I really don't want to be reborn.

Kyosuke raised an eyebrow, puzzled: "Ogiso Setsuna?"

The one impersonating the kidnapper was none other than the squirrel-like, adorable and ever-changing Yukina. She sighed softly, "I just came back from a friend's Christmas Eve party and happened to see Kirino sitting on a chair looking sullen. It looks like she's run away from home."

"Shinjuku?"

"Ah...yes, near my house."

Ogiso Setsuna smiled broadly, clearly in a good mood: "I was originally going to jump out and scare her, but seeing that the child seems to be in a bad mood, I'll go and comfort her."

"No, she might run away if you show up."

Kyosuke Kosaka pulled Kasumigaoka Utaha into the taxi: "Kirino is sulking with me. Could you please keep an eye on her for me? Contact me by phone if anything happens, and I'll be right there."

"Sure, but... Kousaka-kun, please say thank you in advance, consider it an early Christmas greeting."

The girl with pigtails jumped up and down in place: "It's so cold..."

"Thank you very much, Ogiso."

"..."

"I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow."

"..."

There was no reply for a long time.

Kyosuke glanced at his girlfriend beside him, then forced a smile and lowered his voice, "Thank you so much, Setsuna...chan."

"Phew! No problem! I've got this covered..."

------

Chapter Thirty-Five: A Joyful Reunion

He thought he would be angry when he saw Kirino, after all, she had disappeared on a cold night, making him worry so much, and he shouldn't have given her a nice look no matter what.

He had anticipated the possibilities after seeing his sister—yelling at her, cursing at her, and hitting her—and along the way, he kept emphasizing to Kasumigaoka Utaha how angry and annoyed he was.

His girlfriend's casual remark silenced him: "It was Kirino who made the promise with you, so it's not really her fault. In the end, it's my fault."

Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at the scenery outside the taxi window, without glancing at him.

Kyosuke Kosaka took her hand, feeling its cool, slightly icy touch: "Are you angry?"

"……No."

She paused, then sighed again: "What's the use of getting angry? The important thing now is to find Kirino. We can talk about the rest later."

She looked at herself in the car window.

I think I'm a very good girl.

The problem is that the boyfriend I met was troublesome, he himself was troublesome, his sister was troublesome, and his female friends were troublesome.

What should we do?

I hate trouble, but...

She let him intertwine his fingers with hers, the warmth from his palm seeping into her heart, leaving a unique mark on the inner self of the human named Kasumigaoka Utaha.

But there's nothing we can do about it.

Who told me to fall for someone like this?

Before dawn, before dusk, before desire and longing, before all the tossing and turning—this is her view of love.

"When you see Kirino later, you're not allowed to hit her, understand?"

"It depends on her behavior. If she doesn't admit her mistake, I will definitely beat her up. I rarely feel this anxious or angry, so she has to bear it."

At home, this person is quite authoritative as the elder brother.

Kasumigaoka thought to herself, Kirino can be quite well-behaved sometimes, unlike her own little sister.

When Shino gets naughty, there's not much you can do to control her.

Because we can't beat them...

"This time I'm going to take off her pants and have sex with her. If she's still not repentant, I'm going to have sex with her in front of my parents and see if she's ashamed."

Saying something suspicious and frightening, he and his girlfriend got off the train in Shinjuku, and soon after walking a short distance, they saw Setsuna Ogiso next to a park bench.

The girl stood quietly, as demure as a white rose.

She wore a white down jacket, her pigtails swaying in the wind, and upon seeing him, she flashed a cute crescent-shaped smile, squinting her eyes and silently uttering a sentence.

Her lips moved a few times, but no sound came out. The light was dim, and he couldn't see clearly enough to interpret her lips.

"Thank you for your help, Kogiso."

Kyosuke Kosaka skillfully discarded her after she had served her purpose. He had called her "Setsuna-chan" before, but now he was just being polite with "Ogiso." Setsuna Ogiso didn't seem to mind this time, but she looked at Kirino with concern and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I can handle some minor things."

"That's true. I know Kousaka-kun's methods very well, but please be a little gentler."

Yukina said softly, "This child is so pitiful."

