I really don't want to be reborn.

Kasumigaoka said expressionlessly, "Kousaka-kun, you're quite the comedian."

Humor is when a person can still laugh even when they want to cry, and Kyosuke was indeed both amused and exasperated by this situation.

He sniffed the envelope: "The more decisively you deny it in the face of facts, the more certain I am that your words today have given me a reason to judge."

Kasumigaoka raised an eyebrow: "Reason?"

“Actually, it was strange from the beginning, especially when you said, ‘Don’t worry, there are no music classes for first and second graders this afternoon,’ I knew there was a problem.”

"What's the problem? I'm just telling the truth."

He squinted as he folded the envelope into a small square: "I know it's the truth, but it's strange that you know it so clearly—how could someone like you, who often sleeps in class, remember such a trivial music lesson so clearly?"

Her voice trailed off after the first syllable, and she frowned: "Is that all?"

Kyosuke Kosaka stared into her beautiful eyes: "You asked me before where I would confess, in the music room, but you never asked me what time we agreed to meet..."

That's because...

"That's because you already knew the agreed time, since you set it yourself. It was 6:30, and it's already been 10 minutes past."

He put the envelope back in his pocket, delivering the final blow: "The most crucial thing is that the first thing you said when you came in was—'Why haven't you gone yet?'"

Kasumigaoka took a deep breath and said nothing more.

“First and second graders have plenty of time this afternoon. Even if the time is set after school, an hour has already passed, so you should ask, ‘Are they back yet?’ instead of ‘Why aren’t they going?’”

"..."

"I'm telling you, don't underestimate the son of a criminal investigator."

"what……"

The girl glared at him angrily, her embarrassment and humiliation at being exposed seemingly ready to resort to violence, like a mother cat with its fur standing on end: "I suddenly realize that your smile is really annoying!"

"You can first explain why you wrote the love letter to tease me, and then express your anger. We have plenty of time."

"Ugh! This is so annoying! This is so annoying! I didn't understand a word you said!"

"Then I'll say it again—"

"Get out! I don't want to see you!"

She seemed to have forgotten the saying "there's always an ulterior motive behind unreasonable behavior," and after venting her anger and shame with a loud shout, the wind blew in.

He looked at the girl, admiring her beauty and scrutinizing her intelligence. The two things that attract men most about a woman are not her chest, but her overall beauty and the wisdom in her mind.

The former makes a man stop, the latter makes him stay.

A brief silence fell between the two. Kasumigaoka slumped listlessly on the table, stammering, "Um, I mean, shouldn't you be paying attention to something else?"

"Hmm? You want to apologize?"

"No! I'm talking about... how did that love letter written to me end up in the department office?"

Kyosuke didn't seem to care: "Is that important?"

The girl regained her composure and was surprised by his nonchalance: "It's very important. What if a bad guy suddenly runs in while I'm taking a nap?"

He slowly shifted his gaze to the sky, seemingly reluctant to bring up the topic, but after thinking about it, he realized he couldn't avoid it, so he finally spoke slowly: "The letter you wrote to me, you took it out of your sleeve the moment you bent down to enter the room, pretending you found it on the ground."

"I know you're smart, but could you please stop focusing on this?"

He coughed before he erupted in fury at Kasumigaoka: "Just like you."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Kyosuke turned his head slightly to the side: "As you bent down, I casually slipped the love letter I had written into the pile of books."

"..."

The girl looked at him incredulously, as if she were looking at a Godzilla monster, or as if she were seeing Godzilla and Ultraman forming the Tokyo Demolition Office and loving each other.

"Yes, that's right, I wrote the love letter I gave you."

Kyosuke Kosaka pursed his lips slightly, a pleasant smile spreading across his face, a smile that was somewhat complicated: "Anyway, Kasumigaoka, Happy April Fool's Day."

Shi Yu was probably not happy. She carefully examined the person, as if she were getting to know him all over again.

"...Heh, heh, Happy April Fool's Day."

Silence fell once again in the Literature Department's office.

The silence was long; they sat together, as if a transparent twilight had formed around them.

As the space gradually darkened, sighs of different meanings rose from all sides: "What an idiot..."

------

What an idiot.

Happy World Tuberculosis Day!

Chapter Thirty: Standing Alone Provoked Arthritis

"Hey, real name, pen name, age, gender are all fine..."

"Zip code, address, phone number, mailing address—okay, basically confirmed."

One day in April, Kyosuke Kousaka received a call from the Dengeki Bunko editorial department, inviting him to meet them.

He was about to leave with the beginning of the second volume in his hand when he ran into Kirino in the living room.

