Wrecking the Database 14 (Patreon)

Without a doubt, it’s easier to be with other people.

Some say that solitude is a choice, that people who are alone choose to be alone, and that it is the easier path to chose to be without other people. 

Humans say to other humans that a human without other humans is better off.

It’s an incredibly stupid notion. 

A single person is just a single person. Two people have twice the potential power of two people. A group has the power of a group. A nation is a nation.

Not having someone to worry about is the same as having no one to worry about you. Not having to work with other people is the same as having no one work with you. Not having to worry about love is the same as not having any love. Enjoying silence means that you are surrounded by silence. 

To make it easier to understand, allow me to put it into game terms.

A regular human being is an average mob. Pretty tough unless you’re properly equipped, but just that. Pretty tough. Now, what if that mob got passives when with other mobs? What if that mob could specialize and become stronger just because others of its kind were around? If that type of mob happened reach critical mass in your game, you’d instantly lose because you can’t ever beat it, all its friends, and everything they’ve made to fight you?

Yeah, a human alone is something that can be beaten, but a bunch together is force of nature that can accidentally kill a planet-sized ecosystem. 

But, I digress.

What I meant to say is that I don’t want Komachi to ever be alone.

And, not in the disgusting way some mouthbreathing, tubby NEETs would consider such older-brother words.

I mean it as in I would rather she avoid having to ever feel the same way I used to. When I chose to reject everyone and everything else, lead a life for my sake and only my sake, and take the paths of least resistance, because they were the only paths available to me. 

With the people we had with us, with everything I was doing alongside everyone else, I was trying to create a foundation for Komachi that would have her never feel anything similar to what I did. 

It wasn’t going to be easy.

Komachi was a people person, an individual who was in every Student Council she could hope to be in, and she had a multitude of friends and companions. I could count the people I could call acquaintances and… friends with ease. And, may I remind you that I’m a humanities major, meaning my abilities in regards to numbers is severely limited in a myriad of ways. 

So, whereas I am an individual who could survive alone and with very little contact with others due experience, the same could not be applied to my little sister.

As always, when I returned to our home in the evening, I could hear her sobbing softly in her sleep.

…

“Komachi requires true companions, you say, my partner across time and space!?” Why I . thought Zaimokuza would be any help to me was a mystery. The tubby-bastard-turned-idol was a mess of a person. Seriously, he’s a NEET who’s become genderbent due to crossing over into another world and became some sort of chevalier with cheat abilities. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that she was the protagonist, but the fact remains that even if Otaku had no taste, they’d choose a better personality than Zaimokuza. This kind of LN won’t sell… at least anymore. “Why, I would be more than happy to take her under my wing, to journey across the lands, and form bonds of friendship!”

“I said she needed friends with normal people, Zaimokuza. Since you’re not normal, people, or capable of making friends, you don’t need to apply.” There was no point in mincing words. Despite the fact that Zaimokuza now looked like your average, blonde idol chevalier from a shitty LN, this person before me still had the heart and soul of an Otaku. You’ll never spend time with my little sister. Heck, I wouldn’t let me hang out with Komachi if I wasn’t her brother. If I wouldn’t let me interact with her, you have no chance. “Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, and Totsuka can’t apply because they’re busy. They need friends. Irohasu is no good too.”

“Eh? Why not Irohasu? Our Kitsune Miko will certainly be of great aid to our DPS!”

“Irohasu doesn’t like tubby bastards. She’s only treating you nicely behind your back. You have no chance with her at all.”

“That bitch! We shan’t allow her to corrupt Komachi-chan!”

“What did you just call my little sister!?”

“I mean, H-Hikigaya-chan?”

“Better.”

Yukinoshita was busy levelling up with Totsuka and Yuigahama helping her out. With the Mentor system, those two were more than capable of assisting our Ranger/Diplomat with levelling up quickly and making up for lost time. Irohasu, meanwhile, was a healer and had to be accompanied by someone who can actually fight. That meant Zaimokuza or Komachi would have to accompany her, otherwise she’ll simply have to farm weaker mobs.

