why the security team only existed around the property. At school, she only had two female friends that she had known for longer than she could remember. However, she never felt lonely or bored. If she ever did, she would go in practice archery as it was her favorite pastime.  If not for her timid personality, she would be the captain of the school’s archery club, given that she was the best shot in the school.

After she had finished cleaning the dishes, her father came back in. “Sorry Yutsuki, that was an important call.” Her father said with a gentle smile as he looked at the unexpected present that appeared in his life.

“It’s okay with Oto-sama.  I don’t mind,” She replied sweetly.

“It was an important call, but it wasn’t about business.  Yutsuki, how would you feel if we took care of a young man who will be studying internationally for about a year?”

Yutsuki tilted her head cutely in surprise by her father’s question.  Given that they lived alone, it was surprising that her father would consider it. “Who is he?”

“He is a 15-year-old genius named Marty Cross. He’s already in college and has black belts in various martial arts.  He just recovered from a car crash that took his family, leaving him almost completely alone.”

“That’s terrible,” Yutsuki replied, clearly expressing her empathy with Marty’s situation.

“Do you remember Mr. Smith?  He asked me if I’d be willing to take him in as Marty might be a little emotionally distraught.  What do you think we should do?”

“We should help!” Yutsuki replied as she struck a resolute pose to express her seriousness, but instead made her look adorable.

“Are you sure you’re up for it?  You have such a hard time talking to the girls, much less boys.” He replied as he teased her

“I can do it,” Yutsuki replied with a slight blush of embarrassment.

...

About a month later, Marty appeared at their doorstep.  Yutsuki and her father answered together, but at the last moment, she moved to hide behind her father.

When the door opened, she saw Marty for the first time.  Because she was embarrassed, she didn’t have too many thoughts about his appearance, but she did notice the neutral expression on his face.

“How do you do.  My name is Marty Cross, and I’ll be in your care for a while.”

After Yutsuki’s father had replied, Yutsuki stepped out. “It’s… It’s nice to meet you, Cross-san.”

“Please, call me Marty. I’m not used to people address me by my last name.”

“Okay, then you can call me Yutsuki too.” She replied before she blushed and looked down in embarrassment.

“Okay then, I’ll do just that, Yutsuki-chan,” Marty replied.

Yutsuki’s face began to turn red, and she even started to sway back and forth from embarrassment. Yutsuki’s father chuckled, and Marty even gave a slight smile.  However, that smile seemed hollow to Yutsuki.

Marty planned to stay with them for nine months.  During this time, he advanced his black belts, did his college work, bought and read a relatively large collection of light novels, and played video games.  Whenever Marty had a martial exhibition, Yutsuki would come to watch while accompanied by some guards. She was amazed at how good of a fighter he was. However, she couldn’t help but notice that he seemed very apathetic.  Given what he had been through, it would be understandable if he was angry and even a little cruel. However, he wasn’t like that at all. He never tried to cause unnecessary harm, but he also didn’t seem as if he enjoyed himself either.  In Yutsuki’s eyes, it just looked that he didn’t care.

When it came to Marty’s college work, he barely left the house.  He only went a couple of times to converse with the teachers, but did most of his work at home ahead of time, only going back for tests.  There were a few occasions Yutsuki gathered up her courage and asked Marty for help with her homework. Marty was very patient and helped her even though she would often get distracted by her embarrassment.  Besides when he helped her with homework, the only other time they interacted was when they ate together. Though there was often awkward silence, the two of them continue to eat together occasionally joined by Yutsuki’s father.

Marty’s lack of interaction was simply due to his depression.  He tried to be considerate of his landlords, but he never felt like interacting with them.  He was trying to forget everything. That was the reason why he came to Japan, the reason why he spent his extra time reading and playing video games.  He wanted to escape reality. For six months, this routine continued.

Then, one night in the darkness, a group of four people managed to bypass the security and enter the property.  They were a relatively poor group of hoodlums who had obtained a gun which increased their audacity. They intended to kidnap Yutsuki for ransom.  Very quietly, they managed to make their way to Yutsuki’s room without waking up anyone.

In one swift motion, one of the hoodlums covered her mouth, making her wake up with a start.

“Quiet, or I’ll shoot you.” He said quietly and aggressively.

Yutsuki’s eyes widened in panic as she realized it was not a dream.  The man roughly began to move her as he covered her mouth before he turned around to the others.

“Weren’t all of us supposed to come in here?” The man asked the other two when he realized one of them was missing.  The other two looked behind them and went out the door only to find their partner unconscious nearby. The moment this was revealed, the man removed the gun from Yutsuki’s head.  That very instant, Marty dove through the paper separating the room, somersaulted up, attacked the man who held Yutsuki, ad knocked both her and the gun out of his grasp. In a swift motion, Marty picked up Yutsuki and dashed out the door while the other two checked their incapacitated partner.

