I really don't want to be reborn.

However, if a person never looks down on others after comparing themselves to them, then they will never look down on themselves after comparing themselves to others.

In other words, she had previously belittled Kasumigaoka Utaha, which is why she now feels humiliated and inferior.

"elder brother……"

"what happened?"

Kirino felt his hands pinching and squeezing her face, but she wasn't in the mood to open them. Instead, she timidly asked a question that had been weighing on her mind for a long time.

"I……"

"what happened to you?"

Kyosuke gently rubbed his younger sister's chubby cheeks and smiled, "Little one, is there something you need my help with again? Helping you revise your manuscript already shortens my lifespan, what could be more troublesome?"

"Um, I... I mean!"

"Huh? What exactly are you trying to say?"

Kirino was startled by the probing gaze and immediately turned her back, stammering, "Am I... the one who's inferior to Kasumigaoka Utaha in many ways?"

No, that's not true.

Kirino turned around in surprise.

She turned her back to him just now because she simply didn't have the courage to ask the question when they were face to face.

She turned around in surprise: "Where? Where?"

Kousaka Kyosuke silently watched his unusually excited sister, as if he were watching a half-dead cat smell catnip, its excitement almost making it want to roll around on the spot.

He sized up his adorable younger sister, pondering for a long time: "Apart from your chest and brain, you and she aren't that different..."

"..."

The Kirino stopped operating and remained frozen in place.

"……what."

Kirino attempts to save herself with self-deprecating laughter.

"..."

The Kirino sank.

"Oh, there are other differences between them—"

He suddenly hugged his sister, and their ears rubbed together.

She couldn't see her brother's expression, but she knew that she must be looking very surprised and delighted.

Kyosuke Kosaka showed no surprise.

The light did not illuminate his expression; he was shrouded in shadow.

"The difference is that you are my sister, a family member who is destined to be together for life."

Kirino didn't say anything; just being held like this was enough to make her cry with contentment, a temporary satisfaction.

The brother and sister, temporarily content, slept in each other's arms after the storm had passed.

As the temperature rises, the cracks disappear, leaving it like a perfectly smooth, reflective mirror.

The mirror reflected the brother and sister again, and the distance between them.

It wasn't until the heavy snow on Christmas Eve that it became obscured.

Chapter Twenty-Five: New Fire for New Tea, Enjoy Poetry and Wine While Young

Today is the long-awaited Meruru appreciation event.

Christmas is just around the corner, and for the Japanese, who are deeply influenced by Western culture, this winter Valentine's Day is just around the corner.

The Kousaka family was bustling with activity early in the morning.

"I'm going out to buy groceries."

"What's wrong with Kyosuke? Why is he so energetic today?"

"Kirino's friends are coming over, I'm planning to cook them a nice lunch..."

Saying such warm words, Kousaka Kyosuke went out shopping. When he returned, his sister's three otaku friends had already arrived.

To be honest, this was the first time Saori and Umaru had come to our house.

"Long time no see Kosaka Kosaka!"

The one who greeted him like that was Hamster.

It has indeed been a long time. He and Umaru probably haven't seen each other for about a month, right? The last time he went to Tokyo to see her, Taihei treated him like an enemy and was on guard against him. He didn't even have a chance to have a proper conversation with him.

I miss it so much.

Of course I miss her! Everyone would keep a girl like Umaru in their heart, right?

Saori lives in Yokohama, so it's rare to see her.

Kyosuke Kosaka smiled as he looked at the four girls in the living room.

Today's gathering was a party where friends scattered across the country reunited. Ah, just thinking about how friends rekindled their bonds brings a smile to my face, but—

"Speaking of which, isn't today a continuation of the previous anime appreciation event? Then we should continue watching the Meruru episode we were halfway through before, right?"

The Kosaka family's little darling is super annoyed right now, arms crossed: "But now someone says they want to play games! Why did I invite you to my house and have to play your favorite thing with you? Hey, are you even listening, you stinky cat!"