Currently, she was on “brand” duty, as in she was doing small quests for the townsfolk of our area of operations. The former class president’s foxy side, coupled with her powers, and the appeal of being a Kitsune was really working in everyone’s (my) favor. The town was very happy with our group. Soon we were going to have a base of operations that would support us and give us more for what we were already doing. 

However, what they were doing weren’t that important. 

What was important was handling Komachi’s current issue; she needed to have friends that were normal and not connected to one another.

Yes, without a doubt, the group that was currently present was connected to me instead of her. These weren’t her friends, but my acquaintances, and she’d brought them into the game for my sake.

She only had me.

And, quite frankly, I’m not much.

But, I’m not good at having other people make friends, so I was going to have Zaimokuza do it.

Why? Because everyone can have fun mocking Zaimokuza. Nothing brings a group of people better than another person that they can pick on, bully, and despise. Hmmm? What’s that? That’s inhuman? Well, like I said before, Zaimokuza doesn’t count. This is the perfect job for him. Without a doubt, Zaimokuza is the only one I can entrust with this duty.

“I want you to take Komachi and Irohasu to the nearest city. Make a safehouse for us there, just in case we’re found, and make a name for yourselves.” I had no illusion that my little hideaway was going to be found. Players are inherently curious about finding new things, then finding a means to destroy it for fun. It’s what I would do if I found something new and unknown in a world where I didn’t have to deal with consequences and had the power of a god. “Make a guild too, if you want.”

“Didn’t you say that Irohasu hates me and would make Komachi hate me too!?” Eh? Is that a problem? “Don’t look at me like that, Hachiman! I’m not trash! I’m a person with feelings too, you know!?”

“A person with feelings would go back to their real body, instead of staying as blonde loli, you blonde loli!” Stop with that pouting and teary eyes! It’s digusting D I S G U S T I N G! Even though you’re currently pulling it off, I see your true self! The truth behind this young, small, and cute woman is that she’s actually a man in a woman’s body! And, not for the right reasons, but for perverse reasons! Zaimokuza has chosen to be a loli because he finds himself attractive now! What a freak! “You’re freak! A freak!”

“I spent eighteen hours making this model! I’m not giving it up, especially after I heard how shitty the sliders are from Saika!” Oi! What did you just say!? Did you just call Totsuka by his first name!? This is blasphemy of the highest order! You don’t have the right to say such things. Take it back! I demand that you call Totsuka by his proper name, you heretic! I’m fine with you being who you are now, a perverse, tubby bastard in the body of a living anime girl, but I’ll fight you to the death if you call Totsuka by his first name again! I-I haven’t even manage to do that y-yet!, idiot! You’re going to make me cry! “The day I abandon this body is the day I die, dammit!”

“Then, go die!”

“No, you!”

“You!”

“You!”

Again, I must reiterate, despite everything, Zaimokuza was the only person I could rely upon to try and make Komachi feel better.

Though, I suppose that I had make her agree with me first.

…

I chickened out.

There’s no doubt about it. I was running away at the moment. Though I was using the pretense of going out to farm, getting both gold and acclaim from the former-NPCs, I was definitely running away. 

The simply fact of the matter was that I didn’t have the courage to send my sister away.

Yes, no matter how much Komachi was going to complain about things, I was definitely being courageous in my current actions.

A less considerate person would simply allow things to go as they were. They would say that Komachi was an adult, that I didn’t need to coddle her, and that I should simply let her be. Ignoring her current issues in favor of our current issues, I would be better off focusing on bigger problems while not allowing my stress to rise. I was doing plenty of things, as well as encountering the same problems she did. By all means, I had every right to keep quiet… if I wasn’t her brother.

Brothers don’t get to decide that they’re doing enough for their little sibling.

