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

Page 156

"...Regarding the excessive, even somewhat homogenous, emotional storylines in your life's script."

"Kasumigaoka-senpai... It's so late, let's talk about it tomorrow." Yuto tried to close the door, ending this late-night interview that was destined to be unpleasant.

However, Shiyu gently braced herself against the door frame with one hand, her strength leaving no room for resistance.

“No, I think now is the perfect time to discuss this.” She smiled and stepped into the living room. “Inspiration is fleeting, just like the determination of some people.”

She didn't directly mention Mai Sakurajima, nor did she point out Eriri, who had just run back to her room crying.

"It's such a touching story of childhood sweethearts; if it were written into a novel, it could easily bring tears to the eyes of many innocent readers." Her tone was full of undisguised sarcasm.

"Senior, what exactly are you trying to say?" Yuto felt his patience was running out.

Having endured Mai Sakurajima's rational questioning and Eriri's emotional onslaught, his brain is now like a string stretched to its limit, ready to snap at any moment.

"Isn't what I'm trying to say exactly what you've been avoiding all along?" Shi Yu turned around and looked directly into his eyes.

"Junior, have you ever considered that the core premise of the life script you're currently writing has seriously collapsed?"

She began to slowly pace around the small living room.

"You portray yourself as a gentle male protagonist, kind and considerate to everyone."

"Because of your gentleness, Eriri can rely on you without any guilt; because of your gentleness, Yuzuriha Inori can regard you as her only support; because of your gentleness, even someone as calm as Kato will put his heart into you."

"Even because of your gentleness, you can respond to Mai Sakurajima's probing with a clear conscience, and accept Nishimiya Shoko's special trust with a clear conscience."

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was piercing.

"You think this is kindness, this is universal love, but have you ever thought that from another perspective, this is actually the highest level of selfishness?"

"You enjoy the feeling of being needed by all of them, don't you? You enjoy the satisfaction of being valued when they fight over you."

"You are like a greedy king who wants to possess all the treasures but is unwilling to give any of them a name."

"You treat your gentleness as a currency that can be overdrawn indefinitely without paying any price."

"You use it to buy their love, dependence, and talent, but you never thought that you would have to pay back this debt one day!"

Shiyu's words dissected Yuto's inner world layer by layer, exposing the dark psychology hidden beneath his cloak of kindness—a psychology he himself was unwilling to admit—to the air in a bloody and raw manner.

These words coincide with Mai Sakurajima's advice and Megumi Kato's reminder.

Yuto's face turned deathly pale. He leaned against the wall, feeling as if all the strength had been drained from his body.

He discovered that all his excuses and defenses crumbled under Shiyu's overwhelming logical offensive.

“Your script, from the very beginning, is full of complicity. You want everyone to like you, and everyone to be inseparable from you, but you don’t want to take any responsibility for this liking and dependence.”

"You want the story to stay in the ambiguous prologue forever, because once you get into the main plot, it means you have to make choices, and you have to make gains and losses."

"But junior, life isn't a light novel where you can keep putting off your manuscript indefinitely!"

Shi Yu stopped and stood in front of him, looking down at him with a disappointed look in her eyes.

"Your hesitation is hurting everyone. It makes Eriri more uneasy and anxious, forcing her to use her childhood friend identity as a shield."

"It forced me... to resort to this method, to interrogate you late at night."

"If you continue like this, the final outcome will not be the peace you desire, but rather the disintegration of everyone's efforts and everyone's good intentions."

The apartment fell into a deathly silence.

Yuto's ears were ringing, and Kasumigaoka Utaha's words kept echoing in his mind.

He felt that a part of him had completely collapsed.

He always thought he was maintaining balance and protecting everyone.

But it turns out that he was the most selfish and cowardly destroyer.

His inaction is the root of all suffering.

He vaguely realized that his feelings for these girls were far deeper than he had imagined.

They were more than just friends, more than just partners.

It is precisely because of the deep fear that I am afraid of losing any of them that I hesitate to make a choice.

This relationship also means that he must take on the corresponding responsibilities.

As Shi Yu looked at his dejected appearance, the sharpness in her eyes slowly faded.

She didn't really want to push him into a corner.

She hoped he could truly grow up and become a real protagonist who could take responsibility for his own story.

After a long silence, Yuto slowly raised his head, his eyes vacant and his voice hoarse, unlike his own.

"I see."

He only said those four words.

……

Volume 1: Chapter 146: Rules for Living Together

Wuhe Youdou didn't sleep all night.

The words of Mai Sakurajima, Eriri, and Utaha Kasumigaoka were like three inescapable chains, binding him firmly to the judge's seat.

Let him see his heart, which is called "gentleness" and has long been rotten.

This made him clearly realize that his so-called non-harm was precisely a trampling on friendship.

Make him understand that he is not an indecisive good person, but a selfish person who indulges in the vanity of being admired and enjoys emotional support.

"What a... complete defeat," Yuto muttered to himself.

He sat up in bed, his body trembling slightly from extreme exhaustion and mental tension.

