I really don't want to be reborn.

The sound was cut off by the lunch break bell, and there was no follow-up.

Although he didn't hear the second half of her sentence, Kyosuke Kosaka felt that her voice was very gentle, and his heart felt warm.

The head and deputy head of the Literature Department continue to flaunt their relationship as usual.

Unfortunately, the situation changed during the midday radio program...

…………

Unsurprisingly, after Kasumigaoka Utaha seemingly calmly responded to a few words, her thoughts began to run wildly down a strange path.

The female host was a senior in high school, and she raised a question about gender equality in Japanese society.

Especially equality in areas such as job positions.

Normally, this kind of topic could be brushed off with clichés, but unfortunately, the two from the Literature Department didn't even look at their prepared speeches and started improvising.

"As for my job position, I think I have a lot to say about it."

"Oh, does Kousaka-kun often work part-time?"

"Well, I guess so. From a psychological perspective, women are prone to jealousy and easily develop a desire for revenge. These two factors are often the reasons for disharmony at work. More importantly, they lack rationality and can easily develop a deep-seated hatred for someone over trivial matters, just like the love they cherish."

"so……"

"There is a reason why women are usually in deputy positions in the workplace."

The streamer's senior was about to comment on this viewpoint when she was coldly interrupted before she could even speak.

"Objection! I disagree with this view!"

Kasumigaoka Utaha finally couldn't help but retort: ​​"Physiology cannot determine psychology. A person's magnanimity is not determined by gender. In fact, I think women are often more tolerant and more forgiving than men. What you just said is unfair."

She spoke fluently, instantly releasing all her tension. Her gaze grew increasingly sharp; at this moment, Kasumigaoka would show no mercy.

Kyosuke Kosaka showed no mercy, his tone turning cold: "That's just you unconsciously idealizing your own group in your mind. You should know that in crime dramas, women's motives for killing are basically jealousy and revenge."

"That's a TV drama!"

"TV dramas are based on reality, OK?"

"Then I want to ask, don't men have this problem either? Are they even less likely to have it? On what basis?"

His expression slowly returned to normal: "No need for any reason. Look, you already hate me now, and you're already plotting how to get revenge on me, right?"

"asshole!"

Shiyu-chan slammed her hand on the table and stood up, completely forgetting that she was live-streaming, and angrily said, "What an annoying way to put it, you chauvinistic man."

"What right do feminist fanatics have to talk about me?"

The two glared at each other, their feelings of love and hate shifting like a cat's eyes throughout the day.

The senior student hosting the broadcast wiped her sweat, unable to utter a sound other than a dry laugh.

The girl slowly suppressed her anger, and with vengeful words as the final commentary on the broadcast, it echoed throughout the campus: "Tomorrow's bento will be made with your least favorite dish. This is punishment. This is what you call revenge."

This is dog food.

The zombies in the Literature Department were utterly bewildered. They never expected to get their faces smeared by the Minister and Vice Minister while having lunch. Did they want to be left to die?

--------

I don't know what you're still looking forward to at the end of the last volume.

Do you really want my book to be banned?

rua!

Chapter Five: Enjoy this pain with style

Lu Xun... no, it was Mark Twain who once said something like this: "A large part of a civilized woman's charm is her clothes—that is to be expected. Some civilized and polite women lose half their charm without their clothes, and some lose all of it."

"A modern, civilized girl dressed to the fullest extent is a miracle created by exquisite, beautiful art and money."

Yes, this viewpoint also applies to Kasumigaoka Utaha, who doesn't pay much attention to fashion trends.

She's very attractive; not only is her face beautiful, but her perfectly proportioned figure puts her far ahead of girls her age, especially her legs encased in black pantyhose...

If I had to describe her, she would probably be a night elf, exuding charm. When her beautiful legs are covered in black stockings, they immediately gain a touch of allure, mystery, and ethereal beauty.

Judging from Kyosuke Kosaka's praise and astonishment, among all the people he knew, there was probably only one woman who could wear black stockings so well in daylight.

(I really want to play a jazz tune ending with "forlovers" on those legs. Even without the saxophone's sweet, lingering tone, it would still have the rapid, improvisational, and hysterical high and low notes.)

The girl was not wearing socks at that moment.

In her bedroom, a pair of beautiful bare feet were curled up on the pink sheets. They were flawless, full, glistening, smooth and delicate, and they moved up and down in rhythm with her mood as she read.

She was reading a novel, the one that had been voted the best by Takarajima Publishing House this year—"The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya".

Starting this year, we will select the "Work of the Year" and "Male/Female Character of the Year" rankings annually based on reader votes. This ranking is different from the Dengeki Bunko Awards, which in 05 were based on novels from 04. This will continue every year.