The stinky cat, its eyebrows twitching, ignored Umaru's attempts to stop it and suddenly stood up, looking at Kousaka Kyosuke who was watching the spectacle unfold: "Ha, isn't it natural for a host to please his customers? What's with this thinking? I even brought you a gift—"

Cowherd?

Is it...is it about him?

Kyosuke Kosaka looked bewildered and pointed to his face: "Um... I'm not a male host yet, little black cat. Besides, do you think I look like a male host?"

The four girls fell into an eerie silence.

This silence seems to be an admission of consent...

His gaze swept over the four people, then he looked at the most reliable one, Ms. Saori Bagina: "Hey, Saori, could it be... could it be that I really look like a gigolo?"

Saori turned her face away: "The warm-hearted male host..."

You talk as if you've ever slept with a male escort!

—The party had barely begun and this was already happening. He quietly sat down next to his sister, and these four guys actually teamed up to criticize him. Did they want to be played?

I sat down next to my sister and watched her and the black cat start another round of arguing and cursing. Every now and then I would sigh to Saori, "How nice, how nice," marveling at the bond between the sow and the stinky cat.

They both knew that these arguments and insults were actually a manifestation of their friendship.

Meanwhile, Hamster was fiddling with a DVD in front of the television.

Umaru wanted to fast-forward through the anime, and because the drinks on the table might be knocked over by the two arguing people, she simply sat in front of the TV.

"To be honest, I'm not used to wearing your hamster coat."

Umaru, resting her chin on her hand, glanced at him sideways: "What do you mean, Kousaka?"

Looking at this perfect girl, Kyosuke Kosaka said in a slightly strange tone, "Umaru, who isn't in hamster mode, looks so cute sitting so obediently."

Kirino and Kuroneko's argument came to an abrupt end.

They all looked this way at the same time.

Their gazes differed.

Umaru chuckled and scratched the back of her head: "A lot of people say that, but it's the first time a boy my age like Kousaka has called me cute. I'm a little happy—hehe, thanks for the compliment."

"..."

Tong Nao wanted to speak but stopped.

Are you two serious?

What's with this flirtatious atmosphere?

Oh my! This hamster actually accepted the compliment "I'm cute" with a completely calm expression.

Kyosuke Kousaka glanced at his sister out of the corner of his eye, taking in her expression, and then changed the subject: "Seeing you like this reminds me of Kirino when she was little."

"Huh?"

"When Kirino was little, she liked to sit in front of the TV. Back then, we didn't have DVDs at home, and she liked to stare at them."

Kirino suddenly threw herself into his arms and yelled, "Don't talk about things from when I was little!"

Kyosuke held her hand down and continued to expose his sister's embarrassing past: "Whenever there's movement on TV, she gets excited and starts babbling and dancing along..."

"No, no, no! You're not allowed to say that again! Forget about it now!"

He placed his hand on his sister's shoulder, his expression tender as he reminisced about the past: "Back then, Kirino was the cutest in my heart, how could I forget her..."

Doma's expression was complicated.

Kousaka, Kousaka, this isn't right!

You're just praising me to subtly imply that your little sister was adorable when she was little!

I absolutely hate those siscon types who beat around the bush.

Kirino looked at him shyly, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something, but the next moment she was dragged away by the black cat: "Speaking of which, what do you think of the gift I gave you?"

Speaking of this, Kirino's anger instantly flared up, and she slammed a stack of A4 papers onto the table with trembling hands.

"Humph."

The black cat elegantly crossed her hands and nodded, then said in a highly sarcastic tone, "You should thank me. I searched online for you and collected a large number of online reviews of 'Sister Sky'."

Kirino trembled with anger: "Really? Really? So that's why you meticulously selected a bunch of book reviews that criticized 'Imouto Sora' so harshly, and then printed them out and brought them to my house to show me?"

Wow, that black cat...

Well done!

Just how wicked are you?!

"That's really unfair. This is proof of friendship. Besides, your heroine Rino is disliked by many male readers. She's been described as 'loose as an ocean that you could wash a mop with.' It has nothing to do with me."