I really don't want to be reborn.

Kyosuke Kosaka smiled and said, "That's perfect, I'm not afraid of any of that."

Her palms were slightly sweaty because her heart was racing during the thunder. She wanted to pull her hand away, but Kyosuke didn't let go. Instead, he held her hand even tighter.

Boys' hands are much bigger than girls', so he easily wrapped the other hand in his own.

Are you afraid of the dark and thunder?

"Yes, I'm very scared."

She sighed softly, "My father has never been around since I was little. When my mother goes out to work, it gets really bad if there's a thunderstorm at night."

Before he could speak, Kasumigaoka Utaha immediately added, "I wish I could be as strong and brave as you."

"I am indeed very brave."

Kyosuke Kousaka's voice was calm, floating in the air as plainly as the air itself: "Kirino was also afraid of thunder when she was little. She was so afraid, so I had to become fearless... As for being strong, I'm used to it."

Kasumigaoka Utaha couldn't detect the desolation beneath his calm words: "That's why I said you're amazing."

"Yes, I'm very capable, so you don't need to be afraid."

The cause-and-effect relationship he spoke of transformed into an unnamed joy that fermented in her heart, turning into wine that slowly seeped from her red eyes, drop by drop.

"Oh, it's Mr. Yabuki."

Under the bridge by the river, they met Kentaro Yabuki and his wife, who were also out for a walk. Kyosuke Kosaka waved and greeted them, and the young couple smiled kindly back at them.

Kentaro Yabuki seemed quite happy tonight. After talking to Kyosuke Kousaka, he couldn't wait to pull his wife away, bending down as they walked with his ear pressed against her stomach.

"It seems... she's pregnant with that woman's child."

"You have a baby? That's so wonderful."

Kasumigaoka Utaha sighed softly, and then thought about whether she and Kousaka Kyosuke would be as happy as that young couple in the future, and the blush on her face deepened.

Kousaka Kyousuke shook his head.

This happiness will probably only last for a short time.

Around next year, when his new manga "To Love" becomes a bestseller, Kentaro Yabuki will become the highest-paying illustrator in Japan, his wife will be his former assistant, and his daughter will be born. He will reach the pinnacle of his life.

However, fate is cruel. In 08, Yabuki's wife, Shiho Kashiwagi, ran off with a young man who was still in high school, claiming that Yabuki was too busy with work and didn't care about her at all.

However, in reality, after her daughter was born, Shiho Kashiwagi hardly did any housework. As a result, Yabuki had to draw manga and take care of his daughter, and at the same time, he stole Yabuki Kentaro's personal credit card and squandered it.

In the end, he filed for divorce and requested a division of property, citing reasons such as "Yabuki is always drawing manga and doesn't care about her, and their personalities are incompatible".

Kyosuke Kousaka doesn't remember the specific details, but he does remember the final outcome: Shiho Kashiwagi relinquished custody of their three-year-old daughter, the two divided their assets, and Kentaro Yabuki did not sue the third party...

Yes, Kentaro Yabuki is a total doting father to his daughter!

They once mentioned in a casual conversation that Mikan's prototype was supposedly Yabuki's daughter—wait, was it Mikan or Golden Darkness again?

Anyway, Haruna Sairenji, who was modeled after Shiho Kashiwagi, was completely forgotten after that incident, which was actually a laughing stock in the manga world in 08.

Kyosuke Kosaka wouldn't tell him to be careful about his wife's infidelity. "What's done is done," he'd say. "A woman who's meant to cheat will cheat anyway." Besides, that woman wasn't a good person to begin with; so why not just get a divorce?

Anyway, that guy unleashes terrifying fighting power whenever he has a daughter. Tsk tsk, the thought of a daughter-obsessed father reminds me of my own father, like spying on magazine model shoots.

It must have been tough for both of them, Father and Kirino.

"You've worked hard, Kirino. Give me your handbag, you can rest for a bit."

It's the morning of the third day of Summer Comic.

The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was cloudless; it was clearly a wonderful day.

The sun was unusually diligent and generous today, rising early and shining brightly by the time Kirino arrived at the venue, causing a group of heat-averse otaku to lament.

It was only nine o'clock in the morning.

The noisy and crowded otaku lined up in an orderly fashion, waiting for the 10 o'clock start time.

Kirino handed her handbag to her brother with a sweet smile, then took his arm and smiled at Kasumigaoka Utaha: "It's been a long time, Kasumigaoka-senpai."

Kasumigaoka Shiwa remained silent.

The next moment, Kirino was helplessly pushed away by her brother: "Why are you getting so close? Aren't you afraid of getting heat rash?"

That sweet smile instantly crumbled, and the younger sister gave her a look as if she were looking at a prickly prickly heat: "Tch, you don't know what's good for you..."

------

If we calculate it as 2,000 words per chapter, then I've already updated three times today!

Thanks, Digik, and happy May Day!

I'm definitely not happy; I have to keep writing, writing, writing every single day!

Chapter Thirty-One: Take a good rest during May Day, *coo coo coo*

The entrance to Tokyo Big Sight was so crowded it was like a packed train—no, at least a train has a limited area, but this place had no limited area at all; it was a dark mass of people stretching as far as the eye could see.

There were so many people that even people without trypophobia would feel extremely uncomfortable. Kyosuke Kosaka frowned, honestly saying that he felt the same way as his sister.

Although I've been to this place a few times, this is the first time I've participated in a comic event.

Although I've always known this is a grand celebration for otaku twice a year, and I've even heard Saori mention it... I never imagined there would be this many people.

"To be honest, we were on the seller's side a couple of days ago, and standing in the venue, we really couldn't tell how many people there were. Now we really know that saying it's a few thousand is a bit of an understatement."

