I really don't want to be reborn.

Like her brother, Kirino Kousaka also thought the word "tenten" was incredibly wonderful!

On a weekend morning, the brother and sister stood in the entryway, watching their parents leave for a funeral.

"Well then, let's go."

"You should buy some souvenirs to bring back."

"Kyosuke, want me to bring you back a pack of cigarettes?"

As always, the mother called her son Kyosuke, and her question was quite amusing: "You'll be eighteen next month, right? Men should smoke, like your father."

Kyosuke and his father exchanged a glance and smiled: "Does Mom think men who smoke are handsome?"

"That's not quite right..."

Kirino suddenly blurted out from behind him, "People who choke on their cigarettes are the cool ones."

It was obvious that she didn't like the smell of cigarettes on the boy.

Daisuke gave his son a few more instructions, then glanced sharply at his daughter, noticing a mixture of excitement and fear on her face. Even though he was going to a funeral, Kirino's expression made it seem like she was about to attend her and her brother's wedding...

I sighed inwardly.

The soul is drawn to what it has secretly hidden.

It contains not only what it loves, but also what it fears, and sometimes they are the same thing.

Daisuke glared at his son.

Kyosuke Kousaka, bewildered, and Kirino saw them off at the door.

The moment the front door closed, Kirino's long-held crush surged like a strong wind blowing into a valley, so intense it was almost uncontrollable.

"What should we eat these next few days? Let me see if we have any fruit at home."

He walked towards the refrigerator, when he suddenly heard his younger sister calling him softly from behind: "Brother..."

"what happened?"

Kyosuke Kosaka stopped in his tracks.

His body was somewhat stiff, even when he was in a warm, almost burning embrace, he still felt stiff—his sister hugged him from behind for some reason.

"...Kirino?"

The girl's cheek pressed against his back, her overwhelming emotions flowing out with her tears, her low sobs sounding like a gentle drizzle in the living room.

Feeling the warmth of her tears, Kyosuke awkwardly pulled away from her embrace, turned around, and cupped his sister's face in his hands: "What's wrong? Did something upset you?"

Kirino's eyes were blurred with tears as she recalled those two times she roared and yelled at Kasumigaoka Utaha. That woman's attitude was like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing all her hysteria.

We can't hope for anything more.

The future is a success in itself, as long as there are no "what ifs".

She failed; she was a complete failure because she said "what if."

Almost every night before she went to sleep, she would think—if she hadn't had a fight with her brother two years ago, that woman from Kasumigaoka would never have had the chance to take advantage of her vulnerability.

Give it back!

Give it back...

"No, I'm super happy! I'm so happy I cried!"

Her smile seemed etched on her face, devoid of any warmth. Even the scalding tears couldn't warm it; it was a tombstone that Xia Yu could never warm: "Because... because we can watch Meruru on the big screen these past two days! And also, and also, nobody cares about adult games anymore!"

Kyosuke stared at her for a long time, then gave a wry smile: "Is it because of this?"

"Who else could it be?"

She reluctantly slapped away her brother's hand that was cupping her cheek, her messy smile unchanged: "Can't resist anymore? I'm going to wash my face now, and we can watch Meruru together later, okay?"

"You can see for yourself, I still need to go out to buy groceries."

Kyosuke stroked his sister's fluffy hair, beaming with joy: "You can eat whatever you like, your brother isn't short of money now."

"..."

Her stiff smile finally crumbled.

Her smile slowly turned into tears, her lips pursed as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment, her red-rimmed eyes bearing the pressure of tears, feeling sore and painful.

"What's wrong with her, crying and laughing at the same time?"

In front of her brother, any defenses she had crumbled easily, and any resolve she had vanished.

Because unintentional drafts through the room are most likely to attract flash floods.

…………

"Yes, Kirino is having some emotional issues, so I'll be staying home with her for the next couple of days."

"Phew, everyone's having a tough time."

"What happened to you on Kasumigaoka's side too?"

The girl on the other end of the phone sighed calmly, "Similar to you, a relative is visiting."

There was clearly no resentment in the complaining voice.

Kyosuke sensed the complexity in her words and couldn't help but ask directly, "What kind of relative are they?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha's voice was low and helpless: "...It's my sister."

