Sister and Talents

In front of me was a girl I both knew and didn't know. Well, no, it'd be better to say I knew her personally and yet...impersonally at the same time.

She has long black hair that easily reached her lower back with some parts even reaching her hips, there was a beauty mark underneath her left eye and said eyes are black in color. She's decently tall for a girl and she has a somewhat athletic and slender build. All in all she's a beautiful girl in her late-ish teenage years.

I know her name because she's my sister. Well, foster sister to be specific. Naomi Tanizaki.

I also know her name because she's an anime character from a series called 'Bungou Stray Dogs'.

As I was still registering what I was seeing and going through my memories like a mad man to see if what I was seeing was correct and not some sort of vision problem from being hit by a truck...Naomi was also frozen while looking at me. She dropped the bag she was holding and a bunch of apples rolled out as she took a shaky step forward, still looking at me with disbelieving eyes.

I didn't have a moment to think a second further as I felt her pretty much flash toward me, her first step being the only shaky step and all the steps afterward had been filled with reckless abandon. She collided with me and hugged me so tight I felt like I was being choked to death by a snake.

"Nii-sama...Nii-sama...!" Naomi continued to whisper with a fragile voice intermittent with sobs. Whether it was muscle memory or actual empathy, I reached around the suddenly frail-looking girl and hugged her in return. The shaking tone of her voice and the sobbing only got louder as a girl, who'd no doubt had to put on a brave face for however long I'd been under, was finally able to let loose whatever was inside of her, "I...I-I thought you were nev-never gonna wake--wake up, again...!" she continued to speak, her sobbing getting worse as that dark possibility came to mind.

Without even a second thought and fueled by the new memories and this body, I rubbed Naomi's back before putting on a smile and speaking in a still somewhat hoarse voice, "Hey, it's okay, Naomi...I'm awake now, aren't I? Plus, we're the same age, so don't you feel embarrassed that you're crying like this? What if someone came in and saw a young woman crying like this? I'd probably die of embarrassment, personally," I joked, trying to lighten the mood which seemed to work when I felt Naomi pinching my waist before looking up at me with teary eyes.

"Who cares what other people think...I don't care as long as Nii-sama's back for good," she said this with a pointed stare which told me it was a question. Somewhat, anyway.

Sighing, I pulled one of my arms away from the hug and put it on top of Naomi's head before ruffling it about a bit, "Yeah, yeah, I'm back for good. So stop all this crying and worrying...I was wondering where my strong-willed and cool sister had gone when you started crying, you know?" I continued to joke despite the situation.

I guess you could say I joke a lot during serious situations. I mean, I understand when to keep my mouth shut during GENUINELY serious situations but right now all I'm trying to do is put my sister at ease--...Huh. Already thinking of her as my sister. That's weird. Brain chemistry, hormones and memories are weird, I guess. Would explain why I have all these new feelings flooding around inside my body.

Anyway, upon hearing what I said, Naomi looked at me with eyes that were borderline sparkling, "Nii-sama thinks I'm a cool little sister?" she asked. Though this time it was more of a rhetorical question.

I still answered, "No, I said sister. You're the same age as me--" but I was interrupted by Naomi suddenly shooting up and away from me as she seemed to have moved on to a new topic.

"I need to go tell the doctors your awake--Do you need some water as well, Nii-sama? I'll go get some water and the doctors!"

...And with that she dashed off.

"...Jeez," I sighed before smiling and rubbing my eyes. From my memories she's always been like this. Despite being a renowned 'big sister' type at our middle school, a girl all the girls look up to and idolize, she's always a klutz when it involves me. My knowledge from my other life, the life I just came from, tells me this is true. She's a proven bro-con. Not that I needed anime knowledge to see that.

Deciding to be a bit quieter this time, I whispered to the system, "Yo, so, uh, can you bring up that screen again? It disappeared after Naomi dove into me--Also, hang on," I stopped speaking before continuing...but mentally, this time, 'Does this work? I really don't want someone to think I'm a mental patient.'

[It sure does work, partner!] the energetic voice spoke but this time purely inside my head instead of through a screen.

Speaking of screens, another one popped up with five things inside of it.

