THE SYSTEM (ARC 3: In The Stars)

I'm just your average high-school guy.

I'm a loner, by choice. Nobody really interests me. I have no interest in other people's affairs. I was reading my favorite novel on my way back from school, when suddenly - the novel materialized before my eyes.

A being called the Bukaeki appeared itself before everyone!

"Hello, puny humans blah blah blah, humanity will be destroyed blah blah raise your levels and get superpowers blah blah hunt monsters, or you all will be NTRd!!"

"OH NOOOOO!!!" They all yelled, running around, screaming. But I knew what this is... It definitely is the beginning from the novel I was reading. I remained calm.

"Execute order 69." I uttered, standing in the disoriented crowd. Everyone looked at me.

"Hmm?!? How can a puny human know the secret constellation shop code blah blah blah I am inevitable blah blah you will die now, since this is blasphemy and you shouldn't know this."

"Hah... If you wanted to kill me I'd be dead by now. I know what you want." I kept my cool.

"Grgh..! Bastard! What do you want?"

"Give me the anti-ntr man power."

[SHISUTEMU: You have received 1 [ANTI-NTR] Power!]

"oooooOOOOH! It's him! Anti-NTR Man!" They shouted, screamed, prayed.

They knew in their hearts they'd be safe from now on.

Because I am here.

I am here.

____

"I SAID I'M HERE, YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHING SON, OPEN THE DAMN DOOR! OPEN IT!" The walls of Yuuto's room vibrated with the force of his father's bellow, punctuated by a relentless barrage of knocks and a wild-western cowboy twang that could wake the dead.

"ELDER DRAGON!! I'LL TAKE YOU DO-..." Yuuto roared, jolting awake from his dream.

'Ah, just a dream,' he realized, disappointment washing over him as the real world intruded with its incessant racket.

'They're back...' The thought was a leaden weight in his stomach.

Dragging himself out of bed, Yuuto grumbled under his breath, "Could've at least let me slay the Ugly Bastard Elder Dragon." He threw on some clothes, his frown deepening with every thunderous knock. 'Why come back, you shitty old man? Why not just stay in America with big sis and leave me in peace...'

Stumbling down the stairs, half-awake and wholly irritated, Yuuto was greeted again by his father's booming voice.

"OPEN THE DOOR, I ORDERED!!!"

"Honey, he's probably just getting dressed! It's Sunday!" His mother's voice, a calming contrast.

"Oh, my sweet, darling, beautiful, amazing, excellent wife, I'm merely encouraging our good-for-nothing son to be a bit more prompt."

"I always tell you, it's no use. He's a lost cause. This is Yuu-ni we're talking about. A defective product, through and through. Should've gone for a late abortion after I was born. Who knows, maybe he's conveniently dropped dead while we were away. Or tumbled down the stairs just now."

Yuuto rolled his eyes. 'Ah, the little demon's with them. Fantastic. I know she knows I can hear them...'

"YOUNG MISS! You will not talk about your brother that way!"

"Oh, believe me, my little cutie-pie, I've been perfecting that late-abortion technique since your brother's debut in this world. Mark my words, SOMEDAY, I'LL SUCCEED," their father retorted, warmth and jest mingling in his voice as they huddled behind the door.

"HONEY!" The mother scolded her husband.

With an exasperated click of his tongue, Yuuto unlocked the inner door lock, swinging it open. His mother stood there, arms wide, radiating maternal warmth and ready to engulf her son in a hug.

"Little shit. Couldn't you have found some friends to bother?" Yuuto sneered at his little sister, his face twisting with disdain. He blatantly ignored his mother, who stood frozen, her open arms now hanging in disbelief.

"Like you're one to order me around, Yuu-ni. How about you stop being a disgrace to our bloodline first? Then maybe, just maybe, you can look my way without groveling. You're like, the one sperm-cell that should've been swallowed—"

The little sister's biting words were cut short as their mother's hand met her cheek with a sharp slap.

"How DARE you speak to your own BROTHER like that?!"

Yuuto's face cracked into a smug grin, relishing the sight of his little sister's now-chastened expression.

"No, you're right, I can't order you around. Just like I can't make my shit flush any faster. You really are like a stubborn little—"

BAM.

In a blur of motion, Yuuto's taunt was abruptly silenced by a thunderous dropkick to his face.

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO YOUR OWN SISTER LIKE THAT?!" roared their father, his body a missile of paternal fury as he slammed Yuuto to the floor.

His little sister's lips now curved into a smug smile, mirroring the grin Yuuto wore moments ago, as she looked down at her now-flattened big brother.

