I really don't want to be reborn.

The person I said goodbye to was a male editor from the editorial department, who had a very handsome face.

In the end, everyone was busy rushing home, and no one responded to Kyosuke Kosaka's request to go eat some dry pot together, leaving him walking alone on the streets of Tokyo.

February 11th, a week after the start of spring, but it was still snowing in the afternoon, and it was expected to snow from dusk onwards. It seemed that God had used a cheap shampoo, and dandruff was falling down for free.

A traveler returning home on a snowy night – it must be said that this imagery is quite beautiful, though such beauty seems somewhat cold to someone all alone.

As I walked toward the station, I happened to pass by a fast food restaurant.

"When the mood strikes, eat something you like."

Passing through the flashing neon lights, Kosaka opened the automatic door, his face being enveloped by the warm air that rushed out, making him feel slightly suffocated.

"When I go to KFC, I always order the Spicy Chicken Burger. I can never tell the difference between the two."

I think KFC's fries are better than McDonald's. I suspect McDonald's is being sneaky and using less oil.

I was eating an old Beijing chicken roll in a tank top and shorts. They had chicken wings but no skewers. They had air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter. I could sit there all day and they wouldn't complain..."

Humming the lyrics with this strange tone, Kyosuke Kosaka walked in. It seemed that because of the winter, this kind of convenient hot fast food was very popular, and there were quite a few people there.

Should we eat here or take it home? If we take it home, Mom will complain that it's junk food and then cruelly snatch away most of the chicken wings.

But eating here would be like dining alone, which isn't really appropriate...

After a long time, it was finally his turn.

"Is it a family bucket?"

"No, two buckets of chicken wings will do—hmm?"

He suddenly focused his gaze in surprise, staring directly at the waitress in front of him who had been keeping her head down.

Old-fashioned glasses, old-fashioned braids, but there was no doubt about the voice. He tentatively called out, "Kogizo?"

The other party kept their head down as they wrote him the invoice, without looking up.

"Snow cabbage?"

This time there was a response.

Ogiso Setsuna looked up, their eyes met, and she scratched her cheek in annoyance. It would be difficult for her to pretend she didn't know her now.

"Oh, it really is Setsuna."

"Phew, Kousaka-kun... Good evening."

…………

Half an hour later, Kyosuke, carrying two buckets of chicken wings, finally met Setsuna Kogiso, who was off work.

"Is it okay to leave work at this time?"

"No problem at all, none of the part-time jobs I found are night shifts..."

Ogiso Setsuna, who had transformed from a dowdy braided, bespectacled girl back into the charming, adorable, and irresistibly cute twin-tailed girl, walked briskly, but her face was gloomy: "I didn't expect that the secret I've been keeping all this time would still be exposed by you."

"What's with this murderous tone?"

He smiled and said, "The secret is about your part-time job, right?"

The girl lowered her head shyly: "Yeah, it's honestly a little embarrassing to be seen by someone I know."

He understood this point. In an ordinary, mundane, or even mediocre life, there may be things like composure, hard work, and stubbornness, but it also often includes failure, humiliation, misunderstanding, jealousy, and all kinds of criticism.

Especially for a girl like her who is considered a campus idol.

They stepped out of the heated area and onto the street, which looked bustling, but all they felt was noise and coldness.

Ogiso Setsuna adjusted her scarf and, in a typical girlish way of making small talk, asked, "Kousaka-kun, are you here to buy something?"

"Chicken wings."

"But how did it end up in Tokyo? Or is it that the chicken wings in Chiba aren't good?"

"The KFC in Chiba doesn't have a pretty girl like you to work as a server."

Ogiso Setsuna smiled and accepted the compliment without question. She was a beautiful girl, and she always considered herself a cute and beautiful girl.

This is the source of my confidence in being approached by people from elementary school to high school.

How have you been lately?

"...Well, I've got a lot on my plate. I haven't dared to ask about Kousaka-kun yet. How's Kirino doing?"

Hearing her mention her sister, Kyosuke suddenly slowed down and looked down at the endless stream of cars from the overpass.

She's alright.

For some reason, he wasn't very willing to say such ambiguous and perfunctory dry words to Ogiso Setsuna.

