157. May We Be Friend A in the Next Life

"……What about you? Did I manage to live in someone's heart?"

"Did I manage to live in your heart?"

"Running straight into my heart with your shoes still on..."

"Even if it's just a little bit, will you remember things about me?"

"If I forget, you'll come back as a ghost to haunt me, right?"

"I refuse to let you be erased."

"Who would do something like that?"

"Don't forget me."

"Mm—"

"Because we promised."

"Mhm..."

"As expected, it's so good that it's you. Can you hear me? I hope it reaches you!"

"Arima Kosei-kun, I like you."

"I like you, I like you."

"..."

"I couldn't finish eating all the canelés, I'm sorry."

"I was always hitting you, I'm sorry."

"I was always making selfish demands, I'm sorry."

"For so, so many things, I'm sorry."

"Thank you—"

...

"Junior-kun? What's wrong? Pay attention when someone is talking to you!"

Suddenly, a familiar voice dragged Jiang Yu back to reality. Feeling the faint moisture at the corners of his eyes, Jiang Yu hurriedly wiped it away with his sleeve, shook his head, and apologized to Kasumigaoka Utaha: "I'm sorry, Senior, were you saying something just now?"

How embarrassing. Even after all this time, reviewing that scene still makes me tear up? Jiang Yu thought with self-deprecation.

He had just been reminiscing about the ending scene of both the anime and the manga, and his mind had automatically started replaying that segment. The boy, who had finally broken through his struggles, reading the girl's final feelings and... confession. In his past life, whether in the anime or the manga, this scene was executed brilliantly. While making people sorrowful, it also inevitably evoked a thought: "He's finally starting to move forward, that's wonderful... carrying her hopes and blessings with him."

From this perspective, by the time the story reaches its end, you realize that Kaori Miyazono's life or death doesn't have a massive impact on the overarching narrative. Even if she had conquered her illness and survived, it would have merely left a dreamlike, overly idealistic ending to this coming-of-age story. Her expected death, just like the original ending, is probably an exceptionally simple truth the author wanted to convey to all readers—youth has always been both beautiful and cruel, and no one's journey of growth is ever completely smooth. Everyone can see a reluctant yet hopeful version of themselves in it, holding onto a tearful yet deeply grateful past as they set off once more on the long journey of life.

In the end, this seemed to become a story about growth, about gaining and losing, yet uniquely detached from romance. The story simply used a particularly poignant method to tell the world: growth is very often accompanied by a price, whether we are willing to admit it or not. Even when we already know what that price is, we still find it unacceptable, yet ultimately unavoidable.

Arima Kosei was fortunate; he had a childhood friend who silently supported him, and he had Kaori Miyazono, who used lies with all her heart to draw close to him and catalyze his growth. And in the end, he truly did grow, while paying the price.

Yet in real life, there are many unfortunate people who cannot avoid the price, but still refuse to grow. When they encounter this story, sorrow naturally wells up inside them, leaving them unable to restrain themselves.

Perhaps this is the reason why many people who have experienced the hardships of the mundane world shed tears while watching this anime.

Our experiences dictate which scenes will make our eyes turn red and which will cause us to weep. Behind the tears lie mostly fragments exclusive to each person's life that cannot be abandoned—those thoughts are stirred by the familiar scene before our eyes, becoming impossible to calm.

"Hey—! I'm saying, Junior-kun, shouldn't you at least listen properly to be polite?" Kasumigaoka Utaha said, looking with slight annoyance at Jiang Yu, who had zoned out once again.

"...Yes, I'm truly sorry. I absolutely won't zone out again." Realizing that he had drifted off once more, Jiang Yu hurriedly apologized again.

Kasumigaoka Utaha gave Jiang Yu a somewhat helpless glare. She swore that if anyone else had zoned out repeatedly while she was speaking, she would have turned around and left immediately without wasting any more words.

However, with Jiang Yu... on one hand, she was indeed somewhat angry at his lack of focus; on the other hand, her tolerance limit for a fellow creator was somewhat higher than she had imagined.