"Oh, now you've done it, you deadbeat dad. I'm gonna knock you out of the park!" Yuuto snarled, blood trickling from his nose as he pushed himself up to a crouching stance.

"BRING IT ON, YOU INGRATE!" his father roared back, muscles tensing in anticipation.

The living room transformed into a makeshift wrestling ring as Yuuto and his father grappled, each vying for dominance in their boisterous showdown.

Their mother, witnessing this familiar chaos, let out a weary sigh. "Ahh... Honey, once you've finished your little tussle, could you help me with the luggage?" Her voice carried a resigned acceptance, a melody of long-endured patience as she stepped past the fray and into the house, suitcases in tow. The young sister trailed behind her, rolling her eyes at the spectacle.

This marked the return of the Sakurai family's peculiar brand of normalcy.

4 hours later...

Exhausted and sprawled on the floor, adorned with a tapestry of bruises, the father turned his gaze to Yuuto, who lay beside him equally battered. "So... how was your time alone here?" he asked, a note of curiosity threading through his fatigue as marvelous scents of fresh food roamed the house. Yuuto's mother always cooked something from when he was little. She wasn't much of a chef, so she didn't look up new recipes. Somehow, that made everyone want her food even more - minus Yuuto's little sister, who had a thing for exoticism.

"Fine," Yuuto replied curtly, his eyes unmoving from the ceiling.

"Fine, huh? Did you get up to anything special?"

There was a brief pause as Yuuto weighed his response.

"I killed a man. Dumped his body in a dumpster. Later, someone came and torched the evidence."

His father let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Really, now? Can you ever just give me a straight answer?"

"Can you? I've been here, doing the usual - eating, sleeping, existing. After 19 years, you'd think you'd get my routine. Why do you even bother asking anymore?"

"Because, as much of a fool as you are, you're still my son. My flesh and blood. And you're young, no matter how grown-up you think you are."

Silence fell between them, heavy and unspoken.

"If something's bothering you, you know you can tell me, right? Idiot."

Yuuto's gaze remained fixed on the ceiling. "We both know you can't offer me any new wisdom."

"Maybe I can, and you just don't want to hear it."

"You PHYSICALLY CAN'T. Don't kid yourself, old man."

"You underestimate your old man too much... Haah.." His father's voice trailed off, tinged with resignation.

"There's nothing you can do about that. It's just how it is." Yuuto replied.

The late afternoon sun cast long shadows in the Sakurai living room, where Yuuto lay sprawled on the floor, his father's question hanging in the air.

"Well? What about friends?"

"...Friends?" Yuuto echoed, his voice tinged with a mix of disbelief and annoyance.

"Friends." His father repeated.

Yuuto let out a tired sigh, his gaze drifting to the dust motes dancing in a shaft of light. "You're never gonna stop asking, huh?"

"Beat me once, and I'll stop."

Yuuto clicked his tongue, a familiar sense of defeat washing over him as the lopsided score of their wrestling matches flashed in his mind:

Dad: 101

Draws: 100

Yuuto: 0

"Someday," he muttered, more to himself than to his father.

"So? You got any?"

Silence fell as Yuuto's mind conjured the images of Shun and Sendo. The corners of his mouth twitched in a half-smirk, half-sneer. "Tsk. They ain't even friends... Just some naive kid and a wimp. They're so lame that—"

Before he could finish, his father's booming voice filled the room. "HOOOOOONEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY, OUR GOOD-FOR-NOTHING SON MADE SOME FRIENDS!!!" He sprang up like a jack-in-the-box, bounding towards the kitchen with an energy that belied the bruises coloring his skin.

"H-hey! Shitty old man! I'll kick your ass! They ain't my friends!" Yuuto protested as his face curved into an angry gaze.

"Eh?! Yuu-ni did?! FRIENDS, as in more than one...? I-impossible..." Yuuto's sister's voice, laced with shock and skepticism, cut through the air as she looked up from her phone, perched on the couch.

From the kitchen, their mother's voice carried a warmth that seemed to fill the house. "Oh my!! That's wonderful news...! I'm so happy for you, Yuuto."

Yuuto's cheeks tinged pink, a rare show of embarrassment. He averted his gaze, focusing on a crack in the ceiling. "T-thanks... Mom..." he mumbled, the warmth in his mother's voice making him feel unexpectedly small.

'Haah... Wonder how long they'd keep cheering if they knew I've been away from school this month, not even setting foot in school... Gotta keep that from the little demon at all costs. Time to think of a cover story... And think of how to stop the principal from letting them know...' he thought, his mind already racing with possibilities.