His sister seemed no different from before, still wearing her relatively short school skirt, sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed like a queen, looking at a fashion magazine aimed at young men and women.

Kirino Kousaka is very arrogant, even at home she still carries an air of haughtiness, just like a princess.

Is he angry?

Who made her angry again?

Kyosuke shook his head, preparing to drink a cup of barley tea before heading out. He didn't intend to interfere too much in his sister's affairs; after all, she was a fifteen-year-old girl, and it wouldn't be good to meddle too much.

He glanced at Kirino from afar, poured the barley tea into a glass, drank it all in one gulp, and let out a sigh of relief. As he put down the glass, he heard Kirino's deep voice.

"I'm asking you a question."

"Hmm, what is it?"

He sighed inwardly, knowing that the life-long negotiations would likely continue for quite some time.

Kirino, her eyes still glued to the magazine, asked briefly, "Have you played yet?"

Kyosuke's gaze slowly moved downwards, lingering on his sister's bare legs: "What are you talking about? Is it a game or something?"

It's still about the legs...

How do you describe legs?

Kirino usually wears white over-the-knee socks, which are a bit like white stockings. Although she's not wearing them now, he still remembers what his sister looks like wearing those socks.

I can see it occasionally when I come back from school, when I go out in the morning, and also in magazines.

Then there's a step between wearing and not wearing socks—taking them off. As the thin stockings are removed, the fair and straight legs resemble a large scallion. Kyosuke Kosaka recalls the feeling of peeling a scallion while cooking.

"What else could it be but a game?"

My sister threw down the magazine, stormed over to him, and sat down. Her eyes were as wide as her head, and when she grinned, her little fangs were adorable: "Hey, you haven't played any of these games! I lent you so many games and you haven't played a single one?"

The tone of voice was naturally unpleasant.

Kyosuke took a sip of tea and slightly raised his eyes: "You yourself said that you gave me a lot of games, so I'm not sure which one to choose right now."

What are you worrying about?

Kirino snapped, "Can't I just pick one at random?"

"No, you can't be careless about anything that involves you, Kirino."

This absurd and ridiculous reason left his sister speechless and blushing. Kyosuke found her reaction amusing and reached out to pat her head. The phrase "smilingly patting a dog's head" made his feelings even more complicated.

"Really? You're taking this so seriously? I didn't expect—have you had enough of touching me? It's disgusting!"

Kirino swatted away her brother's hand that was patting her head, blushing as she prepared to run away: "Then let's play that game we didn't finish before, and we were supposed to share our thoughts—ah!"

Kyosuke grabbed her wrist.

The two people's faces were very close together.

Upon closer inspection, he could see the fine silver flakes on the girl's nose and her thick eyelashes fluttering nervously, and he was dizzy from the girl's sweet breathing.

"Remove your makeup at home. It's best to use less makeup, since they are all toxic."

Kyosuke released her hand, stood up, and prepared to leave: "Tell Mom and Dad not to wait for me tonight, I'm going to Shinjuku today."

Kirino seemed still reeling from the sudden flutter in her heart, and could only nod, "Oh...oh..."

"Then I'm going out."

"Wait, wait a minute, what are you going to Shinjuku for?"

Kyosuke was already outside the door. Hearing the question, he poked his head through the crack in the door, stretched his neck, and winked at his dear sister: "Go have some tea with the editors from Dengeki Bunko. Don't worry, I'm going with Kasumigaoka-san. Just tell Mom that, and she'll be at ease."

Kirino's heart fluttered instantly, and looking at her brother's hateful appearance, she wanted nothing more than to chop off his head.

…………

You seem a little unhappy today.

"I'm not happy every day, so why should people be happy every day?"

On the way to Shinjuku, the girl with long, straight black hair sighed in a low voice: "Kousaka-kun, you don't need to worry about me. Now is the time for you to concentrate. Meeting between an author and an editor is just like a job interview."

He smiled and asked, "Was the unpleasantness at the station just now... because you were nervous?"

When he met Kasumigaoka Utaha at the station, he felt that the girl was standing in the crowd, looking as lonely as if she had arthritis.

"Are you nervous? A little."

She nodded, telling a lie as thin and brittle as glass.

Her displeasure at the station stemmed from leaving an hour early, which resulted in an hour of waiting. As for why she left early, she is still trying to convince herself of this by saying it was "politeness."

"After all, I also need to ask for help with my book. But is this a good idea? You can take me with you. Won't the other party be angry?"

"No, but I guess you'll probably be assigned to another editor. Your novels are basically aimed at naive and innocent girls, so I doubt any boys will be able to get into them... probably."