I really don't want to be reborn.

"Your hobbies and passions, your logic and aesthetics, may not be understood by others—that's just how humans are. We're not really interested in other people's passions and ideas; what we care about is always what interests us."

The sound of rain gradually grew louder.

Kyosuke's gaze was obscured by the rain: "Because people are selfish, they want to read novels that interest them. The main reason Kirino achieved such results is that she has captured the interest of middle school girls these days."

This is the "being interested" theory in novel marketing—it doesn't matter what the author is passionate about; what matters is always the readership.

The market determines production; this is an eternal truth.

Therefore, after suffering a major setback, Kyosuke Kosaka's writing career was no longer basically for himself.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with it; it was just a matter of separating the concept of "writing novels that other people like to read" from his own hobby.

This is a growing pain that all professional writers will experience.

So he didn't really want his sister to go down that path; it would be fine if she just wrote something she was interested in occasionally as a side job.

But asking Kirino to distort her own preferences to cater to the market must be torture for her.

After all, she wasn't the black cat in front of her.

Kuroneko can use her chuunibyou (delusional) personality to fight against reality for a long time, but Kirino can't.

"Yes, that's right."

The black cat smiled wryly: "That guy is just too lucky."

To achieve market success with something written out of interest—that's truly incredible luck.

Kyosuke dislikes his sister's novels, but he likes his sister who writes them.

Whether it's the logically contradictory character designs, the melodramatic plot filled with typical Korean coincidences, or the sickeningly sweet dialogue between Rino and Jun—

Those things all originated from Kirino's heart; they were the pine cones she found herself, things that belonged only to her.

He adored his sister so much that she would write furiously during breaks between club activities and modeling work.

"So I'll stick to what I said before."

Kyosuke Kosaka reached out and caught a few raindrops: "You'd better divide writing into two parts: one half is for what you like, and the other half is for making money."

"We have different roles and do not interfere with each other."

These words were spoken softly and gently, but to Black Cat, they sounded cold and calculating, like a cutting off her hobby into two parts—a thought she couldn't even imagine.

The black cat struggled, finally slowly raising its head to stealthily peer into the man's eyes.

Those were still black eyes, yet they gave her an unprecedented sense of unfamiliarity.

Kosaka's face was expressionless, but his eyes seemed to reflect water, unique and moving, as if the sky and rain curtain were shattered within them.

His fingers tapped lightly on the railing, a rhythm the black cat didn't recognize. His dark, thick coat made him look like a medieval nobleman overlooking the bullring.

The gentle curve of her lips only sent chills down the black cat's spine. She blurted out a question that had been weighing on her mind for a long time: "Did you...did you already know that Kirino's novel had been plagiarized?"

"Yes."

The questions and answers flowed smoothly, without any pauses of silence.

"I knew she'd been scammed a long time ago."

"I had already found out the background and information of that swindler long ago."

“I just sat there and watched as she fell asleep on the sofa from exhaustion.”

"Finally, after Kirino couldn't hold on any longer and fell ill, after she cried and begged, he came out to be the hero and save the beauty. You can see that the photo is evidence that was prepared in advance."

Black Cat felt a chill creep up her spine. She was getting to know this man again, a man who appeared gentle and mild on the outside but was cold-blooded and calculating on the inside.

"Whether it's you or Aragaki, you're both tools I use to manage her stress."

“During the school trip, Kogiso realized that I was using her as a tool. She thought it was her imagination, but it wasn’t.”

The voice remained as gentle as ever.

But she felt that she and Kyosuke Kousaka were forty degrees apart in latitude.

The gentle voice is actually quite cold.

As if to confirm her guess, a cold hand was placed on her head: "I just want my sister to continue to depend on me, continue to act spoiled towards me, and continue to be close to me without reason or reservation."

“It’s one-sided; I just want her to depend on me and be close to me.”

"But I need to keep a certain distance from her."

"Because I am her brother."

He looked at her expressionlessly: "Gokou Ruri, what do you think of a brother like me?"

Chapter Twenty-Four: Love and Being Loved in a 30/70 Ratio

"Yeah, that guy apologized to me that very day. He's clearly an adult, but he sounded like he was crying, pfft pfft pfft..."

"Huh? You're saying Kyosuke bullied her so badly that she almost lost control of her bladder on the spot? Is that a bit too much, you dead cat?"

