I really don't want to be reborn.

However, it seems that my sister has really made some friends in the past few months, and she also seems to have a boy she likes—otherwise, why would she often invite him over to our house?

Although that bitch brother, who seems to have a tendency towards lolicon, claims to have a girlfriend...

Hinata didn't understand what her older sister was saying when she occasionally blushed, rolled on the floor, and muttered something. The words were difficult to grasp, but she felt that it must mean something like this:

My older sister has someone she likes.

As for whether it's true or not, we'll have to go home and ask Zhuxi. Liuli occasionally confides some secrets to the still somewhat naive Zhuxi.

"Zhuxi, listen to me—"

That's roughly the format, so I'll have to ask my sister to find out for sure.

What if it's true...

If Liuli has someone she likes...

"Ok?"

Hinata, carrying her schoolbag, suddenly noticed a somewhat familiar figure in front of her. It was a fifth-grader who was tall for his age and had a notoriously difficult and irritable temper. His name was... something like Sayaka...

Hinata slowed down.

It seems like that fifth-grade girl in front is stalking someone.

…………

"Kousaka, did your sister make this hat for you?"

"Kirino? You overestimate her."

Today, as usual, he went home with Kohei Akagi. Kyosuke Kousaka touched the knitted hat on his head and said, "But to be honest, it's a little hot wearing this."

Kohei Akagi touched his neat red frizzy hair: "Then why are you still wearing it? By the way, has the Ayase-chan stalking incident been resolved?"

"Ah, that's settled."

"So, so, what did Ayase-chan say? Did she offer herself to you?"

Kyosuke stopped and looked at his best friend: "Why do I feel like you're becoming more and more like a gossipy old woman?"

Akagi's expression visibly fell: "Sena is ignoring me again, what should I do?"

That bastard actually used his sister to change the subject?

"Kousaka, you should have experience, right?"

What experience do I have?

"You were ignored by your sister for a long time before; she almost never mentioned her at school."

Kousaka Kyosuke hesitated to speak.

He couldn't very well say that he repaired his sibling relationship by discovering Kirino's secret of being a homebody; there were too many accidental factors involved, and it wasn't something Akagi Kohei should learn from or imitate.

"If we're talking about experience, then if your sister has any bad habits, you can start from that and discipline her properly—Akagi, what's with that expression?"

Akagi Kohei awkwardly turned his head away.

How was he going to tell his friend about his sister's terrible hobby?

And if Sena gets ignored by her younger sister for rubbing her breasts, there's probably no effective way to calm her down...

"Well then, it's time to part ways!"

"See you tomorrow."

They parted ways at the crossroads and went their separate ways home.

The person who had been following Kosaka at a distance watched the intersection for a while, then, having completed today's task, slowly walked back. As they passed a coffee shop, they were bumped into by a primary school student wearing a newsboy cap.

Sayaka Kakei hurriedly bowed and apologized, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

By the time she looked up, the person she had bumped into was already far away.

Sayaka let out a long sigh of relief and patted her developing chest: "You scared me to death...you scared me to death."

"Knock knock!"

"Waaah!"

Inside the coffee shop, the sound of someone knocking on the glass startled her again. When she saw the person's face, she was surprised. She then ran into the coffee shop and sat down opposite him without any ceremony: "I'm exhausted. What are you doing here?"

"That's strange, why can't I be here?"

Sayaka stared at the face that haunted her nightmares, her body trembling involuntarily: "But...but I clearly saw you go home just now!"

Kyosuke Kosaka was leisurely sipping his coffee when he considerately ordered a lemonade for the elementary school student: "Why do you think that I'm the one wearing a knitted hat walking down that road?"

"Ah! It's that red-haired gay guy who was with you! He's wearing your hat!"

"Akagi is not gay."

Feeling it necessary to defend his best friend, Kyosuke said something, then got down to business: "Did you get a picture? of that kitten?"

"Well, it's too far away. You told me not to get too close."