Brothers do as much as they can for their younger sisters, especially in times such as these.

Though I was fine with this current world, Komachi was ripped out of a life that she adored, that she was successful in, and where her lousiest responsibility was keeping track of a big brother who was somewhat useless. Her type of person didn’t need to be in another world to be protagonist. Another world would be hellish for her. So, I had to do my best to make her current situation a little better.

Even if she was going to hate me for pushing her away, so that I could do whatever I needed to for her sake without her getting hurt, I was fine with that.

As long as Komachi was happy, and didn’t cry herself to sleep, I didn’t mind what she thought of me.

If Hikigaya Hachiman called himself a big brother, he could do at least that much for the girl who fervently stayed his little sister, despite him being himself.

So, without a doubt, I was being a coward for putting it off as long as I could.

…

I touched my cheek.

The slap hadn’t hurt, but the message that it sent did, especially when it’d been delivered with a tear-gaze and a scowl I’d never seen cross Komachi’s face before. 

“Ne, Hachiman, are you sure this is the right thing to do?” Zaimokuza arrived after I delivered the news. The tubby-bastard-turned-loli looked at me with pity and concern. Naturally, that made me feel worse. If Zaimokuza could pity me, that meant was I was truly, currently the lowest of the low. “Hikigaya-chan seems like she really wants to stay with us.”

“Yeah, senpai. You managed to convince me, but it’s rude to force things like this onto younger women, you know?” Irohasu appeared at the same time Zaimokuza did. My underclassman’s admonishment didn’t sting as much as the slap, nor Zaimokuza’s pity, but it still stung a little. Given the fact that she was the sociable sort, she probably understood Komachi’s feelings more than I did, though the fact that she wasn’t calling me an idiot meant that I did something right, at least. “You know, even if she’s sad here, she’s still with her older brother! Even she’s happy over there in Akihabara, where things are more normal with normal people, she won’t be with her older brother!”

I could say a lot of things. About them not telling me such things before I made my decision. Maybe, I could even be angry at them instead of feeling miserable. Or, of course, I could just say that what’s done was done and that I didn’t intend to change anything. 

But, what would be the point of that? 

All it would do would make Zaimokuza or Irohasu feel bad, or have it seem like I was stubborn.

I wasn’t stubborn.

Standing my ground is too exhausting. Speaking as an experienced office worker, if there’s an issue complaining about complaints is futile. Nothing will get done if everyone’s convinced, they’re right. That was the situation now. Zaimokuza and Irohasu wanted me and Komachi to continue to get along, but there was no way I was going to tell them about how Komachi really felt, while it was very obvious to me that Komachi didn’t want to be sent away to be safe while I was in danger. 

Even if I wanted to be in danger to make her safe. 

“It’ll have to do for now, but I’ll figure something out with everyone later.” The short-term solution will still have its effect, but it was obvious that Komachi wasn’t going to be as happy or content as I’d like with it. It was a short-term solution only. I had to figure out something that solved the problems that it would make in the short term. In effect, I solved a problem while giving myself more, but if that was how it was… I just had to solve that problem too. And, if I failed, Komachi would still be fine. In the end, my loss in this fight didn’t matter. It would only a bonus to my goal of making Komachi safer and more content, if I were happy beside her too. “But, for now we need to get things in order. The two of you know what to do right?”

“Hmmm, alright! I’ll believe you just this once, Senpai!” Irohasu replied before Zaimokuza, but that was fine since she was the one who would have to carry the three of them in their current task. “As long as you make sure to bridge the gap between you and Komachi-san, your adorable Kouhai will do her best to trick—convince people to join our Guild to serve—join us in a group that benefits each other mutually!”

Huh, when Irohasu says it like that…

“…we sound like the bad guys in this LN, huh?”

“Teehee!”

Well, at least Komachi’s going to be out of the way when all this foreshadowing hits like a hammer.