He was surprised that he had a sister-in-law, and then, thinking about the ambiguous relationship between the two, he coughed and asked, "Do you have a photo?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha glanced at the petite girl sitting upright on the sofa, noticing her seemingly military posture, and sighed slightly: "You're very curious about a girl you've never met? She's fierce, you'd better not meet her."

After hanging up the phone, he became curious about Kasumigaoka Utaha's sister.

I had never heard of her having a younger sister before.

Slightly startled, Kyosuke Kosaka suddenly realized that he knew very little about her—especially about her family situation.

"Hurry up and cook!"

His sister urged him from the living room, "Go cook dinner after you finish the call! I need to take a shower after dinner, and then play the new H-game. There's just not enough time."

"You can stay up all night to play."

Kirino, however, is now unwilling to stay up late: "That will make me age very quickly, and I don't want to age prematurely like Kasumigaoka Utaha."

Wearing an apron, Kousaka Kyosuke rolled his eyes: "Go play your ecchi stuff yourself. I've made plans to play an online game with Saori tonight."

Kirino jumped up immediately: "Whoa! That guy bullied me last time, bro, you have to help me get revenge! Absolutely! Absolutely, I have to get revenge on that guy with the round glasses!"

Yes, the last time I sent something, it really hurt Kirino!

Perfect timing, both old and new grudges come together!

At 7 p.m., the brother and sister enjoyed a delicious and sumptuous meal. They sat together as usual, but tonight the sister was very clingy and there was no space between them.

Do you feel insecure because your parents aren't home?

With that thought in mind, Kyosuke cleaned up the dishes and urged his sister to take a shower. After he finished cleaning up, he went upstairs to find a change of clothes and waited for his sister to come out of the shower.

"Today is a peaceful day, ordinary and mundane, but that's life."

However, as if mocking him, fate did not allow the day to end peacefully.

A flash of light suddenly appeared outside the window.

Boom! Boom! Then a tremendous thunderous roar could be heard.

Then, *snap*!

With that chilling sound, my vision went completely dark.

------(Thirteen)

Chapter Fifteen: The music is powerful and resounding; loving you is like traveling from here on Earth to there on the Moon.

Summer downpours.

The sudden thunderclap seemed like the final powerful note of the July Symphony.

The raging forces of nature seemed intent on destroying the sky; streaks of lightning ripped through the dark night, and muffled thunder roared like cannon fire, filling people with dread.

In the darkness, Kyosuke Kosaka quickly ran to the window and brought in the clothes that were hanging outside.

It seemed that the power outage was caused by the thunder that had tripped the main fuse. He had just brought the clothes inside when there was another loud crack, another huge bolt of lightning.

Then, a tremendous storm began to batter the windows.

For a short while at first, the rain was very fine and soft, like willow catkins floating in spring. However, after a while, it became wispy and thin. In an instant, large raindrops connected into lines, and with a whoosh, it poured down from the sky as if the sky had collapsed.

He first closed the sliding window, then went to pull the tripped circuit breaker, but strangely, even though he had already turned on the switch, there was no power.

"Is the circuit burnt out?"

The strong wind lashed against the window, and the sound of the wind seeping in through the cracks was like the wailing of ghosts. The combination of such a sound and the pitch-black space created an indescribable sense of terror.

Kyosuke Kosaka wasn't scared. After confirming that the lights couldn't be restored for the time being, he skillfully took out candles and a lighter from the room and went downstairs, but didn't find Kirino.

"In the bathroom?"

He placed the candle on the table: "Kirino? Is she in the bathroom?"

Kyosuke knocked on the bathroom door.

"Who...who is it!?"

Suddenly, a girl's mournful cry came from inside: "Who...who is it? Waaah..."

My younger sister seems to be in a serious state of confusion.

He frowned worriedly and tried to soften his voice: "Kirino, it's your brother. The power is out at home."

Behind the door, Kirino's voice calmed down, though it still carried a hint of sobs: "When I was taking a bath, it suddenly turned pitch black... sob sob..."

"fine."

"And... oh... thunder, it scared me to death."

Kyosuke was worried about this. His younger sister had been afraid of thunder since she was little, and it seemed that she was still the same. She was really unlucky; the power went out while she was taking a shower because of thunder.