Can't We Skip Dating?

"Right now, the heroine Junri still hasn't found true happiness! She's bound by memories from before she was even born—saving only her past self. 

Is that really the future Junri wants? Throwing away all the joyful memories from her life up to now... do you really think players will be happy with that?"

The script written by Utaha could be summed up simply as involving past and present lives, oh—and also sibling love, yandere elements, that sort of thing.

In Tomoya's view, after the characters awakened memories from their past lives, both the male and female protagonists focused solely on resolving the past-life romance and facing a massive catastrophe, thereby overlooking the small but precious happiness of their current everyday life.

That felt wrong to him. The everyday details of their current lives were what Tomoya wanted Utaha to incorporate—maybe even rewrite the whole thing from scratch.

What he didn't know, though, was that due to her lack of social interaction, all the characters in Utaha's works were based on the people around her—such as himself.

And the heroine Junri's past self, Ruri, was a character modeled after Utaha herself.

Upon hearing those comments, Utaha thought she'd be furious—but in reality, all she felt was a deep, cold emptiness.

She even felt a little like laughing.

After a brief silence, she lowered her head and asked, "What's so wrong with being bound by the past?"

"Huh? Uh, well, there's nothing wrong with that—of course that's one kind of choice. I do like that kind of choice, but I also like the other kind too!"

Tomoya didn't sense anything off, and continued expressing his thoughts passionately.

"I like hanging out with Kato—uh, I mean, I like doing normal things with ordinary girls without any extra layers. 

I think players would also occasionally feel that just having Junri nearby is enough to be happy…

That's why I wanted a plotline where the romance doesn't lose to fate, where they fight to regain their normal life, where a plain and unremarkable love beats a complicated past-life connection!"

"Would that even be interesting?" Utaha still had her head down.

"It would! If it's you, Utaha-senpai... if it's Kasumi Utako! I know you could make that kind of story interesting too!"

So he really has that much faith in me?

Utaha's fingers tapped lightly on the keyboard, but didn't type a single word.

"I want Junri and the protagonist to flirt more, make all their friends jealous, lock eyes on a date and kiss—"

Listening to Tomoya enthusiastically describe the plot he imagined—where he and "Junri" were basically the stand-ins—Utaha suddenly felt like she was just a tool to make that fantasy come true.

She recalled Akira's "malicious speculation"—"Could it be... that you're useful to him?"

Seems like she really was useful.

"Then, let's pretend none of that ever happened."

Utaha said those ambiguous words as her eyes turned to the blank document, beginning to plot the story anew.

"What are you talking about? Of course we should keep it! 

A love that spans centuries is so moe! 

A yandere heroine is exactly my thing! 

Little sisters are the best! 

Two people spiraling into madness together—absolutely perfect! Abandon everything, spend a decaying life alone in a world of just the two of them..."

Utaha suddenly burst out laughing.

"Huh? Utaha-senpai, what's so funny?" Tomoya asked, confused.

Utaha didn't answer. She just laughed. But as she laughed, tears fell from her eyes.

She was thinking—if it had been the old her, even after hearing all those painful, wounding words... 

Even after hearing how much Tomoya wanted to spend intimate everyday moments with "Megumi," just hearing this one bit of affirmation would have made her happy again.

She would have tried to pull herself up from her current low, and tried to become proud again.

But now, she realized... she had probably been this low for a long time already.

What a useful tool she was.

"I understand now."

Utaha moved the cursor to the shutdown icon, clicked it, and after the screen went dark, closed the laptop.

"I'll go home and think it over. I'll contact you when I've got some ideas. That's it for today."

She didn't take the tissue Megumi offered, and didn't respond to Eriri's call. 

Utaha simply wiped away her own tears, packed her things, and walked out of the classroom just like always.

At a time like this, even the densest person could tell that something was seriously wrong with her.

"Utaha-senpai!"

Tomoya hurried after her and stopped her in the hallway. "W-Why are you suddenly crying? Did I say something wrong?"

The tears were already gone. 

Utaha looked at him calmly—and suddenly thought, his face wasn't really all that good-looking, and his concern didn't feel all that warm.

"It's nothing. Any writer would need to vent a bit after being told their draft has to be scrapped and rewritten. Just a normal emotional reaction. Please step aside, Ethics-kun."

"But if you don't want to rewrite it..."

"I do want to. Don't worry, Ethics-kun. This is my job. I'll do it properly."

Even though there was no pay involved—this was a debt.

And a debt must be paid seriously, if one hopes to pay it off completely. So Utaha would treat it seriously, and give it her all to complete the revised script.

When Tomoya still didn't move aside, Utaha's patience ran out and she walked around him.

Instinctively, Tomoya reached out—like a voice in his head was telling him: If you don't grab her now, you'll lose her forever.

But the moment she saw his outstretched hand, Utaha felt a surge of revulsion—as if she'd been startled—and quickly stumbled sideways to dodge it.

Because of her poor physical condition, she lost her balance and fell to the floor.

"Utaha-senpai!"

Tomoya tried to help her up, but the way she had exaggerated her fall just to avoid his touch made him hesitate.

"It's fine. I'm going home."

Enduring the pain, Utaha stood up, checked her laptop, confirmed it wasn't damaged, then turned again to leave.

But just as she turned around, she heard Tomoya's trembling voice.

"Utaha-senpai, that is... what is that?"

Utaha looked back—and saw two paper charms scattered on the floor where she had fallen.

"Charms? Onmyoji... stuff? Those belong to that guy, don't they?"

"Why... why were they on you, Utaha-senpai?"

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