I really don't want to be reborn.

The girl, kneeling on the ground, exhaled, looked up at her brother, and found that he was also looking down at her.

Their eyes met, like heaven and earth gazing at each other, seemingly unreachable yet so close.

"I opened it."

She solemnly opened the box.

It was filled with a bunch of things, including doujinshi and notebooks, with paper bags and adult cardboard boxes next to it.

Their eyes were completely oblivious to these things; instead, they were tacitly focused on an iPod, their gazes shifting and then meeting again before settling back on each other.

"Want to hear it, brother?"

At first, I was cautious and dared not express my feelings, but in the end, I couldn't take back my feelings, and I was the one who was sad alone.

I'm afraid that one day I'll forget these words hidden in my heart.

Chapter Fifty: Life is like a journey against the current, a single reed to cross the river (End of Volume)

Speaking of which, how long did he live with Kirino?

If we ignore the many cycles in between, it has only been a little over ten years, and this rebirth has been less than a year.

But this year was filled with almost entirely new and exciting experiences that he had never had before.

A year ago, he never imagined that his outstanding younger sister would have such a terrible hobby, nor that she would have such a stubborn personality.

And when these two are combined, it's absolutely terrible!

For example, look at this... that doujinshi at the very top, it has the words "meat toilet" written on it, right?

And the characters on the cover of that box below, hugging each other... don't they both look like men?

Putting aside her dietary preferences like eating feces, she's also involved in homosexuality and has even brought up toilets. How much can we expect from her hobbies?

This is a terrible younger sister!

Every time he sees her expression while playing games, Kyosuke Kosaka is reminded of those elementary and middle school students who are forcibly dragged out of internet cafes by their parents.

It's hopeless, hopeless.

So if it were before autumn and your younger sister suddenly jumped in front of you with an iPod and asked if you wanted to listen, Kyosuke Kosaka would definitely think that either she was trying to tease him, or that it was some kind of erotic sound that would make him blush.

But now...

"Kirino, I should ask first, what's on that iPod...?"

"Do you...do you want to hear it?"

She blinked, completely bewildered.

He had such a calm and serious expression just a moment ago, like he was going to the guillotine, why is he suddenly panicking now?

Kyosuke Kosaka had a gut feeling that something was wrong with that iPod.

Generally speaking, when his sister appears in this terrible state, it's usually because something serious has happened. He swallowed hard and asked, "Can I ask you about the general situation first?"

Kirino was even more panicked. Regret and shame beat down her pitiful resolve, leaving her stammering, "Want...want to know?"

He looked at her in silence, for the longest time in his life, like a relic lost in the river of time, slowly drifting along with the current, gradually coming to a standstill.

In the silence, Kirino slowly calmed down.

He hesitated for a long time before speaking: "No... I don't particularly want to know right now."

"Is...is that so...I see..."

Kirino seemed relieved; it seemed she wasn't truly ready yet.

No way.

There's absolutely no way.

Making this request already exceeded her crisis tolerance limit.

He put down the iPod and then reached deeper into the cardboard box—

"Next up is this photo album..."

He held his sister's hand and let out a soft breath: "I have our photos in my room too, you don't need to show them to me, I have everything you have."

This statement is a double entendre.

I don't know if this guy can understand—he probably can't, after all, his sister is an idiot.

Kirino gave a vague reply, then took out a copy of "Lovely Sister Angel." She explained, "I'm afraid you'll forget all your English after the college entrance exam, so I'll translate it as 'Lovely Angel Sister.'"

...Ah, you're welcome, it's what I should do.

She pushed the game box toward her brother: "Well then, at least take a look at this!"

Kyosuke Kosaka nodded with a somewhat subtle feeling, opened the game box, and expected to see some unrelated material that would shock him, but instead, he found an unexpected item.

"What is this... a family communication book?"

"Yes, it's my family communication book from elementary school."

She lowered her head and said in a complicated tone, "This is the reason why I started training in track and field."

It's written very clearly in the contact book.

