I really don't want to be reborn.

"I know."

The D minor toccata had barely begun when it abruptly stopped.

Kasumigaoka Utaha's fingers pressed on the strings, feeling a sharp pain: "Kirino is leaving today to go to America, and she probably won't be back until the end of the year."

The words he spoke made him slowly put down his violin. With a soft bang, it was as if the world had been blown apart, revealing what they had tacitly avoided: a hollowed-out tooth.

I felt numb, but I didn't really feel anything. It was just a slight ache when the wind blew.

Kirino...

From Christmas Eve onwards, Kyosuke Kousaka knew that his sister had become attached to him, like a cat seeking warmth under his armpits. But once that cat ran away from home, he could only watch helplessly.

Seeing her all alone outside.

Joy is fleeting, sorrow is fleeting.

"I always thought that after twenty I would be twenty-one, after twenty-one I would be seventeen, and twenty-two would never come."

Kasumigaoka Utaha couldn't understand this sentence.

But she understood her boyfriend's expression.

The rainy season in Chiba is approaching, and the light today is very dim. In the dim light, his face is like a sculpture on a Greek marble base, perfectly cold.

His voice was deep, with the hue of twilight.

The summer breeze slanted against the curtains, and she suddenly felt a little cold. She took his hand and asked, "Let's go to the airport."

Kyosuke Kosaka looked at her strangely: "Are you kidding me? Are you sure you want me to go to the airport? If I go, I might really not come back."

The phrase "can't go back" refers to the inability to return to the current relationship.

Kasumigaoka Utaha frowned unhappily: "Isn't that what you wanted me to say? You're clearly anxious, but you're always considering my feelings. You clearly wish you could rush over and grab your precious little sister from the airport right now, but you're waiting for my approval."

She sighed wearily, "I've finally realized that having a boyfriend who's too smart, too cunning, and too calculating isn't necessarily a good thing—you're really not going?"

"If I don't go..."

"Then Kirino is so pitiful."

Kasumigaoka Utaha has a younger sister. If she could scoff at the idea of ​​a "sister complex" before, she now has to admit that her sister is the kind of person she can't let go of no matter what.

"Her brother's indifference shattered her hopes for happiness, her ideal world collapsed instantly, and she had to endure pressure from all sides—while the person she longed for still had the mood to play the violin at home..."

Kyosuke Kosaka suddenly burst out laughing: "That's really pitiful."

The cicadas began to sing in June, their chirping gradually becoming more and more piercing. He stood by the window and looked out, but he couldn't see the cicadas or catch their chirping.

He seemed completely unconcerned, and instead asked a strange question: "Sometimes I wonder, what is it about me that you all like so much?"

"Appearance or temperament? Personality or knowledge?"

Kasumigaoka looked at him coldly, unwilling to answer the question at all.

Just like she told Kirino a month ago.

Kyosuke Kosaka then asked, "No matter what, it's ultimately not a good thing for a man to be unfaithful."

She softened and felt helpless again: "Emotional infidelity is tolerable."

The two people's remarks were surprisingly in sync.

You won't gain a comprehensive understanding of the merits of just one person's works.

One must be like a bee, gathering nectar from many flowers to make honey; if one only stays with one flower, the result will be very limited and dull—this is the epitaph of a philanderer.

"Let's go."

After putting on his coat, he set off with her to Narita International Airport, holding Shiyu's hand: "Don't worry, Shiyu, you have the face of a fiancée."

Xiao Shi hummed softly, "I hope so."

When she arrived at the airport, she suddenly realized a problem: "Oh no, I forgot to ask her which flight she was taking."

He was slightly taken aback, not expecting her to mess things up, and a sense of unease he felt was stronger than ever before.

He had a premonition that if he didn't find his sister today, he might really lose her—at least he would lose her in the next two years.

Kyosuke Kousaka put his phone away; Kirino had already turned it off.

"Let's split up and search..."

They searched separately for a while, but still found nothing. With people coming and going at the airport, it was quite difficult to find someone.

Please show up soon.

I promise you, I'll cook whatever you want to eat.

I promise you, I'll play whatever game you want with you.

I promise you, no matter how disgusting it is, no matter how many times—I will appreciate your masterpiece.

So, little sister, can you please show up soon?

I don't want to know what meaning is needed in a sibling relationship anymore.

It's about beginnings and endings.

They simply rejected each other.

Yes, yes, I'm just an arrogant, conceited, and stubborn big radish.

People come and go in the airport, passing by one by one. Although they are all walking, it feels like they are all running.

As they ran, they forgot the nursery rhymes of their childhood.

He reached out his hand to the crowd, not to do anything, but simply to touch the human world. He and the crowd stood motionless, like a still life painting titled "Man and the Crowd".

Suddenly, a sense of fear, like that of someone confined in a womb, rose within him. His heart contracted, like a stone sinking to the bottom of water; then it swelled, like a balloon rising into the blue sky.

Kyosuke Kosaka raised his head slightly.

found it.

A stylishly dressed, tea-haired beauty was right in front of me, dragging her suitcase, turning around in a flustered manner, trying to put on an indifferent expression.

"pat-"

She didn't even care that her luggage had fallen on the ground; she just turned around in a disheveled state and quickened her pace to run away into the distance.

"Kirino!"

"..."

"Kosaka Kirino!"

His shout suddenly rang out in the airport, attracting the attention of many people.

Kirino froze in her tracks at his shout, turned around and slowly backed away, shaking her head and shedding tears.

I clearly said no.

We agreed that if we lost, we'd go to America.

I never want to see him again.

Kirino covered her lips, sobbing softly, watching helplessly as her brother approached step by step, her body trembling and her face pale.

When Kirino caught a glimpse of Kasumigaoka Utaha out of the corner of her eye, her face turned deathly pale.

"No... Kasumigaoka is... it's right here..."

This voice is the voice of conscience, quiet and subtle.

She turned her head slightly, looking at the girl with long, straight black hair who stood there indifferently. Her mournful expression was one of heartbreak and pitifulness he had never seen before, a heartbreak that also seemed like a relief.

"don't want!!!"

The girl's screams did nothing to stop him.

Kyosuke Kosaka hugged her tightly and forcefully: "Where else do you think you can run to?"

"I...uh!"

Her tearful eyes suddenly widened.

Kirino could only see his face getting closer to hers, and her lips being touched by her brother's lips.

It's not about just scratching the surface.

An embrace sweeps over mountains with overwhelming force, while a kiss strikes the heart and soul with lightning speed.

The tornado-like love shattered all her defenses and pretenses, leaving nothing behind.

Her hands, which were pushing against her brother's, grew weaker and weaker, and she could only close her eyes and cry, while her utterly broken heart was being swept up into the sky one after another.

Kasumigaoka Utaha stood indifferently, her face like that of a fiancée, her thoughts unfathomable.

------

As expected, the depiction of this classic scene still falls short in many ways, but please bear with it.

This isn't the ending. I'll write a few side stories and then reveal the finale.

Oh, there's no IF line, it doesn't exist!

Bonus Chapter for My Future Self

The iPod was playing someone's still very young voice; I had no idea how long ago she had recorded that message.

"Um...where should I begin?"

The rustling sound carried a hint of unease and shame in the little girl's voice.

"The reason I left this message for myself is so that I will never forget how I felt today."

If I forget how I feel today, I will no longer be myself.

If the person listening to this recording were no longer who they are now—I think that's unlikely.

However, please recall it after you hear your own voice.

I'm feeling extremely angry and annoyed right now.

That was an absolutely defiant and rebellious feeling, an absolute refusal to be separated from her brother.