I really don't want to be reborn.

This is probably what friendship is all about.

A tacit understanding, akin to friendship, blossomed between them.

Unlike their tacit understanding on the sports field, their tacit understanding regarding pornographic books and hentai seemed rather lewd.

He came out a moment later with a calm expression. Besides the good stuff Miura had mentioned, there were two light novels and a professional book on game programming.

"Huh, A Certain Magical Index? You read that?"

"Take a look at sickle physics."

He started to pay the bill: "I saw on the internet that the sixth volume is coming out next month, right? Hippo is really a typewriter, I feel like he's on par with Nishio."

"No, you don't need to tell me that. My love for games far surpasses my love for novels."

Miura packed up several books for him and exclaimed in surprise, "You're reading about game programming? Hey? Kosaka, why don't you come to our game research club? There are even more books there, you can learn however you like."

Kyosuke was baffled: "I just wanted to take it back to reminisce. It's not like I don't know how to make games."

Gennosuke Miura stared in disbelief: "You can make games?"

Kyosuke Kosaka smiled sheepishly, his tone as calm as that of Lu Ge: "Just a little bit, like calligraphy and tea ceremony, I only know a little bit."

"Then you absolutely must come to our department! You promised to write the script, right? I think you should just make games, and you can write the scripts yourself!"

He waved goodbye to the skinny otaku: "We'll talk about it later."

We'll talk about it later.

He usually uses very polite language when talking to boys.

…………

The black cat breathed on the palm of the hand.

Her hair was slightly damp, clearly from the rain accumulating at a higher altitude. The wet hair appeared deep and alluring in the darkening twilight.

Today it was her turn to clean the corridors of the student building.

Normally, several people would clean together, but whenever it was her turn, no one would join her. She would spend a long time sweeping and cleaning, and she would come back later than usual.

My hair got wet again from the water dripping from the eaves when I walked along the street.

Today was truly awful.

Especially when she was rejected by the older brother from the Kousaka family on the train in the morning.

She rarely asks others for anything, silently endures any problems, and rarely cares about other people's opinions—if you care too much about other people's opinions, then life will become a pair of panties.

You have to accept whatever nonsense other people spout.

The black cat didn't think she had done anything wrong, so why did she have to put on a fake smile? She was Chiba's Fallen Saint, and she should be walking the path of darkness.

My father said that the so-called road is the truest desire in one's heart, and it can take a person the farthest.

Yes, the girl who adheres to this belief rarely asks for help, and the last time she did so was when she asked Kyosuke Kousaka to help her take over her shift.

He was a gentle person.

Yes, gentle, that's what the black cat always thought.

That's why she was so taken aback when she was so bluntly rejected this morning.

It's not gentleness, it's hypocrisy.

She thought resentfully, "What is Kirino Kousaka's brother doing right now?"

He's still maintaining that gentle yet fake smile, flirting with that black-stockinged villain who has an even stronger aura than the Queen of the Night.

Or is he on the phone with his silly sister?

Who cares!

After her initial resentment subsided, the black cat secretly thought to herself that, in her heart, Kousaka Kyosuke was actually a very, very good older brother.

Sometimes she also wished she had a brother like that to rely on.

She told Kirino and Saori that she didn't care about being lonely; on the contrary, she enjoyed it all...

But that's all a lie.

How could she not care?

In fact, she was terrified of being alone, terrified of loneliness.

"It's here!"

On my way home, I "accidentally" saw that familiar boy. My slow, snail-like pace suddenly quickened, and my feelings were quite complicated, like waiting for a ship at an airport.

The black cat was pleased with its analogy, but then immediately denied it, embarrassed, because the metaphor was meant to describe a hopeless unrequited love.

No, no, that didn't happen.

She shook her head, looking at him in the dim streetlights, her eyelids fluttering and her eyelashes blinking, like a butterfly on the night grass.

"Black cat?"

Kosaka's hands were full of things: "Even if it's raining, you're going back too late. I remember you still have to go back to cook for your sister."

