"...And do you know what he did after that?...Just guess." I asked Nina, who was eagerly listening to my story.


    "What?...W-What did he do?" Nina asked while holding back her chuckles since she had already beenughing so hard for a while now after hearing my stories, and she already knew that the ending was going to be hrious, seeing as to how all my previous stories that I had told her made her roll around the sofa. "Stop building suspense and tell me already! I want to know!"


    "Well, he knew that he was going to be caught by the teachers, so he jumped straight into the dustbin nearby to hide...But who''ve thought that it wasn''t the teacher chasing him, but his brother, who had been trying to catch up to him this while!" I said in a rather dramatic manner while trying to act out the scene I was portraying for a better impact factor.


    "No way! Wouldn''t that mean he jumped into that stinky dustbin for no reason?!"


    Nina felt pity for the person I was talking about for a second. But when she saw the stupid expression on my face and imagined what the scene would''ve looked like, she couldn''t stopughing at the little tale I had told her and was clenching her stomach fromughing too hard.


    Nina wouldn''t have reacted in such a way if I started off with this joke and definitely wouldn''t have beenughing her ass off to the extent that she had to hold me to support herself because she felt her body go weak fromughing so much.


    But because I had been bombarding Nina with hrious and exciting stories, some of which were made up and some that weren''t, from the very start of the chat and also giving her rather bizarre answers to even the most normal question she had asked me that always made her giggle, Nina had so much pent-upughter in her body right now and was in such a jovial mood that she startedughing like a madman at everything I said.


    Just like how they say that a good meal is the easiest way to slip into a man''s heart, I believe that making a girlugh her heart out was the best way to make her let her guard around you and make her feel much more interested in you, so I had been constantly adding a bunch of jokes ever since we started chatting a half an hour ago and didn''t let Nina stop smiling for a single second, even if I had to reveal some things about myself that took a strike at my dignity.


    It also seems to have worked out quite well as our conversation went rather smoothly even with the age gap between us, seeing as to how Nina insisted that I kept on talking about myself and how she never seemed to have gotten bored of me no matter what I said.


    I was about to add on to what I was saying earlier while throwing around some more funny gestures to make Ninaugh even more, seeing as to how she was starting to rx a bit and trying to control her breath fromughing too hard.


    But before I could even say a single word, Nina suddenly covered my mouth with her hand and made me unable to make even a sound. She then slowly leaned forward from the sofa that she was resting on while grunting as if she were exhausted fromughing for so long and turned to look at me with narrowed eyes as if she were looking at a culprit.


    "You...Kaka, you..." Nina struggled to speak as she caught her breath.


    But after taking a second to calm down, she looked back at me with a rather pityful gaze, like she had suffered a lot at my hands, and asked,


    "A-Are you trying to kill me, Kafka?...I just stoppedughing at what you said earlier, where I could feel my guts aching fromughing so hard. And even though you knew that, you were about to go on another rant and were about to make meugh even more."


    "...Are you trying to kill me by doing so?...Tell me, Kafka, do you hate me so much that you want me to die ofughter?" She asked with a half-serious, half-sarcastic look on her face, as she really did feel like her lungs were going to explode from trying to control her giggles.


    She then sighed and said, while looking at the innocent look in my eyes, like I had done nothing wrong,


    "I''ll let you go for now, Kafka...But even though I''m doing so, I beg you not to say anything else that will make meugh since my tummy already hurts from trying to hold myughter in."


    "...Do you understand what I just said? If you do, then nod your head." Nina said, to which I immediately started nodding my head, which made her let out a sigh and let me go.


    "Then does that mean I can''t make jokes around you anymore, Nina?" I asked Nina, who was fixing her bundled hair that looked quite heavy with how voluminous it was, like she had a basket of silk yarn nested on her head.


    I also wanted to add, ''That would be quite a pity since you look way more beautiful than you already are when you''reughing'', like I would''ve said to any woman I was trying to take down.


    But because I was in the passive position now and was trying to act as harmless as I could, I held myself from making suchments like I''ve been doing right from the start of our conversation and was waiting for the right time to go on the attack when she least expected it.


    "God no, Kafka! Don''t you ever say something like that again!" Nina eximed while looking at me with an absurd look on her face, like she was asking how I could ask such a thing.


    She then continued to exin why she was against what I said so much, "It''s been so long since someone has made meugh so much, and I would absolutely hate it if someone took that away from me...Especially since it really makes me feel like the dumb kid I was back in the past who used to giggle at everything and not the tedious adult I am now with a bunch of responsibilities hanging on my shoulders."


    "So, don''t you ever stop making meugh, Kafka or anyone else, since any one of those little jokes of yours that you say for fun can unknowingly help someone else who''s been having a bad time and can even make them think that good times areing soon with that little smile you bring them..." Nina casually said some rather wise and mature words while pinning her messy hair, which really surprised me and made me realise that she was an adult after all, no matter how stubborn or free-spirited she may be.


    She then continued saying, with her lips curled up, "...But also make sure that you joke around in moderation just in case, so that you don''t make someone get a stroke fromughing too much at your words."


    "So, do you understand, kid?...Did you get what I''m trying to say through this fluffy head of yours?" Nina suddenly wrapped her arm around my neck and pulled me in to give me a rather gentle noogie on my head, as if it were my punishment for making her mess her own hair up.


    If anyone were to look at us now and see the reluctant look on my face as Nina enjoyed her time messing with me while having a bright smile on hers, they would definitely think that we were a couple of siblings who were ying around just like Nina insisted.


    I will admit that I kind of enjoyed this treatment, as even though I was being pushed around by Nina, who was acting like my older sister, I could feel a certain type of love in all her actions, as if there was no one else in this world who she would be so intimate with other then me and made me feel a bit special.


    There was also the aspect of me being an orphan my whole life who had no family, so it kind of feltforting to have some older figure look after me when I was usually always the older brother at the orphanage, who took care of everyone there.


    But even though I say that, I still couldn''t allow the current status quo to remain the same and was waiting for the moment to change it all while nestling in Nina''s warm embrace...