Chapter 211: Aragaki Miyahito's Dilemma

Nighttime, Miyahito's house.

After finishing dinner and returning home, it was rare for Utaha not to urge her boyfriend to do his homework. Instead, it was Miyahito who took the initiative to do his homework, take a shower, and do the housework.

However, if that were the only truth, Utaha, standing in the second-floor hallway right now, wouldn't be looking at the tightly closed door of Miyahito's private studio with such a worried gaze.

'Miyahito... what's wrong with him?'

Thinking this, Utaha let out a silent sigh. Ever since they left the cafe, she had noticed her boyfriend was unusually quiet. Even when she suggested, 'Why don't we finish eating outside before going home?' Miyahito had only smiled, nodded, and said a simple 'Okay.'

Furthermore, during dinner, even the Kyuu-e Fisherman's Cuisine restaurant, which Utaha had specifically chosen because it was Miyahito's favorite, failed to bring her boyfriend back to his usual self. He still ate absentmindedly.

"Is it because of what Machida said?" Turning to go downstairs, Utaha muttered to herself, her mind inevitably recalling Sonoko's final words.

'Did you hit a creative bottleneck? Or are you facing some other problem? Oh, don't misunderstand, Akane-chan and I aren't rushing you.... Although I'm not exactly a creator myself, Akane-chan and I both understand that whether it's music or novels, a good work doesn't come easily or out of nowhere.... It's just that, while your recent new song releases have been fine, the progress on the anime soundtrack is a bit vague. So we just wanted to simply tell you: don't rush, and absolutely do not put too much pressure on yourself. There is still plenty of time.....'

So, is Miyahito acting like this tonight because of the music issues with my Love's Metronome anime? Having made this guess, Utaha suddenly let out a faint, drawn-out sigh.

Actually, she had wanted to ask her boyfriend about what Machida Sonoko said at the cafe for a while now—specifically regarding the soundtrack for her anime adaptation. It's just that, until today, Utaha had neither said it nor dared to say it.

She was a creator herself. Just as Machida Sonoko had said, although she wrote novels and wasn't the same type of creator as her songwriter boyfriend, at the very least, they both belonged to the realm of cultural work creators.

And as someone in the same field, Utaha naturally understood that creating a good work was not a simple matter. Luck, accumulation, and talent—all three were indispensable.

You needed the luck to catch a sudden flash of inspiration, the accumulated foundation to enrich and perfect that inspiration, and the talent to turn that ethereal spark into reality. Without these three supporting and complementing each other, you couldn't even talk about creating a good work; you could say you wouldn't even touch the threshold of creation.

But reality had unexpectedly defied Utaha's original expectations. Because during this period, Miyahito's creativity had not stagnated. One high-quality new song after another had been born from his hands.

Furthermore, among this dazzling array of new songs, there were a few that made Utaha, who wasn't very familiar with music theory and simply judged songs by whether they 'sounded good or not', feel her eyes light up.

Of course, if Miyahito's creativity was limited to just this, Utaha wouldn't have had any extra thoughts in her heart. But a few days ago, Miyahito had accepted Shirogane Miyuki's commission to 'compose a new song for the Shuchiin sports festival', and even stayed up late that very night to write two new songs that she personally thought were quite good.

Adding all these things together, how could Utaha not have her own thoughts? It was just that Machida Sonoko's sudden attack today had disrupted her original plans.

However, complaints aside, Miyahito was ultimately her lover. Seeing her boyfriend looking vaguely withdrawn and self-blaming, Utaha couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

Letting out another silent sigh, Utaha, whose face showed a mix of heartache and helplessness, turned to glance at the digital clock on the TV stand, and silently said to herself. 'I'll drag Miyahito to bed at 10 o'clock.'

"Seriously." Muttering softly, Utaha turned and walked into the kitchen. "He barely slept at all last night, and now he's suddenly trying hard to write songs... making it seem like I'm some heartless, bad woman." "I really owe you one."

(Meanwhile, on the second floor, in the music studio)

Sitting cross-legged on the slightly cool floor, Miyahito looked with a somewhat dazed expression at the two sheet music books spread out before him.

The title of one was "First Love", and the title of the other was "Renai Circulation". Besides that, in the blank space at the top right corner of both sheets, two different notes were specially marked. The former was "Male and female duet", and the latter was "Female solo".

At this moment, Miyahito was lost in deep thought, looking at these two pieces of sheet music that had completely different melodies, lyrics, and singing styles.

After thinking for a long time, still hesitating, Miyahito gritted his teeth and reached out to pick up the sheet music for "First Love". Looking at the creases on the edge of the paper caused by his tight grip, he took a few slow, deep breaths, and finally slumped, throwing the sheet music back onto the floor. He raised his hand to cover his face.

Sigh..... I can't do it. I still can't decide.

Letting out a long sigh in his heart, Miyahito slumped backward, his back hitting the floor behind him with a solid thud.

Placing his right arm horizontally over his eyes, he couldn't help but mutter to himself in a small voice. "There's nothing to hesitate about. I should just tear up what I wrote myself."

The anime adaptation of Love's Metronome was one of the most important moments in Utaha's life, and the most crucial starting point for her career to take off. As her boyfriend, shouldn't he use all his strength to push open the door to success for her?

So, what else was there to consider? Compared to "First Love", which he wrote entirely by himself and was of quite average quality... wasn't "Renai Circulation", which had swept the globe in his past life and created many classic concert scenes, the best choice for Utaha's work?

Moreover, he was well aware that in the world he currently lived in, there was absolutely no such accident as "past life works suffering from acclimatization issues." Therefore, those works that were successful and popular in his past life would definitely succeed here too... Didn't the things the previous Miyahito had done already prove this point?

Therefore! No need to think, no need to consider, not even a need to ponder.

"I've decided." Flipping over to sit up, Miyahito grabbed the completely original "First Love", which had no elements of replication, and firmly grasped both upper edges of the sheet music with both hands. His thumbs slowly applied pressure, and his wrists turned slightly in the direction of the force.

Riiip—

Just at the instant a slight tearing sound rang out.

Knock, knock—!

"Darling, may I come in?"