I really don't want to be reborn.

Poetry.

This girl.

The first thing you notice is her soft breath, the question mark of smoke, the tassels of corn, and the sweetness of a cotton candy in your mouth, making you itch with desire.

He was small in stature, with a slender body like a straw, a perfect facial contour, a small chin slightly raised, and thin shoulders that fit perfectly in his palms.

With just a slight downward movement, he could completely embrace her in his arms.

What's most striking is his eyes.

Cold as stone, still as oblivion.

It is faint, yet unwavering, and one cannot extricate oneself from it.

Beneath the lake lies a treasure trove never before explored, and in its unfathomable depths, extremely dangerous ripples emerge.

They stared at each other for a long time, then remained silent for a long time.

That wasn't the silence of a chatterbox finally exhausted—if silence had to be transformed into a tangible substance, it would be snow, and snow began to fall between them.

"Shi Nai".

"Uh-huh!"

As if waking from a deep dream, Shi's ears turned red, her face flushed, and the blush gradually sank down to her neck.

Kyosuke Kosaka lowered his head a little further.

Her neck was as slender as a line of poetry.

"You're so cute..."

You're so cute—I said it without thinking, and even after thinking it over, I still say it.

…………

"Kyosuke, I have a surprise for you this time—what happened to your face? Oh dear, you've surprised me before I can give you a surprise."

The only person I know who speaks like this is Saori Bajina, a rich young lady and otaku living in Yokohama.

She first leaned closer to examine the bruises on Kyosuke's face, then gave a knowing smile: "This is clearly the result of your womanizing ways."

Kosaka's face stiffened, and he waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, this is definitely not being a womanizer. I just wanted to kiss Shino. It's a misunderstanding!"

Upon hearing this, the third person present also changed his expression; he had been expressionless before, but now he was completely blank.

"Kiss? Shino? If I remember correctly, she should be fourteen years old, the same age as us!"

"Black Cat, are you implying that I can kiss you too?"

The third person, a black cat whose registered tag was Gothic Lolita, clapped his hands angrily: "Brother! Brother! Please have some self-respect."

Saori suddenly smiled strangely: "On another note, it seems quite normal for a brother to be affectionate towards his sister, right?"

Kyosuke nodded in a cute way: "That's right, that's right."

The black cat gave them a cold smile, then suddenly pulled a piece of paper and a pen from its purse, scribbled something horrible in a few quick strokes: "You two are finished! I've cursed you to death! Get ready to say your last words!"

"..."

"I want to become the Kami of the New World!"

"Little black cat, that's a 2004 meme, let's come up with something new." (Death Note manga began serialization in 2004)

"Indeed! Princess Black Cat seems to be indulging in the glory of the past lately. Kyosuke, she needs your kiss to wake her up."

Kousaka Kyosuke ignored the big guy's provocative words: "So what kind of surprise are you going to give us? Could it be... that Miss Saori is going to give me a real maid?"

He clasped his hands together and said, "Thank you very much, Miss Saori!"

"A maid? You want a maid?"

Saori huffed, "Kyosuke has a girlfriend, a sister-in-law, and a younger sister—and more than one younger sister—and he's still not satisfied? How about I become your maid?"

"Please spare me this one, I'm afraid you'll trample me to death—what are you doing right now?"

"Of course, we're testing the Gmpul.

Saori straightened her posture and began to get down to business: "I should say that I was trying on Sasabi."

This is absolutely not a serious matter!

"Actually, I just wanted to invite Kyosuke and Kuroneko to go—hmm? Kuroneko-sama, what's wrong?"

From lying flat to squatting, the black cat buried its face in its knees, rustling like a mimosa.

She glanced at the photo on the desk and seemed to see something extremely embarrassing.

That photo was taken last summer in Comic, a silly, chuunibyou-esque photo of her and Kousaka Kyosuke.

The colorful shell of memory is shattered on that photograph.

There were many photos on the table, including photos of him and Kasumigaoka Utaha, photos of them with Shino, photos of her and Saori, and even photos of Aragaki and Ran.

but!

The shy girl noticed something: the most common photos on the screen were of his younger sister, Kirino Kousaka, who had always envied his happiness.

That idiot...

A person who is always looking up to and envying the happiness of others is completely unaware that they are already happy.