After saying that, she went to meet Kasumigaoka Utaha for the first time, and Kyosuke walked to the bench and looked at his younger sister.

All the fire in my heart has completely vanished.

The girl sitting in the chair seemed to have fallen into a light sleep due to exhaustion. Her eyelashes trembled rhythmically, her pale face still had traces of tears, and her brows were tightly furrowed.

There were obvious wet stains on the scarf, in patches.

Seeing her like a stray kitten, Kyosuke Kosaka had no choice but to give up. He could harden his heart and watch his sister collapse from exhaustion, but he didn't want to see her cry at all.

Looking at her, looking at this younger sister, is like roasting snow in early winter, writing a letter in late summer, or embracing a tree in early spring.

My heart aches dully.

The pain wasn't enough to elicit a complex or obvious expression from him; he simply bent down and touched Kirino's chubby cheeks, then touched her forehead and poked at it with his finger.

The dazed girl pouted, twisted her body, and tried to continue sleeping soundly.

Ah, what a lovely fellow.

"Get up!"

Kyosuke Kosaka admired it for a minute, then pinched his face with both hands and pulled it to both sides, waking Kirino up.

"Well……"

Her watery eyes reflected her brother's smiling face, and Kirino asked in a daze, rubbing her eyes sleepily, "Good morning, Onii-chan."

Good evening.

"Oh……"

She yawned, lowered her head to continue waking up, and then realized where she was. Her overly sensitive nerves were gathering information about the present situation, and her face slowly turned rosy. She was even more astonished when she saw Kasumigaoka Utaha and Ogiso Setsuna.

"What...what happened?"

She just sat there, closing her eyes and recalling and recalling, until she fell asleep without realizing it. Thinking about this made her break out in a cold sweat, and she was terrified.

In case some pervert or weirdo walks by...

In Kyosuke's eyes, this expression meant guilt, the guilt of being found after going missing.

"It's nothing. Your sister Yukina saw you sleeping here and called me because she was worried."

"Oh, I see..."

Kyosuke Kosaka didn't want to delve any further, nor did he want to be angry with her. He tried his best to find excuses for her and smooth things over: "Let's go. The most important thing now is to find a place to settle down."

Kogiso, who was talking to Kasumigaoka, turned around and said, "Let's go to my house?"

"It's alright, there are plenty of hotels around here."

Kyosuke took off his coat and covered his sister with it. He stared at her somewhat flustered eyes and suddenly raised his hand.

"Kousaka, don't hit me!"

Kasumigaoka Utaha said this to him.

"Exactly, hitting girls is the most tasteless thing you can do."

Ogiso Setsuna is just stirring things up.

As for Kirino, when she saw her brother about to hit her, she thought he was just angry because he was too worried. In the face of such violence, Kousaka Kirino, who is actually only a masochist with her brother, timidly closed her eyes and obediently did not flinch.

There was no pain; her brother simply raised his hand to ruffle her hair, his manner affectionate and gentle, as if he were treating her as a child.

"You've won, my sister..."

In a hushed tone, Kousaka Kyosuke seemed to utter these words, but his voice was so soft that even Kirino, who was closest to him, couldn't hear them clearly.

"Let's go, let's find a place to settle down—thank you so much, Setsuna. If you weren't here watching over things, I can't even imagine what would have happened."

"Oh, it's nothing. You guys go quickly. Kirino-chan looks like she's having a hard time."

Kirino was definitely having a hard time; her legs were frozen stiff.

She asked her brother for help, and the next second he picked her up in a princess carry.

"oops……"

Kirino cried out in surprise, her arms instinctively wrapping around his neck, and Kousaka Kyosuke strode away from the park.

"tonight……"

"I also need to ask my girlfriend for help."

Kasumigaoka Utaha was interrupted by him, and looked at him, puzzled: "Want to come together?"

"Yes, this girl is frozen stiff. I'll need you to help her take a bath later. It's not very convenient for me to do it."

She gave a silent, bitter smile: "Okay."

Even now, you're still unwilling to confront your sister's feelings? Kyosuke Kousaka?

Chapter Thirty-Six: The sugar is sweet, and the plum blossoms are white and fragrant.