Perhaps it was because they had little interaction, or perhaps it was because one of the impressions this girl left on him was that she was someone he could confide his troubles to.

So he said, "Kirino, you seem a little tired."

"Ok?"

“She’s training in track and field in the US, and every time we talk this month, I can tell she’s struggling, and—”

"And what?"

A few snowflakes swayed in her twin ponytails as Yukina stood beside him, looking down at the light below.

"Moreover, she was very lonely."

"Lonely……"

The girl gently raised her eyes and replied in a calm voice, "I see..."

Then she turned her head again, as if she was hesitating whether she should speak, her lips trembling slightly, and there was a strange light in her dark brown eyes.

"What I said was a joke before was actually true..."

Upon hearing this, Kyosuke Kosaka showed no expression.

"Kirino was talking in her sleep last night, constantly calling your name, her Onii-chan."

The girl's calm, emotionless voice was like the snow in the night—fragile and chilling.

"I said I was joking at the time, so I was lying."

"There's no need to tell that kind of lie. She's too attached to me, so it's normal for her to talk in her sleep like that."

Setsuna remained silent for a long while before coldly replying, "...Yes, that's normal."

"However, I have some concerns and would like to ask Setsuna for her advice."

"Do you need my advice?"

The cold voice softened, but it only made him more hesitant. The other person's smiling expression contained undisguised contempt and condemnation.

She was condemning his attempt to cover up the truth.

Setsuna Ogiso is still the same.

She wasn't pure white, but rather cunning and scheming. In high school, she was even more cunning and sharp-tongued, far less reserved and seemingly friendly than in college.

He looked at the girl with a smile that seemed to be reminiscing about the distant past: "Yes, this is ultimately my business, a private matter between Kirino and me, and it's really unnecessary."

Ogiso Setsuna squinted her eyes: "He's kind of handsome."

"Who?"

"It's Kousaka-kun."

"Thank you for the compliment."

After dropping her off at the door of Kogiso's house, Kosaka smiled and handed a bucket of chicken wings to Takahiro, who came out to greet her: "I won't go in, I'm in a hurry to get back. Please say hello to your uncle and aunt for me."

"Um... Kousaka-kun."

"what?"

She lowered her head, pursed her lips, and clenched her sleeves tightly.

Under her younger brother's puzzled gaze, Setsuna slowly relaxed her expression, her smile still flawless: "No, there's nothing there."

------

Oops, I overslept.

Chapter Eleven: I am now graceful and dignified, without worry or fear.

When you're busy, you feel like you have everything you need, but when you have free time, you realize you have nothing at all.

Kyosuke Kosaka probably felt this way while looking at the Tokyo night view.

At this time of year, he would usually be at home playing games with his sister or writing, feeling each other's warmth up close.

This is the fulfilling and simple nightlife of the Kosaka siblings. Their feelings for each other grow through such interactions, so they don't feel empty, but rather quite satisfied.

But ever since his sister went to America, he has found himself at a loss for what to do at night.

When it comes to enduring loneliness and solitude, Kyosuke Kousaka is completely fearless; he just feels a part of his heart suddenly fly to the other side of the ocean, experiencing a brief emptiness.

I imagine that after my girlfriend and I move to Tokyo in a while, I won't feel so empty at night anymore.

emptiness.

Humph.

Under the protection of youth, decadence is courage, and emptiness is so-called sexiness. The sexy Kyosuke Kousaka carries a bucket of chicken wings toward the station, trying to dilute the unpleasant feeling of having nothing to do with the red wine in Kasumigaoka Utaha's eyes.

That displeasure stems from dissatisfaction with life.

If I had to be more specific, I could quote a passage from "Literary Girl: The Water Fairy Embracing Flowers and the Moon," which was supposed to be published this April.

"Although I felt quite happy while reading, I also felt very lonely when I finally finished reading it, as if I had become an empty shell."

You guys probably often feel that way, right?

The sense of loss after finishing the latest update.

"But even if you wake up, it doesn't mean you've disappeared. The memory of having a beautiful dream remains. And that memory will radiate a warm light in your heart..."

Lost and found, then lost again—just like Eriri's unrequited love, the missing part is the circle of her younger sister's round face, so Kasumigaoka Utaha's heart shape cannot be filled.