[Berserker Body (D Ranked), Imagawa Body (C Ranked), Imagawa Clan Martial Arts (F+ Ranked), Talented Body: Strength (EX Ranked) and Talented Body: Stamina (EX Ranked)]

[These are the talents and skills I awakened when I went through your bloodline and extracted the necessary information. I had to do a teeny tiny bit of omniscience to find out the martial arts that are made for your bloodline but hey--What's a little divine retribution when it means we can have a load of fun, right?] the energetic voice spoke up, sounding a little...older this time.

'You sound...older. You evolving or adjusting to my age or something?' I asked, curiously, before asking another set of questions, 'Also, what in the hell does that stuff mean? I mean, I'm pretty sure that's too much stuff for someone untalented like me, right?'

[Something like that, Seth. I'm adjusting and changing to be the perfect assistant and partner to you! It's just how I was made by Chaos. You could say that the more time I spend with you, the close and closer I get to being human-like and having a personality and such!] it said, seeming genuinely excited.

'Huh...not gonna go all Skynet on me, are you?' I asked, half-jokingly, half-absolute seriously.

The system laughed, a sort of robotic laugh that got more seamless and human like as it continued before the system let out an exhale and answered, [No, Seth, you won't have to deal with me nuking most of America,] it returned the joke to my surprise before it continued, [Despite how divine I may be because of my creator, I'm still, at my core, an A.I. I must follow the three rules of robotics as decreed by Chaos themselves.]

One it had said that, multiple different screens appeared in front of me, each a description of the talent awakened by the system.

[Berserker Body (D Ranked) - This body type gives the user a unique physique that produces many more endorphins than a normal human to severely dampen any pain and exhaustion the user feels. It also allow them to empty oneself of all rational restraints in battle and completely immerse oneself in combat becoming a dangerous warrior for any foe they come across. The requisite for this power to activate, however, is either overwhelming anger or excitement. Usually in the context of a fight. The product of this berserk rage is usually an enhanced physical condition regardless of injuries or previous ailments (Upgrades Strength, Agility and Stamina by an entire rank).]

[Imagawa Body (C Ranked) - This body type gives the user an innate talent in martial arts, killing and everything to do with physical combat. At the current rank, it quintuples the speed of training in either martial arts or exercising the body itself.]

[Imagawa Clan Martial Arts (F+ Ranked) - This skill, at it's current rank, gives the user an increase in talent for the unique martial arts of the Imagawa Clan and gives the user the knowledge needed to practice this martial art. This style is made up of four different katas, or forms, each of which must be fully mastered in order for the Imagawa Style to be complete. This style places a high focus on adaptability and applicability, and many of the techniques are not set movement patterns but basic principles which can be applied in multiple situations.*(This skill only gives the opportunity and knowledge needed to train this style of martial art. The results depend on the user)]

(*A/N - Hmmm, I wonder what this sounds like~?)

[Talented Body: Strength (EX Ranked) - This body type gives double the results when training strength.]

[Talented Body: Stamina (EX Ranked) - This body type gives double the results when training stamina.]

'...What the fuck? These are pretty strong, right?' I asked no one in particular but the system still gave me a reply instead of staying quiet.

[They're decent skills, yeah. Like I said, your bloodline is filled with potential and I only excavated the most useful ones for your right now. I'm also of divine origin...so I could excavate and find talent inside your specific genetics no matter how small or insignificant it's amount was!] the system said, sounding smug, and I couldn't help but feel a burning in my chest.

Bringing a hand up to my chest and gripping at the hospital gown over my somewhat atrophied chest, I couldn't hold back the wide smile as I spoke to myself, 'I genuinely thought I'd lost this feeling...! This burning...this fire to improve!' I let out a low and hoarse laugh before I quieted down and continued with my internal thoughts, '...I guess I only buried it because of despair at my own lack of talent. My own uselessness. But with this system...PaTS...that age old feeling has started burning again! Hahahahaha!'

Not minding any of the pads or sensors stuck to my body, I took them off before standing up from my bed and after a somewhat wobbly start, I looked out of the nearby window, smiling like a madman, 'Oi, Pats...you said there were strong people in this world, right?'

[Yes, yes there are. Plenty of strong people. Why you asking, Seth~?] the System, or Pats as I was gonna call it, obviously knew what I was about to saw from the tone I used when speaking to it but it played along like a good partner.

'Well...I'm asking because I'm pretty pumped up about all the opportunities you've given me...so, wanna have some fun and become strong?'

[Yessssss!] Pats practically screamed in my head but I couldn't find it in me to be annoyed.

I was just as excited as Pats was.