"Yes, you'll get caught if you get too close."

He took the camera and glanced at it. The result of this snapshot was terrible; he could only see a blurry figure, which seemed like a dream to him.

Just like that first meeting in Shibuya that night.

It was a very special kind of beauty.

Everything expanded like the universe, yet simultaneously condensed within a thick glacier.

Sayaka took a big gulp of lemonade: "From your high school days all the way here—it's obvious, this is a stalker!"

He pursed his lips: "Okay, that's obvious indeed."

It must be said that his furrowed brows and thoughtful expression are indeed quite unique, possessing a gentle handsomeness. His masculine charm is like a constantly rolling sphere, with its active peaks everywhere.

Moreover, when a man is deep in thought, he is as unpredictable as the weather. It's hard to tell whether he will smile gently, coldly, or sneer as he grabs her by the neck.

Like a woman's temper, a man's smile is as inevitable as the weather, and quite handsome—at least this clearly yuri-influenced Kakei Saya, this very naughty elementary school student, blushed...

After waiting for a long time, Sayaka suddenly said, "I've finished doing it for you. Can you give me the photos and recordings now?"

Kyosuke Kosaka opened his eyes, stared at the gloomy sky outside the window, and suddenly smiled, a hint of mockery in his expression.

What are you talking about?

"You said it yourself, if you help me, you can't threaten me anymore."

"Ah."

He did say that.

Sayaka's face lit up with joy, as if she were a pitiful girl being threatened after being photographed nude: "Then, then give it back to me."

Kyosuke Kosaka stood up, his voice cold: "No."

"Huh??? Why?!!"

"Because... I've found that you seem to be very useful."

While saying terrifying things, he smiled like an older brother and waved to Hinata Gokou, who had been following Sayaka outside the store.

------

Thank you, Uncle Jellyfish, for the generous amount of razor blades.

Uncle Jellyfish is alright...

Finished at four in the morning, I'm exhausted.

That's how it is. I save a chapter as a draft, then write a new chapter, and so on, until the drafts are endless!

The previous chapter was a complaint; I wasn't angry.

Honey, don't get angry in this hot weather.

"As white as the height of summer in the dead of winter"—this line comes from the song "The Lover." You uncultured people from the North, you actually dare to mock me.

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Lynx Emerging from the Jungle

The night was cool and still, and I sat by the window.

The living room was filled with the scent of Kasumigaoka Utaha, a very strong scent that even the autumn wind couldn't dispel in a short time.

He liked being surrounded by this atmosphere.

With such a feeling filling my heart, even when recalling the most regrettable things from the past, there will be no more heart-wrenching pain, and I will no longer feel that the massive memories are like fish scales scraped off with a knife.

In this atmosphere, one feels as if the past is like the first light snow of winter, with plum blossoms covering the southern mountains.

The lights were off in the room.

A room without lights would remind him of their first time together.

In the darkness, I felt your beauty.

Like when a beautiful woman turns off the light.

Beside her was a white landline phone, the air still carrying the echoes of their previous conversation. Kasumigaoka Utaha had just complained on the phone that she had gained a little weight in the past few months.

It's okay, it's okay. If he gains a little weight, he'll like her a little more.

It is acceptable in terms of volume, weight, and surface area.

Kyosuke Kosaka felt that such sweet words were inappropriate to say over the phone.

He felt that the best time to say this was when they reunited in winter, holding her and whispering it in her earlobe, or like in the Tokyo hotel during summer vacation, when she leaned on his shoulder and they admired the Rainbow Bridge together.

That's what makes it romantic.

Romance? He suddenly wondered if he should be a little romantic.

This is both a loss of composure and a radical act.

"I'm starting to hate my lukewarm, overthinking ways. If life is all mundane, then it's bland."

No one answered him in the quiet room.

Kyosuke Kosaka recalled a book published two years later that had topped the bestseller lists on Amazon and other major bookstores.