I really don't want to be reborn.

Her brows furrowed in displeasure; she was very unhappy with that naive and innocent girl.

Kyosuke Kosaka quickly tried to salvage the situation: "What I mean is, our books are not the same genre, so the editors are probably different."

The girl snorted and pulled her foot back from his instep.

The two arrived in Shinjuku, Tokyo, at the Dengeki Bunko building. They took the elevator to the third floor, and upon exiting the elevator, they could see passageways on both the left and right sides, with a telephone in front of them.

Visitors here need to call the editorial department's internal line.

"Hello, this is the Dengeki Bunko Editing Department."

The girl's voice is so beautiful.

"Ah, um... we agreed to meet the editor at the editorial office at three o'clock. My surname is Kousaka."

"Mr. Kosaka? Please wait a moment... Eh, the room is 0305, MEDIAASCⅡWORKS Second Editorial Department, Dengeki Bunko Editing Division."

He and the girl exchanged a glance.

"Don't be nervous."

"I already told you I wasn't nervous!"

His eyes were fixed on Kasumigaoka's alluring legs, comparing them to his sister's as he sighed, "If you're not nervous, could you please stop shaking?"

The two entered room 305 and saw a man with a white towel tied around his head like a pirate.

"Excuse me……"

"Oh? There are young visitors too. Hello, my name is Eccentric Man."

Kousaka Kyosuke silently looked at this familiar face from his memories, a slow smile appearing at the corners of his eyes: "Hello, I'm Kousaka."

------

Are you angry?

Chapter Thirty-One: They were handsome and beautiful in the twilight.

Bei Dao said, "The glass is clear, the oranges are brilliant."

Kyosuke had always liked this quote, and in Dengeki Bunko, he could see a blurry reflection of himself in the clear glass, while the casually arranged oranges on the table were at their most glorious.

Eat it.

He unceremoniously picked up an orange and tossed it to Kasumigaoka Utaha, then sat on the sofa and looked around, his eyes filled with no curiosity, only nostalgia.

Memories are indeed painful.

Every memory is like shedding a layer of skin.

"Don't mention it. Oh, I feel like you're not one to stand on ceremony... Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm still an editor, after all."

The girl was slightly flustered: "Oh, I see. Then how should I address you? Should I call you Mr. Eccentric? What a strange name that is?"

"It's strange, isn't it? Every editor in our editorial department has a nickname, and we all address each other by our nicknames."

Kousaka smiled and asked, "Do you have any editors here named Gin and Vodka?"

The eccentric man laughed too: "You like that elementary school detective too? I just bought the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Sunday, want to read it?"

Just as Kyosuke was about to wave his hand, a manga magazine he hadn't looked at in a long time was shoved into his arms. The man, codenamed "Pseudo-Creativity," continued speaking to himself, "I've read Kousaka-sensei's books too. At first, I thought it was some familiar author, but when I was looking through the information, I found out it's actually a young man—"

He paused for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. I just didn't expect such a young teacher to have such skill in writing. It really gave me a big surprise—hey, is this yours?"

"Kasumigaoka, the head of our school's literature club, is also coming to Dengeki Bunko to submit her work, so she came to check it out today."

"girlfriend?"

One word left the two high school students frozen in place, unsure how to respond. Fortunately, Kyosuke Kosaka was quick and resourceful, peeling an orange and sharing it with the two of them.

"Oh, where is my Pudding editor? Is she busy?"

"Yeah, we're in a meeting. That guy's name is Pudding, but you'll definitely be surprised when you meet him. An editor named Orange isn't necessarily sweet, so don't get your hopes up too high. Him—"

Kosaka raised his eyes slightly, a more genuine smile spreading across his lips: "It seems like he's standing right behind you."

A deep, resonant voice rang out: "I'm late. My name is Pudding. Nice to meet you."

After realizing his slip of the tongue had been overheard, the eccentric man let out a loud "whoosh!" and jumped up like a rabbit, turning around to look: "Ah, sorry! I didn't know you were behind me."

Pudding said expressionlessly, "It's okay... I'm used to you guys saying that."

The girl stared at the man for a long time, thought about his nickname, turned her face away to suppress her laughter, her shoulders trembling slightly. This pudding would probably make her laugh for a week.