“Go after him!” the kidnapper who had retrieved his gun yelled in anger which prompted the two others to follow.

Even though Marty had a head start, he was burdened with Yutsuki meant he couldn’t leave the house.  If he did so, he wouldn’t have any cover from the gun. As soon as he was out of their sight, Marty stashed Yutsuki in a closet.

“Stay here and be quiet.” He breathlessly said as he closed the closet.

Yutsuki was still in a daze from the sudden turn of events.  The brief respite of fear disappeared after she left his arms.  She didn’t know why, but she never felt safer when he picked her up; from the most terror she never felt, to the most security. Yutsuki’s emotions were quite wild, though her biggest fear was that Marty would get hurt.

As soon as Marty hid, the kidnappers rushed into the room.  From his hiding place, he managed to trip one of them which surprised the other.  Taking advantage of the brief moment, Marty very quickly incapacitated one before he knocked out the one he had previously tripped.  As soon as he finished, he immediately hid again as he did not see the kidnapper with the gun. For a short amount of time, there was silence.

Yutsuki was trying to be quiet but was breathing heavily.  She was terrified, and that caused an error in her judgment.  After a couple of seconds of quiet, she slowly began to open the door and stepped out.  To her horror, she found the last kidnapper who was startled by her sudden appearance as he turned and pointed the gun at her.  In the darkness and fear, he couldn’t make out who was there. Yutsuki felt as if time slowed down as she saw the gun slowly point toward her.  Then, Marty’s back blocked her vision.

*Bang*

Martel’s body jerked back from the force of the bullet while kidnapper’s face showed a brief flair of happiness before he became startled. Marty used the energy from the shot and caused his leg to swing around behind him before he instantly shifted his weight and shot towards the kidnapper.  The kidnapper was so startled by the sudden turn of events, and Marty’s eyes which had a couple of glowing specks of gold in them, that he wasn’t able to pull the trigger again before Marty disarmed him. In one swift motion, Marty shot his leg at point-blank range before he smacked the butt of the gun against the kidnappers face to stop his wails of pain.

Marty stumbled back as the adrenaline rush finally began to wear off.  He stuck his finger in his wound and forced a cough to figure out the severity of his injuries. The lack of blood, lack of body pain, and the blocked wound was a good sign.

“Marty-san.” Yutsuki barely Managed to get out through her tears.  It was her fault that he was injured. If she had stayed in the closet, he probably would’ve been okay.

“It’s okay,” Marty said as he patted her head. “The bullet got stuck in my ribs, and I’m not internally bleeding, so I’ll be fine.”

The security showed up shortly after along with Yutsuki’s father who, out of character, was screaming at them for failing their job and ranted about moving to a more secure house and location.  As soon as Marty knew they were safe, he passed out and was taken to the hospital. Yutsuki refused to separate from his side until she was sure he was okay.

...

Marty rubbed his eyes as he in the hospital to find Yutsuki cried herself to sleep as she clutched his hand.  A couple of seconds later, Yutsuki began to wake up as she felt him stir. As soon as she saw he was looking at her, she gave him the most beautiful relaxed smile she had ever given anyone.  Marty was momentarily shocked by her expression that managed to move even his cold heart. After the second, Yutsuki realized she was tightly grasping his hand, and she released her grip extremely flustered.  Her face became bright red, and she couldn’t look him in the eye as a short batch of silence ensued.

After a couple of seconds, Yutsuki Managed to gather up her courage and speak first, though she didn’t dare look at him. “Um… If… if it’s with you, can… can I call you Onii-sama?”

Marty couldn’t help but be so surprised at her question that he couldn’t respond.

“I… I always wanted an older brother.” She said softly as her face became even redder.

Marty gave a small sigh as another girl flashed through his mind. “Only if I can call you Yutsuki,” He replied with a gentle smile.

She looked up at him and saw his smile.  Unlike the first time she saw him, the smile wasn’t hollow; it was genuine. “Yes, Onii-sama!”

...

Ever since the kidnapping event, Yutsuki’s courage increased by leaps and bounds, at least when it came to her relationship with Marty.  The two of them spent much more time together as he only planned to spend a few more months there.

They often would go to Yutsuki’s private archery range where he would help her and practice his archery.

“I missed the center again,” Yutsuki said in a pout after her arrow struck next to the center.

“Relax and take a deep breath,” Marty replied as he gently touched her back and prompted her to notch another arrow. “I know you can do it.  Just relax.” Marty said gently as Yutsuki almost seemed to fall into a trance. “Focus on breathing, control your heartbeat, feel the wind on your skin, see the wind in the grass.  You can hit your target; you will hit your target.” Marty said as he genuinely wanted to help her improve her archery skills.