While talking to the black cat, Kirino Kousaka seemed to have heard something terrible and quickly asked, "What exactly happened that day? Kyosuke only said that the matter was resolved when he came back, but he didn't say anything specific."

"You...you can't explain it clearly either? What do you mean by 'can't explain it clearly'?"

"Hey, then come to my house tomorrow and tell me—oh my god, I can call my brother whatever I want, it's none of your business!"

She blushed and remained silent for a full minute before finally stammering out what she had been wanting to say: "The black one, that... well, thank you..."

After saying that, the proud Kirino immediately hung up the phone.

She wouldn't be this shy to say thank you to anyone else, but that black guy was different. How could she let him be too smug with someone who was always her adversary?

But what did my brother do there that day?

Black Cat said it sounded pretty exciting—did they beat up that Fate who plagiarized them?

On the afternoon of the day my brother and the black cat went to Tokyo, the other party contacted me, apologized, returned the copyright to the author, and compensated me for the losses.

Of course, the tsundere Kirino said things like "It's really okay, to be honest, I didn't care at all," and readily forgave the other person.

Her personality is really strange.

Sometimes she's kind to people, sometimes she's mean to them—all things considered, the Kousaka family's daughter seems to be very kind to everyone except her brother and her otaku friends.

Despite her terrible personality, her neighbors all speak highly of her—of course, she has never hidden her true nature and temper from Kasumigaoka Utaha.

Is it true that the closer the relationship, the worse the temper?

Actually, it's not really true. At least she's always been very gentle with her best friend, Ayase Aragaki...

"Ayase, um, um... you're basically fully recovered, you can go back to school the day after tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Shopping...no way tomorrow, tomorrow—ah! I have to stay home with my brother tomorrow. I haven't spent time with him lately, and he's been in a really bad mood."

The tea-haired beauty, who was saying this in front of the bedroom window, turned around and glanced shyly at her brother.

Mr. Kyosuke Kosaka was helping her proofread the second volume of her novel. He turned his head slightly and said, "Keep making things up. You'd better say that I need to have milk tomorrow and that it's inconvenient for you to go out."

Enraged by her brother's teasing, Kirino quickly ended the call after exchanging a few words with her friend and stormed up behind him.

"Kirino, your character's younger sister is such a naive and innocent type!"

"Ughhhh, shut up!"

She used a strangulation technique on her brother, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind and rubbing her cheeks together: "Tell me honestly what you and that dark-skinned guy did at the editorial department."

"I went to get justice for you, huh? Ouch, let go, your neck's going to break!"

"uh-huh?"

Kirino's suspicious voice rang in my ears.

Just as Kyosuke was about to explain further, he felt something soft on his ear.

That wasn't a cheek, but a young girl's delicate lips.

The touch felt like an electric current, causing them both to stop moving.

Only his heavy breathing tugged at the air and his reason in his ears. It was as if a fire had been added to Kirino's body, burning tirelessly in the winter, as if to turn winter into summer.

She felt as if she were in a jungle, the air still damp and hot, with a buzzing in her ears—the chirping of insects.

Why is your face so red?

Before she knew it, Kousaka Kyosuke turned to look at her and asked with concern, "Why is your face so red? Kirino, are you still recovering from your illness?"

After he finished speaking, he stood up.

Face to face.

They lowered their heads, their foreheads touching.

Kirino Kousaka involuntarily closed her eyes.

She knew it wasn't her brother trying to kiss her, but just taking her temperature, but she couldn't help herself.

Every time this happens, I can't help but think about it in my heart, or rather, I can't help but look forward to it every time.

He kissed himself.

Even just a kiss on the cheek would be nice.

But... nothing happened, not even a single kiss.

"You don't have a fever. Try not to overwork yourself in the future, okay?"

"Ok!"

The thick nasal voice wasn't due to a cold, but rather to emotions.

The emotion was very complex; it was a mixture of joy and happiness because he still pampered her so much.

But there is also a strong sense of frustration.

The frustration of being deceived, failing, and falling ill.

Her tearful and pathetic appearance that day paled in comparison to Kasumigaoka Utaha's composure...

She's really starting to feel inferior.

On the surface, inferiority complex is looking down on oneself.