Can't We Skip Dating?

The first principle of reciprocation is that your "recompense" must be something the other person actually needs, not something you forcefully impose on them based on your own value system.

The greater the help you received back then, the more sincere effort you must make to repay it now.

Unless you've reached a point in your relationship where things no longer need to be calculated, then what you owe must be repaid in full—otherwise, you'll never stand tall again.

These were the words Akira had once said, and they remained etched in Utaha's mind.

How much help had she actually received back then?

Kadokawa Publishing was notoriously cold toward newcomers, and so Love Metronome received little promotion when it was first released. 

Its initial sales were poor, and at the time, there was a real possibility it might be discontinued.

The turning point came when a light novel blogger named TAKI began relentlessly promoting the book—that is, Tomoya.

As a somewhat well-known otaku blogger, Tomoya's enthusiastic promotion helped Love Metronome gain traction. 

The increased sales caught the attention of bookstores, which then began to allocate more shelf space and promotional resources. 

From there, the series took off, eventually selling over 500,000 copies and turning Utaha into a super-popular light novel author.

Sure, even without his help, given the quality of the work, she might still have succeeded someday—but it would've taken longer, involved more hardship, and there was always a risk of being buried forever.

Hypotheticals aside, in reality, Tomoya's contribution had been undeniable.

What's more, their first meeting at a signing event, where he gushed on and on with clumsy but passionate praise, had truly encouraged her. 

Especially after she realized he was her junior in school—and the blogger TAKI.

For a long time after that, Utaha poured her heart into writing for that one devoted fan. 

She refined her writing again and again, argued with her editor, pushed herself to the brink, all to repay this enthusiastic and persistent supporter. 

That emotional support couldn't be ignored.

But when she gave him the final manuscript, hoping for his impressions—perhaps even hoping he'd choose the ending—he rejected her with a single sentence: 

"I can't take responsibility for this work." 

Along with that rejection, he also rejected her feelings.

But now, none of that really mattered anymore.

What mattered was whether she could do everything she could to help Tomoya complete the game—whether that would be enough to repay the help she once received, whether she could finally lift her head again and make her own choices, free from the past.

If she could—then the day she finishes the script will be the day she finally closes that chapter of her life.

Utaha opened her eyes.

The heavy curtains blocked out the sunlight, letting her know it was daytime but not exactly when—until she reached out, touched the phone by her pillow, and saw that it was nearly noon.

She'd stayed up too late reading last night.

Remembering something that had been nagging her, Utaha didn't laze in bed. 

She resisted the urge to pick up the Monogatari series on her nightstand, quickly got dressed and washed up, and then stepped out of the room.

Then she stopped in front of Akira's closed door.

Not everyone likes being woken up. Some people get irritable, even furious. Thinking of this, she raised her hand halfway... and put it back down.

But just as she turned to leave, a voice came from inside.

"Come in."

Utaha hesitated, then gently pushed open the door.

Akira was still lying in bed with his eyes closed. If she hadn't heard his voice just now, she might have thought he was still asleep.

"Morning, Ogiwara-san."

"Mm... morning."

Akira yawned. 

He still showed no signs of getting up, muttering sleepily, "I read the rough draft and the new manuscript last night. 

As a novel, it's great—but as a game, there's a fatal flaw: too much scene and atmosphere description. I'd also recommend cutting down on the internal monologue."

Utaha frowned. "Why?"

"Because games have music and visuals to convey atmosphere. 

If there's too much descriptive text, players will keep clicking without the plot progressing, which ruins the experience. You might want to discuss this with the game producer."

She thought for a moment. It made some sense, but she wasn't entirely convinced. She silently made a note to discuss it with Tomoya later.

Right now, she had something else on her mind.

"Why are you just telling me this, Ogiwara-san?"

She remembered that he had said he wanted this kind of feedback to be part of a trade—that his "giving" had already reached its limit.

Akira rolled over and lazily replied, 

"This issue, even if you discovered it later, would only cost you a couple of days in revisions. It's not worth enough to get me anything I want. 

Not saying it would be petty… meh, whatever, too much trouble. I'm just telling you."

If this were before last night, Utaha might have just said thank you and left it at that. 

But after everything that was said the previous night, she now felt that her debt had grown even deeper.

Thinking about it, it wasn't just that promise to keep her safe as long as her identity wasn't exposed, or the one-time emotional guidance.

When she was overwhelmed with emotion in front of the Spencer family's gate, it was Akira who brought her to this healing place.

Sure, he accepted money, but she wasn't naive enough to think that he actually needed it. More likely, it was to give her peace of mind.

Even the protective charms he gave her were a form of concern…

If someone always does bad things, even one act of kindness makes you think, "Maybe he's a good person after all."

But if someone is always kind and makes one mistake, you'll think, "So he's a bad guy in disguise."

It's not fair—but it's how things are.

So as she thought of all this, Utaha suddenly felt that maybe Akira was... actually a good and gentle person.

That thought startled her.

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