Pudding is a rather old man with white hair that flickers like flames. Just as the eccentric editor said, he has nothing to do with the cute sweet treat that is "pudding".

His deeply sunken eye sockets, the serious wrinkles etched on his face, and his dark skin made him look like Akuma from a video game.

However, unlike Akuma, he was quite thin. Although he was thin like a patient, his eyes were quite sharp, and he looked like a tough character to deal with.

Every time Kyosuke saw this man, he would think of his father's face. Despite being a policeman, he had the face of a mob boss. And this man—though it's very impolite to say it like that—gave off a feeling of ferocity that transcended humanity.

"Pudding? It's actually called Pudding..."

"Kasumigaoka, can you please stop laughing?"

"What's going on... who came up with such a cute nickname for this person?"

Even if you speak very softly, he probably still heard you.

Pudding's eyes twitched as he reached out to the two incredibly young high school students: "Please stop joking about my nickname. Let me introduce myself again, my real name is Kumagai Ryunosuke."

Anyone named Ryunosuke is a big bad guy!

"...Hello, Kumagai-kun, nice to meet you."

Ryunosuke gave Kyosuke a strange look. Kyosuke's expression didn't seem like that of a stranger, but rather like that of a friend he had known for a long time.

…………

"Kousaka-kun, I have to say, you were really cool when you were having that long talk with that Pudding editor."

Kyosuke looked at her with a smile in his eyes: "How handsome?"

The girl thought for a moment, then gave a wonderful analogy: "Just as handsome as the groom!"

That's extraordinary handsomeness.

Kyosuke reciprocated, engaging in mutual flattery: "You were beautiful even when you were silent."

Kasumigaoka raised her eyebrows slightly.

"It's so beautiful, it's like summer."

"Thank you."

"Of course."

After exchanging pleasantries, the two fell into a harmonious silence as they walked the streets of Tokyo. The western sun offered them only a small amount of warmth, a warmth that was as constant as the distance between them.

He walked behind, and the girl walked in front.

He looked at her and still felt she was very lonely; a lonely person is stepping on their own shadow.

It was nearing dusk, and her shadow was slightly longer than her. Shi Yu looked down at her own shadow and felt as if it were a puddle of water spilled on the ground.

Then stop walking.

Kyosuke walked to her side, and their shadows joined together, forming a giant toad.

"Hey!"

Kasumigaoka Utaha childishly stepped on her own shadow, the collar of her coat slightly disheveled. Children are cute, and she was cute now—no, even cuter.

He silently took a few steps, then suddenly spoke up: "Hey, Kasumigaoka."

"Hey, hey, what's up?"

She was still dancing there, having a great time, each joyful step a kiss.

"About you..."

The girl finally stopped talking, looking at him with a puzzled expression: "What do you want to say? Why are you suddenly stammering? This isn't like you."

Kyosuke Kosaka stared into those beautiful eyes: "Why are you unhappy?"

"what?"

“Since the beginning of this semester, you've seemed unhappy. Why is that?”

Kasumigaoka Utaha stood there stunned for a long time, then looked at the sunset and the vast sky. Dusk was enraged, the sky was like a burning stable, with thousands of horses galloping, majestic and imposing.

"It's so beautiful..."

"Yes."

After a brief silence, the girl suddenly spoke: "There are some things I need to think about clearly. It's a question that concerns my entire life, and no one else can help me solve it."

"You're not the only one in this world with problems."

They headed towards the station.

"Everyone has their own problems. You must first learn to be happy yourself. No one likes you when you're unhappy."

He paused, a sunset glow spreading across his cheeks: "I still prefer you when you're happy."

She slowly backed away, her hands behind her back, the girl with a lonely smile on her face, her back to the sinful crimson sunset: "I know."

She did indeed draw a line between herself and others.

------

Nobody recommended this today...?

Chapter Thirty-Two: Hmm... I won't tell you.

The stars must be beautiful.

Kirino was unusually quiet tonight, not playing games. Her laptop screen glowed alone, but her eyes were fixed on the view outside the window.

You can't see the starry sky if you sit on the edge of the bed.

She hugged her knees, feeling a bit cold. Cold is also an emotion. For several hours after her brother left, she had felt a bit cold. It seemed that the bright spring had begun to bring a cold snap to her heart.