I really don't want to be reborn.

She interrupted him expressionlessly.

…………

"Let's go see a movie to whet our appetites first."

"Watch a movie? What happened to our field trip?!"

"That's strange. My protagonist is from another world, so of course he doesn't need to. Don't the protagonists in your novels watch movies?"

Kasumigaoka thought the rhetorical question was very reasonable and powerful, and she had nothing to say in response.

They walked into the movie theater amidst the strange looks from others. Although the movie theater opens in the morning, just as early as Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, there are usually very few people there at this time.

They were watching a romance movie.

Although Kyosuke felt that romance movies were uninteresting and horror movies were ridiculous in the morning, and that only food-themed movies were the best for watching in the morning, he couldn't resist the girl next to him.

The movie theater was indeed not crowded; it was so quiet it looked like someone was about to strike it rich.

Perhaps it was because the author of the romance novel was so sensitive, but Kasumigaoka Utaha actually started to cry while reading it. Kousaka Kyosuke sat next to her and handed her a tissue, the tissue he had originally intended to use to clean up the mess...

A beautiful young girl silently shed tears in the dim light, two vertical tear streaks running down her cheeks, reflecting the film's colored light like a lollipop with added coloring.

"It's too realistic. I guess that's what love is all about..."

After watching the film, she remained seated, wiping her eyes somewhat shyly, while listening to Kyosuke's film critique: "Because the ordinary is actually the most romantic. In realism, falling in love with someone can only be because they are cute."

"cute?"

"Soul-related."

They remained silent for a few minutes, feeling that the lingering romance was the sediment of the river of language.

And this silence is like a maple leaf bookmark tucked inside an encyclopedia.

A deep silence.

A silence that stretched on and on.

She walked out of the movie theater in silence. The girl probably had very active tear ducts and a lot of tears, as there were still a few tears streaming down her red eyes.

"You are like the summer sky, you love the rain."

"The sky? Not so good."

Kyosuke and she walked down the street, relaxed and at ease, though inwardly he was rejecting the analogy he had just used.

No, that's not true!

You are not the sky.

The sky is the most unpredictable thing, especially the sky at this time of year, where passion and tears alternate constantly.

So what exactly are you?

He smiled and secretly turned her into a fluffy ball, hiding her in his heart.

Yes, that's right. Whenever my cat sees her, this little ball of fur, all I want to do is purr contentedly and roll around happily.

Of course, it's awkward to say this directly, so I can only use a more euphemistic metaphor: "How about... a pretty candy? It will melt into syrup when your heart warms up."

Kasumigaoka Utaha winked mischievously: "But syrup is sweet, and tears aren't."

Kyosuke was speechless for a moment: "I've never tasted a girl's tears before. I didn't even try it just now. What a blunder."

"Humph!"

They arrived in Akihabara by train around noon, and after finding a place to eat, they ran into an acquaintance around 3 p.m.

That acquaintance was his beautiful editor.

Completely different from Mr. Pudding, this beautiful editor is named Kazaoka Mari.

"Wow, you're a workaholic and you need to rest?"

"No, I'm here with a friend to do some research... What about you?"

"Let's collect together..."

Kyosuke Kosaka introduced his female companion, then looked at the woman next to Mari, feeling as if he had seen her somewhere before: "And who is this?"

The woman gracefully extended her hand, a gentle smile on her face: "Nice to meet you, I'm Fujima Misaki."

The business card handed to me read: "Mizaki Fujima, Head of ETERNALBLUE Co., Ltd."

"Hello, I am Kyosuke Kousaka."

……

(The computer virus that ravaged the world last year seems to have been called this: EternalBlue)

------

The meaning of "cleaning up" in this chapter is, of course, wiping away the mess (literally).

Sigh, no tickets, no razor blades, not even a few extras, and I've become lazy all of a sudden.

Chapter Thirty-One: Curiosity really killed the cat.

If you don't remember this because you've followed too many books or anime, I'll briefly introduce it again.

Saori is over 1.8 meters tall, with the same measurements as Norika Fujiwara. However, her clothing, demeanor, and tone of voice make her a complete otaku, always hiding her face behind her gleaming glasses.

Kuroneko, on the other hand, is an expressionless and unfriendly person with a sharp tongue that can harm both himself and others. He is always arguing with Kirino, and outwardly, he is a beautiful girl who often dresses in Gothic Lolita style.

On the weekend, Kirino and her two otaku friends met in Akihabara as usual.

"Wow, look there's a cat! It looks like a stray cat. I'll go give it something to eat."

"You're not allowed to go!"

