It had been a few days since our first [Quest] in Isekai Online and let me tell you, a lot had gone on after that day. While we were happy about our recent success, both of us were having trouble in our school lives. Sure, I'd managed to finish my homework after we logged out, but the fact our class already announced for our mid-terms exams occurring in about two weeks had caught me off-guard.
I just groaned and slapped my face when I learned this. I had been so focused on the game and my friends lately that I had neglected my class schedules almost completely. It wasn't any better for Kazuki as he told me that his school was going to have a physical education test for the upcoming Intramural sports next week. I knew he'd already mentioned me this a million times now, but the fact he lacks in physical strength and needs to pass this test avoid flunking P.E. may be a problem for him. Usually, I would ignore this fact, but the worry of my brother's shortcomings might cause him to bug me every day. Not only that, I couldn't just leave him to deal with this alone. I had my reasons why, but I knew this was one dilemma I can't just ignore.
As for the game itself, we didn't abandon it entirely because of our studies. After school, Kazuki and I sometimes logged into the game to chat with Mari, and to try gaining more [EXP] for our combat skills. There was no real reason behind all of that grinding except to blow off some steam and our inner frustrations regarding the upcoming exams.
It wasn't until today when Mom left due to a journalism assignment. And since Dad was working overtime, we were all alone to fend for ourselves for a few days. Though I wasn't worried about it one bit. I was in the kitchen chopping carrots, onions, and cabbages to prepare for dinner. I heard some footsteps behind me, which I stopped chopping and turned around to see my brother entering the kitchen.
"Oh, Kaz. I didn't expect you to be here so early," I said somewhat startled due to his sudden appearance.
"Well, I actually need some help with my Spanish work again, but you seem to be pretty busy here," Kazuki said before flashing a suspicious grin that made me a bit nervous. "Then again, I never expect that of all people, my own brother would take Mom's place in cooking dinner."
Ugh... just seeing Kazuki's grin reminds me a lot of those evil villains in cartoons and some anime. Or a certain long-haired old man in that one video game-based anime that I never played before. Still, I was still a bit embarrassed, which didn't help especially considering that I was currently wearing a white apron saying "Kiss the Mom". (Why did Dad give it to her as a birthday present in the first place?!)
Regardless, I just sighed and said, "You're just lucky I'm here to prepare meals while Mom is out of town. Thank goodness she taught me how to cook before she left."
Kazuki just chuckled before he jumped on one of the dining chairs. "Don't worry about it, bro. Besides, you did ask Mom to teach you, and you do need some cooking knowledge for the game. If we want to survive the world of <Volo>, we have to learn all the skills of our chosen <Mastery> as we can! Plus, I'm getting tired of eating nothing bread and fruit from the NPC shops."
He had a point. During our ventures in the game a few days ago, we had to manage our hunger levels with some [Bread], [Apples], and [Pears]. And while the mentioned fruits tasted normal as in ones in the real world, the bread in the game tasted a bit bland, almost like a salty cracker and unseasoned instant noodles. Just the thought of it made me want to stay away from the real-life versions for a while.
"Yeah... Now that I think about it, I got some ideas regarding my [Cooking] skill," I muttered as I scratched my chin while looking at the vegetables on the chopping board. "But let's think about it after dinner and homework. I'll help you with your Spanish homework later."
Kazuki didn't say anything else. Instead, he just sighed and nodded at me before he left the kitchen. I couldn't blame him. He's not a genius when it comes to certain subjects as well as PE, but he is still a good kid and I want him to succeed in his studies. In any case, I focused my attention back to preparing tonight's dinner.
----
A few hours later, I was back in my bedroom as Kazuki and I prepared our <VeilCons> to log in into <Isekai> once more.
"Remember, Kaz. We're just going to play for about 30 minutes or so," I said. "We need to be early for our exams tomorrow and I don't want Mom to come down on us once she gets back home."
"Don't worry about it, Hayate! We only need you to do some [Cooking] tests that you've mentioned," Kaz answered. "Besides, we got plenty of items and ingredients from those monsters. So it would be a waste to sell them to NPCs if we don't utilize our non-combat <Masteries> more often."
"You're right. But let's finish this quickly and try to avoid encountering any problems in the game."
We then laid down on our own beds with the <VeilCons> on our heads and eased ourselves before shouting out the trigger words:
"<Dive In>!"
As the devices on our heads began to activate, I slowly slipped into unconsciousness as a familiar flash of light clouded my vision.
----
Once I opened my eyes, I found myself staring at a wooden ceiling right above me, though I wasn't surprised at this. We were in the room we rented in the inn, which after our several trips in the game for a few days, we started to call this room our very own "apartment" of sorts in this virtual fantasy world. But to be honest, the more time we spent in this room, the more <Lapi> we had to spend in order to retain our access to spawn in this world without being bombarded by other players at in town square.