With his extraordinary composure, Kyosuke Kosaka tried his best to appear calm, glancing at his sister and her otaku friends chatting together.

Seeing the annoyed expression on her face, Kyosuke thought to himself that although the model from the Kousaka family looked impatient, it was just a facade. She was probably quite happy talking to the black cat Saori right now.

If he could feel this way, then his efforts to endure the sweltering heat and spend time with her today wouldn't have been in vain...

Are you so pleased?

Kasumigaoka Utaha seemed to have the ability to read minds, or rather, she was able to accurately analyze his expression: "Hmm, I've been seeing that expression on my mother's face a lot lately."

He really wanted to ask about her family, but he had tried to probe before, and Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't seem very willing to talk about her family situation, so Kousaka Kyosuke couldn't get any information out of her.

Neither she nor her mother are easily tricked into revealing information.

"Kirino is quite lonely when it comes to staying at home. I'm naturally happy that she's found a like-minded friend. Actually, I'm happy as long as she's happy."

"Because she's the younger sister?"

"Yes, she is my sister."

Kasumigaoka Utaha felt a little uncomfortable with the gentleness on his face. She turned her head slightly and saw a fat guy waving his hands and fanning himself. She was a little afraid that the fat guy would turn into sweat. But the next second she felt that her thought was a little disgusting, so she turned back to look at Kousaka Kyosuke.

Seeing him, of course, makes me feel less disgusted.

But how wonderful it would be if that tenderness belonged only to me—that's what the girl thought, and she felt no guilt about such selfish thoughts. She was still holding a grudge against the scene where Kirino Kousaka kissed him in the hospital.

Sometimes, I really want to tell him what happened and then, as a good friend, suggest that he completely resolve his sister's abnormal brother complex, or at least make things clear with her.

Regardless of whether the siblings can behave as Kirino wishes in terms of ethics and law, and regardless of Kasumigaoka Utaha's attitude, their parents would never tolerate this.

She wanted to remind Kousaka Kyosuke, but every time... every time she noticed the weariness deep in his eyes, the words that were about to come out of her mouth quietly faded away, turning into a sigh.

She thought of her younger sister again. When they reunited not long ago, the sister's unfamiliar, confused, and somewhat shy expression had deeply hurt her.

The two people who should have been family seemed to have an unhealable chasm between them, and she didn't want the Kosaka siblings to end up like that because of her.

"Saori, thank you for today—I always end up saying thank you whenever I see you."

Kyosuke Kosaka's voice brought Kasumigaoka Utaha back to her senses. She looked up slightly at the girl who was 1.8 meters tall. Although it wasn't the first time they had met, she couldn't help but be amazed every time she saw her.

Wearing round-back glasses, a headband, and a shirt tucked into her shorts, along with an oversized hiking backpack, her tacky outfit made it hard to believe she was a girl.

And then there's her height, her figure, and those amazingly large, round glasses—the glasses even look bigger than her face, giving one a sense of wonder that the part is greater than the whole, as if clamoring to overturn geometric principles.

"Hoo hoo hoo... Why are you being so formal, Kyosuke? It was I who originally invited Kiri-kun to Summer Comi! Of course, I have to do my best to make her feel as happy as possible."

"You can tell she's very happy right now."

"Yes, yes, I'm even a little jealous of her relationship with Black Cat."

"You really are..."

"Oh my, why are you looking at me like that, Kyosuke?... I see, you're captivated by my beauty, aren't you?"

"Yeah yeah."

Kousaka Kyosuke and Saori chuckled in unison. The unspoken understanding between them made Kasumigaoka Utaha narrow her eyes slightly. Then she noticed that Sawamura Eriri, who had been by her side all along, had somehow run off to the black cat's side.

She had probably been taken by Sawamura to stroll through Tokyo's night markets last night. The shy and timid Kuroneko seemed to get along quite well with her, as the two of them were staring at the game console in Kuroneko's hand, whispering to each other.

"Aaaaaah! What are you doing, you dead cat?!"

Kyosuke's expression froze as he heard his sister's extremely vulgar screams, a desperate outburst of emotion.

He frowned, feeling he should teach her how to be a lady.

Kirino, no longer able to act like a lady, was glaring angrily at the PSP screen in her hand: "You bastard! You bastard...!"

She was pointing at the black cat, gritting her teeth, her eyes seemingly spitting fire.

The black cat that Kirino was pointing at didn't care at all, and instead glared back coldly: "Hmph, I just fired a few shotgun shells at you, just kidding. This is common in cooperative mode, right? Can you stop picking on me?"

"Ahhhh!"

"It was just a greeting, what's the big deal? You're so embarrassing!"

"Ah-"

"Kirino, don't make monkey noises."

The angry scream was silenced by her brother's words. Her face was so black it looked like ink was dripping down. Kousaka Kirino stared at the black cat with a gloomy expression. The latter had a mocking smile on his lips: "Because I got all the materials from this BOSS, it would be too boring if I didn't find some other fun."

"Hey, you just said you were looking for fun, right? You're looking for fun by attacking me!"

"You misheard... Besides, I'm keeping you company, you newbie who can only fight Lao-Shan Lung and still carts twice. I think you should thank me for being so kind."

"I will never team up with you again!!"

Kuroneko and Kirino glared at each other coldly, turning their faces away as if the other were their mortal enemies who had killed their fathers. The two, who usually missed each other, would act like this whenever they met.

Just like when you have free time, you feel particularly bored and don't cherish your time, but when you get busy, you regret not taking more time to rest.

(Take a good rest during the May Day holiday.)

It's like when you're masturbating, you always feel unsatisfied, and only after you ejaculate do you regret not masturbating longer...