"Yeah, it's nice to let Hinata cook for herself once in a while."

"That brat with pigtails?"

The two seemed like two rivers converging here, their footsteps becoming even more rhythmic as they walked together.

"Regarding the doujinshi illustrations, well, if you don't have your own original characters, I can help you with some of the work."

She looked up from her silence: "Really?"

"Yes, it's fine if the quantity is small."

She quickly walked a few steps to the front.

My mind was filled with all sorts of theories about unrequited love and crushes—having a chance to exchange a few words with him was like encountering a bountiful harvest during a famine.

I thought about those few words over and over again, day and night.

Ok.

She was relieved. She didn't have those feelings, so she was sure it wasn't a crush, but just a longing and a desire to have a reliable and gentle older brother like that.

Yes, no one can deny that Kyosuke Kousaka is a very good older brother.

……

……

Then, on a weekend at the end of June.

This exceptionally kind older brother stood between his father and sister, their atmosphere tense, his face as bitter as a bitter melon with vinegar added.

------(two)

I just came back from my run, and it was the same little ditch again. This time there were four elementary school students, including a very cute little girl.

As soon as I got closer, I heard three boys arguing: "Mine is bigger," "Mine is even bigger," "Mine is twenty times bigger"—upon closer listening, I realized they were comparing the size of the crabs they had caught.

Ah, just a little bit of a knife in front of me before the next bonus chapter.

I keep my word.

Chapter Forty-Four: As free as the wind, yet restless with anticipation.

At the end of June, the sun finally broke through the rain clouds.

Today is the weekend, and as usual, he went to the library in the neighboring town with Kasumigaoka Utaha, who is more than a friend but not quite a lover. They read for a while and then spent half the afternoon in the park next to the library.

In the park that Kyosuke jokingly calls the Rose Garden, there are still some red roses that were not picked by the mischievous children. After weathering the wind and rain and seeing the sun, they are now swaying in the sun with their withered bodies.

She was graceful and charming.

They were under the shade of the trees, and the afternoon sun, around four o'clock, dappled the leaves like transparent fish, splashing them all over.

The summer heat made them both eager to get closer to each other.

Because heat enters the brain, it can easily make people feel dizzy and dull, making their minds less sharp, and emotions are dragged out by desires.

However, before anyone could confess their feelings, an urgent phone call pulled Kyosuke Kosaka back home from the neighboring town. His mother's voice sounded panicked and helpless on the phone, and she only said one simple sentence.

Kirino's disgusting possessions have been discovered after all.

What happened at home?

"Yes, Kirino has run into some trouble, and I have to go back now. I'm sorry."

The two stood up from their chairs, and Kasumigaoka asked, puzzled, "Why are you suddenly apologizing to me?"

"I promised to go out with you today, but I have to go back now, so—"

She gently shook her head: "Let's go to your house together. Anyway, we'll arrive around evening, so you've already spent the whole day with us."

The girl's back view looked exceptionally dashing; this was the first time Kousaka Kyosuke had ever felt that she was dashing.

"...So there's no need to apologize."

The melancholy was somewhat alleviated by this carefree demeanor.

On a weekend evening, Kyosuke Kosaka returned home from the library, bringing with him the president of the Literature Club.

The house was unusually quiet.

There was no sound of the TV, no talking, no cooking; it was as muggy as before a thunderstorm—completely silent.

He and Kasumigaoka Utaha changed their shoes in the entryway and walked down the hallway as quietly as possible. They stopped in front of the living room door, where his mother was pacing back and forth looking anxious.

"Kyosuke, hey, Kyosuke—is this a little poem?"

"Auntie, I'm sorry to bother you."

Jia Nai's mother forced a kind smile at her prospective daughter-in-law, then continued with her worry: "Well... things happened a bit today..."

You think it's best not to air your dirty laundry in public?

Kyosuke Kosaka gave Kasumigaoka Utaha a strange look, chuckled, and patted his mother on the shoulder: "She's not an outsider."

The mother paused for a moment, then smiled with relief.