I really don't want to be reborn.

Yes, she just boasted that the expensive cosmetics were a gift from her older brother, which amazed everyone. But because of that pride, she's now lost even her last excuse.

This shows that showing off usually doesn't end well.

Of course... showing affection in public is an exception.

Kanako leaned closer to her with a mischievous grin: "Hey, it's not some weird thing, is it?"

Kirino panicked and blurted out, "N-I didn't know! I...I had no idea there were any doujinshi in there—waaaah!"

Are you stupid?!

Ayase Aragaki and Ran didn't react to the term "doujinshi," but Kanako Kurusu's expression changed drastically, her face looking extremely strange. Her older sister happened to make a living in the ACG field, so how could she not know what it was?

I just didn't expect...

Kirino, with her thick eyebrows and big eyes, is actually an otaku in the world of anime and manga?

Although her older sister works in that field, like most junior high school girls, Kanako Kurusu doesn't actually like staying at home. She often says in private that otaku are disgusting.

When I learned that the "perfect Kirino Kousaka" actually had such a hobby, my expression looked like it had been painted by Picasso.

(This quote is from "The Silence of the Lambs," and those three words are really hilarious.)

Ayase Aragaki noticed that Kanako was acting strangely, stood up and walked over to Kirino, asking her worriedly, "What's wrong? What's in the box?"

"N-nothing, Ayase... There's nothing wrong, nothing bad."

Ah, Kirino wants to die.

Why can't she even come up with a decent way to refuse?

Ok?

I've watched a lot of TV dramas and vividly remember the scenes of politely declining—I used to think those lines on TV were like shit, but when I actually needed them, I found that I was constipated.

Ayase Aragaki reached out to grab it, but she underestimated the strength of the track and field ace. The two of them grabbed the cardboard box and remained locked in a stalemate.

"...Waaah!"

Kirino grabbed the box and pulled it forcefully toward her, her voice filled with exasperation.

"Give it back!"

"Let me see!"

Two girls were fighting over a box; from the side, it looked like two little devils arguing.

Kanako is too small and easily gets hurt, so she stays far away. Only Ran tries to mediate, but unfortunately, her face is soft and cute, and her voice is even softer, like a cat meowing at a fire scene. She can't even put out the fire.

(I just like to use cats to describe girls)

"Gu wu wu wu..."

"Hey, hey, hey..."

Both of them gritted their teeth and struggled against each other.

"Let go, Ayase! No..."

Ayase Aragaki was also genuinely angry. The resentment from being neglected lately suddenly flared up, burning in her eyes: "Liar! Kirino is a big liar!"

"I...I didn't!"

"You are it, you are it!"

This is a conclusion.

As if to shatter Kirino's excuse, Ayase immediately denied it: "Kirino has been hiding a lot of things from me, and I'm very unhappy about it. There must be something going on here, right?"

No, that's not it.

"Liar, liar, liar... Don't lie to me! Kirino was trying to run away just now, wasn't she?... This must be Kirino's, it definitely isn't Big Brother's—why are you lying to me?"

Being stared at by her best friend with empty, hollow eyes, Kirino subconsciously recalled Kasumigaoka Utaha's expression in the hospital, and the feelings she had at that time.

She remained silent, her grip on the box still tight, like a drowning person clutching at a straw.

"See? I knew you couldn't say it! Kirino must know, right? I hate being lied to the most, I hate people who lie!"

"..."

"Why did you do this? Why did you lie to me? Hey, why? Aren't we good friends?"

Ayase Aragaki almost cried as she shouted this, her voice filled with grievances. She was too naive and too sensitive; how could she not feel the unconscious distancing she had recently received from her best friend?

"This is nothing like Kirino... What are you hiding? Can't you tell me? Is that not allowed?"

The cardboard box, whose seal had already been removed, finally gave way and was torn in two with a ripping sound, spilling all its contents out.

The cover of a doujinshi featuring a young girl named Meruru, along with many other doujinshi, lay exposed on the ground.

"..."

The girl's bedroom was filled with an atmosphere of anxiety and unease.

Kirino Kousaka slowly sat down on the ground, having lost all her strength, as if the end of the world was about to come.

Ayase Aragaki looked at the doujinshi that had fallen to her feet.

She bent down and picked up one of the books, her expression unchanged, but her eyes widened immediately as soon as she opened it.

His gaze shifted from anger to icy coldness, like a bowl of hot soup being put into a refrigerator.

My fingers trembled as I turned the pages of the book, one page after another.

Splash, splash...

------

It takes a long time to come up with chapter titles.

Look, you've already updated twice, can you give me a reward now?

Shaking...

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Cancer of Brother Obsession Has Deepened to the Bone Marrow (3,000 words)

"I am back."

Kyosuke Kosaka opened the door to his house, breathed in the unfamiliar air he had been breathing for a week, and smelled a slightly different scent.

His gaze shifted downwards.

Three pairs of shoes I'd never seen before appeared in my field of vision—they were girls' shoes.

No wonder it smells a little different from usual.

Whose athlete's foot is this?

After glancing around the living room and finding no one there, I figured Kirino was probably playing with her friends in her bedroom. So I decided to stay in the living room.

Going up now would probably spoil their fun.

Kyosuke Kosaka thought it was just a peaceful weekend, a quiet and uneventful day. Wasn't that nice? He planned to call the girl he liked later and then watch TV in the living room.

That's about it for today's activities.

He needed to rest, but while resting, he had to prevent himself from constantly reminiscing about the past. Memories were like a long string of firecrackers; they couldn't be lit easily, otherwise they would explode in a series of loud bangs, making it impossible to control himself.

Unfortunately, a phone call ruined his plans.

"Saori?"

"Yes, Kyosuke, did you receive that thing?"

Kyosuke paused, then said, "Kirino should have signed for it before I got home. There's a torn package in the entryway—is it something important? You've called twice already."

Saori laughed a little shyly on the other end of the phone: "Oh my, don't be fooled by the fact that it's a cosmetics box. It's full of really rare and good stuff!"

"Oh? It's so precious? Tell me about it."

Saori's smug voice filled his ears: "It's a doujinshi of Meruru and Siscalv, something that Kotori-san asked me to collect before, and I finally got my hands on it recently—of course, there's also the handmade strategy guide for Kyosuke-san's True Sister Massacre... Oh, right, right, even the bed sheet is included, and some other things too!"

"..."

That's really valuable.

Kyosuke chuckled dryly, but the next moment he realized the danger of her words.

Wait, etc.

Calm down...

Let me take a moment to process this.

He suddenly looked towards the stairwell, his tone unusual: "Let me ask you something, you just said those things were packed in a cosmetic case?"

"OK."

"The recipient's name is my name?"

"It is also!"

"Does Kirino know what's inside?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell her."

Kyosuke Kosaka swallowed hard, clinging to his last shred of hope, and whispered, "H?"

"That one is also available."

Ruined……

Kirino...

What if she accidentally opens that box of cosmetics in front of her friends? What should she do?

Hearing the faint screams of a girl coming from upstairs, Kyosuke Kosaka's expression changed slightly. He got up to go upstairs and check, his heart filled with worry for his sister.

"Don't open it!"

It was probably just as fate would have it.

He hated fate, studied fate, and finally cursed fate.

He knew that fate was like a prime number.