Female protagonists from various anime/manga crossovers? They'll all regret it for the rest of

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"Mm." Yuto tightened his arms and hugged her tightly. "I understand."

He lowered his head and answered in a firm voice in her ear:

"Then let's work together to create the best story that belongs to just the two of us."

……

……

The next day, Yuto Itsuka made the first truly meaningful choice in his life.

Instead of texting or calling, he came to Kasumigaoka Utaha's classroom door in person and invited her to the rooftop during lunch break.

The wind on the rooftop was strong, blowing Shiyu's long black hair and Yuto's clothes.

"It seems you already have an answer, junior." Shi Yu leaned against the railing, looking at him sideways with a calm expression, but there was a barely perceptible tension hidden in her deep eyes.

“Yes, senior.” Yuto nodded, not avoiding Shiyu’s gaze, but choosing to look directly at her.

“I have carefully read your proposal, ‘The Metronome of the End’.”

"It's perfect in terms of both storytelling and commercial appeal," Yuto said, giving it the highest praise.

Shi Yu's lips curled up slightly: "So?"

"Therefore, I have decided to refuse."

When Yuto said those words, he saw the smile on Shiyu's face freeze instantly.

"Can... tell me why?" Shiyu asked again after a few seconds.

"Is it because my proposal wasn't good enough? Or is it because... you ultimately chose your childhood sweetheart?"

“Neither.” Yuto shook his head. “The proposal was outstanding, and it even made me very interested in it at one point.”

"But it's precisely because it's so outstanding, so much like Shizuka Kasumi, that I can't accept it."

"What do you mean?" Shi Yu frowned deeply.

"Senior, your script features a recorder who saves the world with words and a musician who awakens emotions with music."

"This is an extension of you and your 'Love Metronome,' a stage for Shizuko Kasumi."

Yuto took a deep breath and stated the conclusion he had reached after a night of contemplation.

"And I, Yuto Itsuka, the beautiful knight, my story, from the very beginning, has not been just mine alone."

"My world needs someone to add color to it, and that person is Eriri, Eri Kashiwagi."

"I cannot, and will not, create a story without her place."

"This is the promise I made to my personal illustrator, Eri Kashiwagi, as a beautiful girl knight."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was filled with unprecedented determination.

This was the first time he had so calmly and completely defined his relationship with Eriri in front of another person.

Shi Yu stared intently at him, her chest heaving violently.

At this moment, her supposedly intellect seemed to have no flaws to refute.

Because Yuto's reason for rejecting her was not based on personal bias, but on the principles and commitments of a creator.

This is a realm she, too, cannot tread upon.

“…What a beautiful excuse.” After a long silence, Shiyu squeezed out these words through gritted teeth, her tone filled with resentment.

"To reject me so completely with such words, Yuto Itsuka, you are far more cruel than I imagined."

"I'm sorry, senior." Yuto lowered his head.

He knew how much his choice had hurt Shi Yu.

This apology came from the heart.

"I don't need your apology!" Shi Yu suddenly turned around, her back to him, her shoulders trembling slightly.

"Now that you've made your choice, then see it through to the end! I want to see what kind of mess you two so-called creative partners can come up with!"

“Let me see, Itsuki Yuto!” she said, enunciating each word clearly.

"Let me see just how great a story you've given up for Sawamura-kun! If what you've brought out bores me, I will absolutely, absolutely never forgive you!"

After saying that, she didn't look back and quickly left the rooftop.

Yuto watched her slightly flustered figure as she walked away, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Making a choice is such a painful thing.

But he has no regrets.

……

……

In the afternoon, he called Machida Sonoko and, just as clearly, rejected Shinazugawa Bunko's internal proposal for "Metronome: The Final Chapter," informing her that he and illustrator Kashiwagi Eri would be preparing a completely new original project to respond to the intentions of Aniplex and Akane Kousaka.

After hearing his decision, Machida Sonoko remained silent for a long time on the other end of the phone, and finally said only one sentence: "Itsuka-sensei, you should think carefully. By doing this, you have completely offended Kasumi-shiko-sensei."

“I’ve thought it through, Ms. Machida.”

hang up the phone.

When he got home, he saw Eriri pacing back and forth in the living room, looking restless.

Upon seeing him return, she immediately rushed over and nervously grabbed his arm.

"So? Did you...did you talk to her? Is she...is she very angry?"

Looking at her face, which was full of worry, Yuto's weary mood was suddenly replaced by a warm feeling.

He reached out and pulled her into his arms.

"Yes, it's all taken care of," he said softly.

"Then...then her..."

“She told us to come up with something better than her script, or she would never forgive me,” Yuto succinctly relayed the result.

Eriri stiffened in his arms for a moment, then she looked up and gave a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"That idiot..." she murmured, her eyes reddening again.

She knew that behind Shi Yu's harsh words, there was actually room for maneuver.

That was her way of inspiring them, and maintaining her last bit of pride as a top creator.

"Alright, stop thinking about it." Yuto patted her back. "Now, we should be thinking about our own story."

"Yes!" Eriri nodded heavily, breaking free from his embrace, her eyes regaining their brightness and determination.