From first to third grade, Kirino's physical education grades were always marked "need to work harder," while her grades in other subjects were also quite average.

“I used to run very slowly and could never keep up with my brother, so I started practicing running.”

She suddenly broke into a big smile: "Remember?"

Kousaka Kyosuke shook his head.

Things from so long ago, his mind could no longer retrieve the stones from the seabed.

Fourth grade was still "need to work harder", but from then on, fifth grade was "excellent", and sixth grade was "very excellent". The grades were like leveling up, climbing all the way up.

Similarly, the scores in other subjects also gradually began to rise.

"And the medals I won in the running competition at the sports meet."

From sixth place to first place—this simple story of her ordinary efforts and ordinary childhood seems somewhat incongruous with her current image.

"Anyway, what happened in the past is super embarrassing, so whenever I'm feeling down, just seeing those things makes me really angry..."

"Hmm, the shame and humiliation stimulation therapy seems to be very effective, and the fatigue hasn't subsided yet."

He made a standard psychological assessment: "It seems something happened in your childhood that made you so angry that it still bothers you now. What was it?"

"No...it's nothing, just a small matter!"

She gave vague and perfunctory answers.

Kyosuke didn't pursue the matter further, because even if he did, the guy wouldn't say anything. He was simply happy for his sister's personality: "Accumulating experience time and time again, learning from failures time and time again, that's good."

He realized a problem he had been ignoring.

A star athlete on the track and field team, a fashion magazine model, and his younger sister Kirino Kousaka, were quite ordinary during their childhood.

"That's really amazing."

He praised her softly, then looked up and met his sister's eyes.

He suddenly reached out and touched her chubby cheek: "You are indeed different from before. If we were to race now, I probably wouldn't be able to beat you."

"Ha, ha, ha—of course! Who do you think I am?"

The silly little sister let out what she thought was a proud and triumphant laugh, but she was actually incredibly embarrassed. Kyosuke waited quietly for her to finish showing off before asking the final question: "Why are you showing me these?"

Kirino carefully packed away the large cardboard box that probably contained many of her embarrassing secrets, then immediately stood up and looked at him very seriously: "These—all of them...are very important to me."

"I know, so what?"

"And... I'll be relying on you from now on, Onii-chan."

Kyosuke laughed: "Since we rescued these little cuties from Father's hands, we will naturally take full responsibility for them from now on. You can think of it as after-sales service."

He suddenly stopped talking and sighed softly: "I'm your brother, isn't this what I should do?"

She put her hands on her hips confidently and said, "Yes, that's true."

Yes, he protects her, protects what's important to her. It's okay if she lives with him in the future, because they are siblings, because he is her brother.

This was a predetermined cause and effect, Kirino knew it perfectly well: "Then... this year's first life consultation is over."

"Ah."

Kyosuke Kosaka stood up, but she grabbed his sleeve the next moment.

Kirino lowered her head, so her expression couldn't be seen: "I forgot there's one more thing we haven't done, and it's also very important, which is after-sales service."

"what?"

"...Can we sleep together?"

"game--"

"Let's go to America and have some more fun."

He turned off the lights in the room.

The next day, the brother and sister got up early. Kyosuke Kosaka carried his sister's suitcase and saw her off, watching her get into a taxi and disappear from sight.

He stood at the crossroads, almost motionless. The January air was unusually heavy, as if all the silence of Chiba had gathered here from all directions.

Many years ago, he didn't believe that siblings could truly have love.

Many games and novels often depict forbidden sibling relationships as beautiful and touching, portraying each younger sister character as wonderful and adorable.

But when he actually met her, she was much more beautiful and lovely than he had imagined.

He secretly harbored unusual feelings for her, wanting to confess but getting caught in a vortex of reincarnation.

This time, he discovered that his sister felt the same way about him, even more intensely and hysterically than he did, without hesitation or reservation.

I only wanted a crown from you, but you gave me a kingdom instead.

January 8, 2006, after the Minor Cold solar term.

Kyosuke Kosaka saw his sister off at the crossroads, his face showing little sadness; every parting was a farewell.