Yes, it's that famous "This Light Novel is Amazing!" award. This year's winner is Nagaru Tanigawa's Haruhi Suzumiya. She was reading the text and didn't quite understand why such a strange book would receive such high praise.

She was frowning when the phone rang.

When Kasumigaoka Utaha glanced at the time on the caller's phone, she immediately ruled out the possibility that it was Kousaka Kyosuke.

"Hey?"

"it's me."

The voice on the other end was a girl's.

She was a friend she met online.

Similar to the way Kuroneko and Kirino interact, her interactions with this person are basically about mutual mockery and hurting, and of course, she usually wins.

To be honest, listening to the other person's exasperated voice when she's lonely is also one of Kasumigaoka Utaha's hobbies.

The girl was kind-hearted; she had been helping her come up with ideas last night. But tonight, the girl's voice was much lower and hoarse than usual, indicating that she was in a very bad mood.

"I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

"The 'okay' one."

"Okay, the character designs you asked me to draw are almost finished now."

Shiyu breathed a sigh of relief. The illustrator that Dengeki Bunko found for her had a very unappealing art style, so the girl flatly refused and told the editor that she would find one herself.

After all this time, there was finally a result. Her tone was much lighter, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Then, reluctantly, she asked, "So, what's the bad news?"

For that guy to be so upset that he comes to me for advice, it must be a really bad thing.

"The bad thing is... I'm heartbroken."

All the pears are gone...

Kasumigaoka was speechless: "..."

What did this person say on the phone last night?

Even setting a goal should be done according to basic principles, right?

The person on the other end was almost crying: "Aren't you going to say a few words of comfort to me?"

The girl with long, straight black hair was unusually embarrassed: "Um, well, I'm not really good at comforting people either."

"Any word will do, otherwise I'll tear these paintings up right now."

Kasumigaoka Utaha was thinking of asking Kousaka for help, wondering how to say comforting words in a nice way. Unfortunately, when she looked at her computer, he wasn't online, so she had to bite the bullet and do it herself.

"Well... cheer up, you have school tomorrow, study hard and make progress every day!"

"..."

"..."

After a long silence, the deep voice finally became agitated: "Why don't you say something nice? Like 'You're so cute, you'll never have trouble finding a man,' or 'I'll come visit you tomorrow' or something like that..."

"First, you're not that cute. Second, I have to go to school tomorrow."

"...I was wrong, I shouldn't have had any expectations of you."

Kasumigaoka Utaha felt a little ashamed: "...I'm really sorry, I'll come visit you this weekend, just in time you can finish the character design by then."

"I'm not in the mood..."

Shiyu's tone turned cold again: "If it's not finished when I get there, I'll cut off your beautiful golden retriever."

"what!!!"

A scream came from the other end of the phone: "Kasumigaoka, I hate you!"

"Hmm, I love you, Eriri."

She hung up the phone with a smile, then her smile faded and she sighed softly.

She sighed for her friend's plight.

Kasumigaoka thinks she's a good girl, and she also thinks Eriri is a good girl, but being a good girl doesn't necessarily mean you'll have love.

What kind of predicament is that blonde, twin-tailed doujinshi artist currently in?

She had no idea what was going on. The only thing she knew for sure was that her friend was suffering. When people are in pain, they don’t actually feel the pain. It’s the lingering torment that is most heart-wrenching.

On the title page of the book, she wrote these words: "The pain is like two trains passing each other on a railway track. They are very close but do not touch each other. What is more painful than brushing past your ex-boyfriend is that the time they spend passing each other is very long..."

Before falling asleep, Kasumigaoka sent Eriri a message: "Eugen said that God makes us get used to all sorts of things, just to replace happiness."

This is probably the greatest comfort one can offer literally.

Then she slowly sank into a dream, in which she seemed to see the Aegean Sea.

On the map, the small blue sea is not majestic at all, but gentle and charming. Under the sunlight by the sea, it slowly turns into clouds, and immediately brings a refreshing coolness.

Then the clouds turned into rain, slowly turning the valley into a swamp. A morning breeze woke her up, and the slippery discomfort made Kasumigaoka Utaha frown. She smelled the scent in the air and, embarrassed and annoyed, pushed open the window.

The night has ended, and the gentle sunlight flows like water, splashing across the sky. The morning breeze suddenly rises high and bright.

She checked her phone, still thinking about it, and found that Eriri had indeed replied, but the content of the letter had nothing to do with heartbreak.

“Listen to me, there are very few men like Kosaka on the market anymore (if he really is as you say), change your ridiculously pretentious personality, don’t let him go and then come crying to me.”

Kasumigaoka tossed her phone aside, looked at herself in the mirror, and elegantly muttered to herself, resting her snow-white chin on her fingers: "You arrogant tsundere, how dare you call me pretentious?"