He wanted to find something to do, to numb himself with work, just like he had done countless times in the past when he encountered difficulties.

He fumbled for his phone on the bedside table, trying to open his email to see if Shinazugawa Bunko or A-1 Pictures had sent any new work emails.

However, when his fingertips touched the screen, a violent tremor came from his arm, and the phone almost slipped from his hand.

The text and icons on the screen became a blurry blur in his eyes, and he couldn't see a single word.

The brain refuses to process any information related to creation.

The world of words that once allowed him to escape everything has now closed its doors to him.

Self-blame, regret, and an unprecedented sense of despair overwhelmed him.

He always thought that his gentleness was a form of protection, to prevent anyone from getting hurt.

Now he understood that it stemmed from his deepest fears.

Whether it was his experiences before time travel or the sudden death of his parents during his childhood after time travel, the word "loss" became an unhealable scar for him.

He was afraid of experiencing that loneliness of being abandoned by the whole world again, so he subconsciously clung to everyone who was kind to him, afraid to refuse or choose.

Because making a choice means pushing away another source of warmth, and it means actively losing something.

His gentleness was not about giving, but about taking.

In this way, he begged everyone to stay by his side, creating a false and crowded safe zone to resist the desolation in his heart.

Just as Yuto was suffocating from the torment of his own thoughts, the bedroom door was gently pushed open a crack.

A wisp of light pink hair peeked in; it was Yuzuriha Inori.

She didn't make a sound, but stood quietly at the door, her deep red eyes fixed on Yuuto, who sat motionless on the bed.

She seemed to have sensed something, and her usual innocent naiveté was now tinged with a newfound caution.

Yuto looked up and met her gaze.

Yuzuriha Inori flinched like a startled animal, but didn't leave.

She hesitated for a few seconds, then turned and ran away.

She quickly ran back, holding a cup filled with warm water.

She walked to the bedside, awkwardly handed the cup to Yuto, and without saying a word, just looked at him with her clear eyes, her gaze full of concern.

Looking at the girl in front of him, Yuto's heart clenched.

Yes, and her too.

This clueless girl was forcibly dragged into this vortex by herself.

She knew nothing and instinctively relied on herself, but this so-called support was a coward who couldn't even save himself.

Her own emotional turmoil, this suppressed negative emotion that was almost about to explode, must have unconsciously been transmitted to her, making her feel uneasy and helpless.

A strong sense of guilt welled up in her heart, even more so than when she was facing Eriri and Utaha.

Because at least they know what they are fighting for, while Yuzuriha Inori simply wants to stay by his side.

"Thank you, Inori." Yuto took the water glass, the warm touch from his fingertips calming his trembling hands slightly.

He took a sip, and his dry throat was relieved.

"Yuto... are you unhappy?" Yuzuriha Inori tilted her head and asked softly with her limited vocabulary.

"Yeah, a little," Yuto replied with a wry smile.

What else could he say?

How could he explain his complicated emotional entanglements to this girl who was as innocent as a blank sheet of paper?

Just then, the screen of his phone, which he had casually placed on the bed, lit up and made a soft "ding" sound.

This is a new message.

Yuto picked it up and unlocked the screen.

The sender was Megumi Kato.

The message was extremely simple, without even a single extra punctuation mark.

"Do you have time this morning?"

Qi Erlong Jiuqi (III) Si-Youdou felt an invisible pressure.

The calm before the storm.

This is Kato Megumi's ultimatum.

Yuto held his phone, remaining silent for a long time.

He recalled Mai Sakurajima's warning and his gaze fell on Inori Yuzuriha, who was looking at him with concern.

We can't let things continue like this.

The thought that change means creating harm with one's own hands still torments him.

But continuing to run away will only allow the damage to snowball until it eventually crushes everyone, including himself.

He took a deep breath, tapped his fingertips on the screen, and replied with a single word.

"have."

He had no idea what Kato Megumi had prepared.

Yuto stood up, walked to the window, and drew back the heavy curtains.

The rising sun cast golden rays upon the earth, the dazzling light instantly piercing through the glass.

Under this blinding light, Yuto felt for the first time like a criminal being publicly executed.

……

Yuto Itsuka sat on a single sofa, feeling as if he were sitting in the defendant's dock.

On the long sofa opposite, Kasumigaoka Utaha and Eriri sat at opposite ends, with a space in between that could fit two more people. Neither of them looked at the other, but their tense profiles and the sharp gazes they occasionally cast at Yuto indicated that they were ready to go into battle at any moment.

Yuzuriha Inori, meanwhile, was curled up in the corner next to Yuto, hugging a body pillow.

Meanwhile, Kato Megumi, the convener and leader of this trial, was calmly placing four cups of tea on the coffee table in front of each person.

"Alright, everyone's here." Kato Megumi sat down in the empty seat opposite her, her gaze sweeping calmly over everyone present before finally settling on Yuto.

"I think everyone knows more or less about what happened last night. Yuto came back very late, Eriri cried, and Kasumigaoka-senpai also came."