As I got up from my bed, I saw Kaz yawning as he got up and stretched his arms. "Well, it's a new day for us in <Volo>! Though, it's almost afternoon, but still..."
Yet as I watched my brother check on his menu, I began to wonder:
Did I make the right choice? Do I have to risk myself to take care of the one who has always stood by my side beforehand?
To be honest, I hadn't always been an overprotective brother. In fact, in the past I had been more distant and careless towards Kaz.
----
I was in middle school back then. Dad was starting out as one of the assistant programmers in a well-known company while Mom was barely home due to covering a massive political scandal. I didn't much care about anything. I didn't socialize with my classmates too often. Heck, I even ignored Kazuki and barely talked to him even when he was little. I didn't feel anything for him at that time. All I did back then was to watch TV and surf the internet without a care in the world. It's not that I was bored with the world, I just felt that there was something in my life that was missing, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I even started questioning myself about my own future.
What do I want to do with my life? What should I achieve? What should I become when I grow up?
I often asked myself this whenever I overheard my classmates talk about their parents or how they wanted to be something like a police officer or an actor someday. But what would they gain in return? Helping people is rewarding, but is that all you want to do? And even if you're famous, what will you really get in return?
Just what is it that I really want in life?
I lived this way of thinking until that day.
It was almost winter and I was 13 years old walking down the usual road from my middle school to my house alone. Usually, while there was a school bus to take me home, I just preferred to walk home because it was another way for me to let off some steam from my mundane school days. It would have been the same monotonous day until I saw a group of boys dragging someone to the park that I was about to pass through. I was hoping that I could just ignore them and move on. But I didn't. Because when I took a closer look at the person they were dragged into the park, I saw that it was Kazuki, who was 7-years-old at the time, and was covered in bruises and dirt all over his face, arms, and clothes.
When I saw him and those boys, I began to wonder if it had something to do with his problems at that time. Ever since he'd started school, he often came home from primary school with bruises and a few bandages on his face. Mom became very worried whenever she saw him in that state and tended his injuries. When I passed them by one day, I witnessed her asking him if he was having trouble with school lately. However, Kaz just responded with no and yet, before I knew what happened, I just saw him frown as tears began to flow from his eyes.
I wanted to walk away and avoid any conflict. But just remembering him with his tears and depressed state made me stop and stare at my brother as the bullies forced him inside the park. I wanted to help him in any way I could, but was it worth it to do so? I'd ignored Kazuki for so long that I barely even knew him that time. I didn't want to get involved with those bullies, but how could I just ignore that after seeing my own brother in that state?
I didn't have much of a choice. I changed directions and silently followed them into the park. From there, I began to learn about Kazuki's plight. I kept silent as I watched from behind a tree as the boys pushed Kaz to the ground while the boy with a black backpack spoke up first.
"You're a real doofus, Palmer. It must be because you have that stupid name in the first place. I mean, Kazuki? Just what kind of mother did anyone call you "Kaz-ugly"?"
"Nah, "Kaz-ugly" doesn't sound very good. How about "Kabby"? Maybe his parents should call him that instead?"
"Yeah. Not to mention you're such a wimp at everything. I can't blame you that you're too slow at PE and jungle gyms."
"Not to mention how clumsy you are whenever you try to leave school, can't even walk a few steps without tripping over the sidewalk. At least, that's what the rumors say about you. I wonder what your parents are like."
"Hey, he has a brother. But I doubt he's all that brotherly to him anyways. The only time he ever mentioned him was on the first day of school, and he's never showed up to stop us. Maybe, in reality, your brother doesn't care at you at all. Maybe you did something to make him hate you, such as being born in the first place? Come on, spit it out!"
Ugh, those insults were bad enough, but just the mention of my family, including myself in one of them was enough to drop my backpack and marched towards the bullies. I didn't think twice when I did nor did I question why I was doing this. Because of this, I did something that I'd never done before until then. I just intervened. No second thoughts. I just pushed the leader of the bullies away from Kazuki while blocking their path from him. Secretly, I was a bit shocked at what I'd just done. I was even shocked when I heard my brother whimper and turned to see him staring at me with those wide green eyes of his. Yet at the same time, I felt relieved and angry. It was that feeling that made me wake up from my life of questions.
Of course, he didn't like it very much. The leader rubbed his shoulder and shouted, "H-Hey, what's with you?! Can't you see we're b-"
I didn't let him finish. I just gave them a death glare that would scare even the most aggressive dog away, which was enough to silence them in fear.
"I heard everything you brats just said. Beating up my brother is bad enough for him, but spreading false rumors about him and my family is crossing the line! Leave us alone or else."