"I already have an idea! A story that will absolutely rival 'Metronome'!"

She pulled Yuto along and rushed into the study, spreading a sheet of paper covered with sketches on the table.

“Look!” She pointed to the center of the drawing paper. “The protagonist of the story is a doll who has lost his memory and emotions. He wakes up in a broken wasteland world.”

"The other protagonist is a lonely restorer who, while repairing the remaining relics of civilization in this world, also tries to restore this doll and awaken its soul!"

Yuto looked at the sketch.

In the painting, a boy doll with an expressionless face and empty eyes sits amidst broken walls and ruins.

In front of him, a girl with a toolbox on her back and a stubborn look in her eyes reached out as if she wanted to touch his cheek.

The background is a vast and desolate wasteland, with the wreckage of huge machines and green plants swaying in the wind in the distance.

The entire scene is filled with a desolate, apocalyptic feeling.

"Dolls and restorers..." Yuto murmured, his heart instantly captivated by this concept.

“That’s right!” Eriri’s eyes sparkled. “The doll is you! No, you are the protagonist! He lost his past and is confused about everything! And the restorer is me! No, I am the heroine! She uses her own hands to collect the fragments of this world little by little, and also to piece together the doll’s heart little by little!”

"This is a story about searching and rebirth!"

She waved her arms excitedly, as if she could already see that vast world.

"We want to tell everyone that even if the world becomes a wasteland, even if emotions vanish, as long as there is one person who perseveres, as long as there is one person who is rebuilding, hope will never disappear!"

……

Yuto Itsuka and Eriri's lives have entered a high-intensity work mode.

They named this new project "The Wasteland Rebirth Song".

Eriri is responsible for the visual design of the entire world.

The walls of her room and study were covered with all sorts of concept art.

From the internal mechanical structure of the protagonist doll Noah to the work clothes of the female protagonist, the restorer Eve, which are filled with various tools and pockets.

Her creative passion was ignited like never before.

During the day at school, she would draw endlessly in her sketchbook whenever she had free time. She could even draw inspiration from the tedious, standardized industrial exercises assigned by Akane Akasaka and transform them into her own unique style.

When she got home that evening, she went straight to her study and discussed things with Yuto until late at night.

Yuto, on the other hand, was responsible for stringing these scattered images together into a complete story using words.

Inspired by Eriri, his inspiration, which had been dried up due to emotional distress, surged forth.

The two worked together with an unprecedented level of synergy.

“Yuto, look here!” Eriri pointed to a newly drawn scene diagram. “I designed a Valley of the Wind. This is the only place in the wasteland that has not been polluted, and it is full of glowing plants.”

"It was here that Eve found the key materials to repair Noah's core emotional module!"

"This concept is fantastic!" Yuto's eyes lit up, and he immediately wrote in his notebook, "Then we can set it up so that these glowing plants can bloom because they absorb the residual emotions in the earth."

"When Eve is collecting them, she uses a special instrument to feel the sorrow of countless people from the previous civilization who have passed away. This not only shows the cruelty of the wasteland, but also highlights the strength of Eve's heart."

"Yes, yes, yes! That's exactly the feeling!" Eriri excitedly slapped the table.

"Then, after Noah's emotions were partially restored, the first emotion he felt was sadness! He would cry when he touched these plants, but he didn't understand why!"

“That’s right! And then Eve will tell him, ‘Congratulations, Noah, you are becoming a real person again, because understanding sadness is the first step to becoming human.’”

The two of them talked back and forth, and he came up with one brilliant detail after another.

The feeling of working together towards the same goal captivated both of them.

Their relationship is also quietly changing during this intense collaboration.

There are no more pointless suspicions and arguments; instead, there are heated debates on creative work and mutual care in daily life.

Eriri would remember bringing Yuto a cup of hot milk when he was writing late into the night, even though her expression was still as awkward as ever.

Yuto would also hand Eriri a piece of her favorite apple pie from behind when she was scratching her hair in frustration because she couldn't draw a detail well.

This tacit understanding was so palpable that even bystanders could clearly sense it.

"Those two... seem to be getting along really well lately?"

In the living room of the apartment, Yuzuriha Inori looked at the light shining from the study and quietly asked Kato Megumi, who was sitting next to her.

These past few days, Eriri and Yuto have been inseparable, and Eriri hasn't even had time to retort to Kasumigaoka Utaha's daily sarcastic attacks.

“Yes, because they found something more important than arguing,” Kato Megumi replied calmly, turning a page of the magazine.

"Something more important?"

"A common enemy."

……

Kasumigaoka Utaha, their common enemy, is having a harder time.

Ever since Yuto rejected her on the rooftop that day, she has devoted all her energy to creating "Metronome of the End".

She wanted to prove that Yuto's choice was wrong.

She was going to write a masterpiece that would make Yuto regret his actions.

However, when she sat in front of the computer, trying to advance the story without the participation of the beautiful female knight, she found that the words she wrote had become unusually obscure.

The boy who once resonated with her on a soul level and provided countless brilliant ideas for her story is no longer here.

The chroniclers she wrote about became empty and dull, devoid of soul.