------

You are the cutest—I said it without thinking, and even after thinking it over, I still say it.

This quote comes from Pushkin, yes, that Pushkin.

If life deceives you, don't be sad, because tomorrow will be the same anyway.

Chapter Twenty-One: May time flow by quietly, and I would never trade this life for it.

"Black Cat, what's wrong?"

"Ah, it's nothing..."

The black cat's voice regained its warmth.

Not only was it warm and cozy, but it was also trembling: "No...it's okay, please continue."

After assembling the model, Saori blew a breath onto her creation with a "whoosh," making a "ω" shape with her mouth: "Kyosuke, even if Kirito is gone, our friendship will never change, am I right?"

Ok……

Gone... The use of the word "了" (le) here is brilliant.

"Of course, I admire Saori the most."

Kyosuke Kosaka solemnly said, "Without you, I don't think Kirino would have been so happy these past six months."

He glanced at the black cat and added, "If it weren't for your tireless efforts to smooth things over, these two might have broken up long ago."

The little black cat's face was still flushed as he sat uneasily, his haughty demeanor similar to his sister's: "Hmph, it's good that that woman is gone. The chances of the three of us getting together will actually increase a lot, which is great."

That's true. These two are not only his sister's friends, but they also get along surprisingly well with him, especially the cute little black cat.

That's a terrible way to put it.

During the time his sister was away, he practically treated the black cat and Xiaolan as substitutes for that guy.

However, she is not my younger sister after all, and even though these girls are all cute in their own way, they cannot replace her—the temperature of each day in winter, when added up, will not suddenly turn into summer one day.

"...Didn't that guy say goodbye when he left?"

"Hmph, I just briefly wrote about what happened in my SNS diary... that's all."

Aside from telling her family, Kirino didn't tell any of her friends, not even her best friend Ayase Aragaki.

Moreover, recently, she has gradually reduced her contact with people in Japan.

He vaguely guessed what his sister was planning to do, and then let out a long sigh.

"I don't care. I'm already fed up with that woman anyway, so I'm glad she just disappeared like that."

The poor black cat was throwing a tantrum, just like Eriri, that loser, but its tone was somewhat blank. Its emotions had been blown away by an unexpected breeze, and the stinky cat missed its sow terribly.

Saori put her hands on her hips, her face starting to turn into an oval, like a perfect circle flattened by a leg-slimming machine: "To be honest... I'm really angry."

This was the first time they had ever seen Saori angry.

Even in Kyosuke Kousaka's preconceived notions, this girl was so cheerful that she seemed to only experience joy and happiness.

The guy, who always had a happy smile on his face, suddenly got angry, which surprised them all and made them stop thinking.

"Ever since that comic appreciation session with Mr. Kuroko, Ms. Kotoko has gradually lost contact with me. I know that's because she's focused on her training, right?"

"Of course I admire Xiaotong's ambition, but while I can understand it rationally, I still can't forgive her emotionally."

An indescribable expression appeared on her face—a resolute and painful determination to prevent the tragedy that had already occurred from happening again.

"The thought of not being able to play together anymore makes me feel so lonely... I have no idea what to do."

“Saori…”

"I'm getting angrier and angrier. How can everyone just disappear without a trace like this..."

The black cat stared blankly at Saori, as if it were getting to know her again. Kousaka Kyosuke remained silent for a long time before suddenly clapping his hands: "I'm also very dissatisfied with that guy. In that case, let's all play together."

"Hey... what are we playing? A threesome?"

"...Black Cat, what did you say?"

The black cat crawled into his blanket, sticking out its round bottom with its limbs tucked in, turning into an ostrich cat.

Kyosuke looked at the reckless guy with amusement: "Then you two write about this in your SNS diaries and see if that jerk Kirino gets angry!"

"Oh! I see—perfect timing! I was just inviting you to Yokohama anyway, I guarantee you'll have a great time!"

Saori's face brightened again.

The black cat also made a muffled sound from under the covers: "Hmph! Let's see if that bastard gets angry!"

And so it's happily decided!

Then, Kyosuke Kosaka asked a question he'd been wanting to ask since the last chapter: "So... can you tell me how you got into my house? I was almost scared to death when you came in."