Yutsuki made the slightest correction before she loosed the arrow.  It flew through the air and hit the target dead center. “Onii-sama! I did it!” she said as she turned to him.  However, her joy broke, and she looked at the pale and heavily breathing Marty. “Onii-sama, are you okay?” She asked, extremely concerned.

“Yes, I should be,” Marty replied hoarsely. “I don’t know why, but right before you took your shot, it felt as if all the energy in my body left me.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, I just need to sit down.” He replied as he pulled up a chair and promptly did so.

Yutsuki nodded and tentatively went back to archery.  However, she noticed something was extremely different.  The first arrow flew and landed right next to the previous one.  However, she had released this one casually as she knew where the arrow would end up.  Surprised and confused, she fired another arrow, and then another, and another. All of which landed right next to each other.  Yutsuki was wholly shocked as she looked at Marty, who was equally shocked by her sudden incredible accuracy.

“It seems you’ve become a better archer than me,” Marty said with a chuckle.

“It’s only because I have such a good teacher,” Yutsuki replied bashfully.  From then on, no matter how Marty tried, he never could beat Yutsuki at archery.

...

“Onii-sama! why are you playing this game again?” Yutsuki asked as she held up the box for the interactive novel ’72 Demons’. “This has naughty things in it.” She continues with a slight blush. “Yutsuki, it’s not that kind of game.  There are romances and some suggestive frames, but it is nothing like those other games.”

“Really?” Yutsuki asked accusatorily.

“Yes. It’s based on a Chinese light novel as one of the most in-depth interactive novels to date.  If it weren’t so obscure, this work of art would have made a ton of money.”

“What makes it so great?”

“Because you can play as almost any character and the story can end in many different ways.  For example, right now, I’m playing one of the secret characters. He’s considered a minor antagonist in the story.  His name is Feng Long, and he is referred to derogatorily as a ‘Whitehead’ due to his white hair, the staple trait for those who are unable to cultivate and gain strength.  He is rather pitiful, though. His mother disappeared when he was very young, his father was a cripple, and his fiancee broke their marriage. That destroyed his status. Eventually, he did manage to gain a physical body could contend with some of the stronger people, but he never could reach the peak.”

“Really?” Yutsuki asked, not out of interest but rather to humor Marty.

“Yes, and to make matters worse, he doesn’t have a happy ending.  Even though he can try, he never succeeds in a romantic relationship with anyone other than his maidservant, who was completely loyal to him.  Even then, the best result is he dies in the battle against the Demon King Solomon while his maidservant is left behind, pregnant with their child.  She had such a strong commitment and love to him.” Marty continued with a sigh.

“Why are you paying so much attention to the 2-D girls when there is a real one right in front of you,” Yutsuki said dejectedly under her breath.

“Did you say something?”

“Nothing.” Yutsuki quickly responded as she shook her head, though her cheeks reddened.

“Yutsuki, if I died, I wouldn’t mind being reincarnated in a world like this.”

“You shouldn’t say such things.”

“Relax, I’m not going to die anytime soon,” Marty replied.

“But you’re going away soon.”

“We can still stay in touch, and I’ll come to visit every once in a while.”

“Really?”

“Of course, has your Onii-sama ever lied to you?”

“There was that time when my last popsicle disappeared.”

“Let’s go do some archery practice,” Marty replied as he quickly exited the room.

“Onii-sama,” Yutsuki said as she chased him out with a happy pout.

...

Several years later, Yutsuki awoke after having a pleasant dream.  She reached over, turned on her phone, and opened a text message. The text was the ‘congratulations’ that Marty had sent after he watched her win her archery competition. “Onii-sama, why haven’t you called Yutsuki?  Yutsuki misses you a lot and wants to see you again.” She said in a sad pout.

Suddenly, a golden light flashed in the room as she became surrounded by something reminiscent of a magic circle.  In a panic, she tried to exit outside the circle but found an invisible barrier which prevented her from leaving. “Otou-sama! Onii-sama!” she managed to shout out in fear before she disappeared from the room.  

The next instant, she found herself in a completely foreign place.  The very large room was extremely dark, and she saw several older men, including one with a crown on his head.  Given the circumstances, the fact that she was in her pajamas, and seeing a bunch of older men looking at her, Yutsuki was on the verge of a panic attack.  Then, with the flap of fabric, a very light jacket was placed on her shoulders along with two gentle hands that slightly turned her. When she saw the person who put the jacket on her, all of her fear and the panic disappeared into smoke as she saw that familiar gentle smile.  Elation and surprise filled her, and she couldn’t help but ask in disbelief: “Onii-sama?”