I hoped that cliché line that time would shoo the bullies away. But the leader just grinned at me and approached me very suspiciously.
"So you're Kabby's brother, huh? Heard you did bad things to him la-"
Once more, I interrupted him by grabbing his collar and narrowed my eyes even more as I said in a deep and toxic tone, "I got a tip for you and your lackeys. Mess with my brother and you're messing with me. Unless you want a mouth full of fist, I suggest you keep it nice and shut. Got it?!"
I didn't say anything else. Just my glare and warning alone was enough for the leader to froze in fear and silence before I released my grip on him. I didn't know that time that my actions were a bit scary and violent, but I wasn't thinking clearly. All I could think of was my brother and nothing else.
"F-Fine! We'll get you for this, Palmer!" The bully leader shouted before he and his lackeys ran out of the park. I didn't care where they were going as I turned my attention to Kazuki and began escorting him to a nearby bench.
To be honest, I wasn't thinking about what I was doing back then. But now that I think about it, I realized that something clicked in me that day. I didn't know what it was until after my first encounter with those bullies, and we were walking home together. This was the first time for us to walk home together as Kaz took a different route than mine. So it was a bit of surprise for both of us. And as we walked, we talked to each other for the first time for a while.
"W-Why did you protect me?" Kazuki asked. "I didn't want to make them angrier than they usually are at me."
I sighed at this. I actually had no clue why I protected him and acted on my own whim. But then again, I did have to tell him the reason.
"Because I hated the thought of just leaving you alone with those jerks who spread stupid false rumors about you." Well, it was more of a false excuse than a reason. "Plus, you were struggling to defend yourself back there."
"How can I defend myself? Like those guys said, I'm too weak to fight back at anything. I can't even pass PE."
As I turned around when I heard this, I could still see his frown on his face, a sign that he had been through a lot lately. I couldn't blame him. He had to endure those physical and mental scars just to get through his school life with those bullies running around.
"Why can't you just ask for help? Heck, why can't you tell your teachers and Mom instead?"
"How can I? Wayne and his friends are very popular at my school. When I tried to ask my classmates for help, they just ignored me because they said I wasn't an American. And whenever I tried to tell the teacher, Wayne just makes up an excuse that he's just helping me "train me for PE". Not to mention he beats me up whenever I try to ask Mom or anyone else for help. I-I just don't know what to do. I don't know who to turn to or who to tell anymore. I just want to get away as far away from Wayne as possible! I-I..."
Kazuki's words made my heart jump for a moment. He really was suffering and he had to keep his mouth shut in order to avoid even more of his bullies' wrath. Just hearing about this made me compare this Wayne guy to a supervillain. Yet at this point, I didn't know what to do with Kazuki's dilemma. Part of me wanted to ignore this, yet another wanted me to help him.
It wasn't until we passed by a secondhand bookstore. They were having a cleaning sale on some novels and children's books at that time, at which I noticed a certain book that was displayed on the top of a book stack. It was a fantasy novel with a cover that had three people with different races. However, the one that I was drawn was short and wearing a robe. He reminded me of a hermit, but he was wielding a sword and has a determined expression on his face on the cover. He reminded me so much of Kazuki, but bolder and courageous. Just seeing this gave me an idea.
"Here, wipe off your tears for a second," I said to him as I gave him a handkerchief to wipe his tears. But I didn't say anything else after that as left him alone for a few minutes while I grabbed the book and entered the bookstore. Once I left there, I offered the fantasy novel I just bought to Kazuki.
"What is this?" He asked.
"Something for you to read back home. Maybe it would help cheer you up."
I expected him to accept it, but Kazuki just stared at the book with a confused expression on his face. Now that I'd thought about it, he was still too young to know about literature. Then again, I did want to help him in any way I could.
"Don't worry about it. Just think of it as one of the storybooks you've read so much back home. Except with no pictures. You may able to learn a thing or two from it."
With that, Kazuki held out his right hand as he started to grab the book. Then...
----
The next thing I knew, I felt something was slapping my cheeks. Turns out, it was just Kaz trying to gently tap my face.
"Oh... I thought your connection got lagged for a second there," he said. "Ready to go?"
Oh yeah, I was so focused on remembering my past that I'd almost lost my sense of time. But then again, just reminiscing about that day made me realize something. What would've happened if I hadn't intervened that day? And what would've happened to me and Kazuki? Would we have remained distant? I still got questions about it even to this day. But right now, I had some important things to do. Not only as Kazuki's brother but as his <Guardian Player> and partner.
"Sorry about that. I got lost in thought there for a second," I said as I scratched the back of my head. "Don't worry about it. Let's get going."
I quickly got out of my bed and changed my clothes through my [Inventory] before we left our room.