Black Cat strongly opposes Kirino Kousaka's actions.

The opposition was extremely strong, even forceful.

Their group dynamics are quite different from other friends.

Normally, Kirino is like a fiery temper, while Kuroneko is like a gloomy ice. If it weren't for Saori, who is hard to describe, mediating between them, the two would have been fighting long ago.

Yes, Saori, Saori Bagina is a tall female otaku who specializes in mediating disputes. She's a middle school girl who likes Gundam and probably has a slightly off-kilter aesthetic sense.

When Kuroneko and Kirino usually argue, she usually tries to mediate or change the subject. In fact, she has done so several times by noon today.

But this time, even she looked at the black cat strangely: "I don't understand, why not let Xiaotongtong feed that cat? Black Cat, you should also be a... I mean, you should also like cats, right?"

The black cat glanced at the stray cat, a hint of sadness flashing in its contact lens-covered eyes: "There's a story like this..."

Kirino interrupted her: "If you're going to talk about your experience of raising a cat and having it die, then I'm sorry, I have no interest in that."

The petite girl glared at her, muttered "sow" under her breath, and cleared her throat: "I read a short story, I think it was in a magazine, about a photographer's experiences in Hoh Xil."

What is Hoh Xil?

Unlike the ignorant Kirino, Saori had heard a little about it: "That is...that is a natural scenic area in which country again? Kuroneko-san, please continue."

"What happened to that photographer? Did he encounter a black cat?"

Black Cat's tone was gloomy, not like he was telling a sad little story from a magazine, but more like he was telling a ghost story: "The photographer saw a lamb that came to say hello, so he gave it water to drink. Suddenly, the captain of the Tibetan antelope protection team next to him fiercely chased the lamb away."

There was a hint of sadness in the girl's voice: "The photographer asked him why he did this, and he said that doing so would make them think that humans are kind."

The other two girls were speechless for a long time before Kirino finally said, somewhat awkwardly, "This... just how much malice is contained in this story? Hey, you're not actually taking this seriously, are you, you dead cat?"

Why not take it seriously?

The black cat girl held her palm out to the side of her mouth, and the beauty mark on the corner of her left eye looked somewhat alluring. Combined with the girl's indifferent smile, she actually had quite a bit of a charm, at least the cosplay was very convincing.

"Humans are creatures that produce evil. Even the demon king in hell would be astonished by their evil deeds, which are committed for the sake of evil."

it is good!

That line is so cool!

The other two girls awkwardly turned their heads away.

"She's acting like a chuunibyou again. This girl with the evil eyes is so dramatic."

"Well, I think it's alright..."

The black cat heard everything clearly and walked ahead with her head down. They went to Yodobashi Camera first.

This is a famous large chain store selling discounted home appliances in Tokyo. Three girls are looking at their phones and computers. Of course, Kirino also swoones in front of the huge TV in the game section, watching promotional videos for games or Meruru.

"Gashapon, I want to try it out."

For Kirino, gashapon (capsule toy) is a word that evokes fond memories.

It's not that she stopped playing because she grew up, but rather that she stopped playing with her brother after growing up. The last time they played together was probably when her brother was in elementary school.

She started playing with the gashapon machine with a touch of sweet nostalgia, but soon became furious, yelling, "Why am I the only one who can't get the hidden items! This is ridiculous!"

"Quiet down!"

"No, why can you all... Hmph, don't underestimate me. Even without Umaru, I'm still blessed with good luck!"

Compared to the gloomy black cat and the subtly skewed Saori, Doma Umaru is actually closer to Kirino, probably because the two have many similarities.

Umaru's luck when they went out to play was practically off the charts, and Kirino benefited from a lot of that good fortune.

She looked exactly like a model from a Shibuya fashion magazine, holding a handful of 100-yen coins, spinning gashapon machines in Akihabara... What a bizarre sight.

Kirino is not short of money, and her extravagant spending habits both distress and annoy Kuroneko.

Afterwards, Kirino finally managed to switch to the hidden version by spending money, and with Saori's introduction, she went to a mobile food shop called "STAR☆KEBAB".

After that, they went to places like MESSE SANOH and SOFMAP to buy games, play games, and reserve games.

Pseudo-otaku like Kyosuke probably wouldn't understand why these otaku in Akihabara take such a route—game store → game store → game store → game store.

Then, around 3 p.m., after taking the photo booth pictures, Kirino Kousaka suddenly noticed a familiar figure.

"that……"

"Do you know her? She looks like a businesswoman or something."

Kirino frowned: "That's strange. Why is the president of a cosmetics manufacturing company here? The styles don't match at all."