Could this be a common affliction among writers? Kasumigaoka Utaha thought somewhat uncertainly. She herself often found her inspiration triggered by a single point, after which her mind would wander off into boundless daydreams.

Perhaps this was the real reason she tolerated Jiang Yu's behavior just now.

Sighing, Kasumigaoka Utaha said somewhat helplessly, "If you stop listening this time, Junior-kun, you know what will happen, right? Tch, listen up. What I've been asking just now is, 'What kind of dark mentality prompted you to come up with such a tragic ending?' Understand?"

Jiang Yu listened tremblingly to Kasumigaoka Utaha's imposing tone, then froze, unable to suppress his smile as he shook his head and replied, "When it comes to being dark, how could I ever compare to you, Se... um, sorry."

Hearing this, Kasumigaoka Utaha glared at Jiang Yu, and faced with her oppressive gaze, he halfway changed his words and began to apologize.

"And what is the meaning of this recommended ending you wrote?" Kasumigaoka Utaha asked perplexedly, pointing to the recommended ending Jiang Yu had written at the very end—specifically, the notes he had added right before the original ending.

"Um... well, Kasumigaoka-senpai just asked me to give some suggestions, so I wrote it like that. Honestly, if you forced me to incorporate some novel elements into Senior's original setup, I'd actually be in quite a bit of trouble, so it's practically a completely reconstructed story. It would be best if Senior doesn't harbor any aversion to it."

Jiang Yu explained. He knew that some creators disliked writing that resembled filling out an outline. Therefore, out of consideration not to interfere with her creative process—or rather, not to stifle the creative passion of a talented author—Jiang Yu had only provided some basic settings for *Your Lie in April*, along with the explicit narrative thread of the "lie." Beyond that, he hadn't even meddled with the names of the male and female protagonists.

Of course, he had another reason for doing this. In his past life, besides the original manga and anime versions, *Your Lie in April* also seemed to have a live-action film adaptation. However, for some reason, Jiang Yu had never been able to find a localized Chinese version online, and domestic publishers didn't seem to have imported this work either, leaving him forever unacquainted with it.

Now, having a rare opportunity to see a version of a story that had truly touched him in the past, he naturally didn't want to inject too much of his own ego into it. Or rather, he was very much looking forward to seeing what kind of flesh and blood Kasumi Shishi would breathe into the story framework he had constructed.

He certainly hadn't forgotten what had caused the very first all-nighter he pulled after coming to this world. Although he didn't show it much in daily life, he was indeed a genuine fan of Kasumi Shishi.

Kasumigaoka Utaha took a deep breath, bit her lip, and said, "I can't accept this 'story.' Even if I'm not the one writing it, if Junior-kun wrote it yourself, it would definitely turn out to be a great story, right? Regarding the new work, I still..."

Seeing Kasumigaoka Utaha's exceptionally serious expression, Jiang Yu smiled wryly and interrupted, "Senior can tell, right? I didn't flesh this story out completely at all, you know? At best, it's a semi-finished product—or rather, just an inspiration that I tossed your way. I was actually worried beforehand that it might make you feel uncomfortable. Oh... right, how about Senior treats this as a story heard by chance, and then polishes and completes it yourself?"

He had anticipated many possible reactions from her: accepting it readily, arguing back and forth, dismissing it with disdain... He genuinely hadn't expected Kasumigaoka Utaha to develop a sentiment akin to, "Isn't this kind of behavior stealing someone else's achievements?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha tried to interrupt Jiang Yu several times midway, but ultimately decided to keep listening. Once Jiang Yu finished speaking, she said with a complicated expression, "That's not what I meant... If it really is material heard from somewhere, I would naturally put it to paper gladly. But as I said just now, even if I'm not the one writing it, if Junior-kun wrote it yourself, it would definitely—"

"Then Senior can just consider it as gathering material from me, alright? Today, I wasn't giving you suggestions; I was just sharing some thoughts with Senior. Isn't it fine if Senior had a flash of inspiration after hearing these thoughts and created a story out of it?"

Jiang Yu shrugged and said with a helpless smile. To be honest, he hadn't expected Kasumigaoka Utaha to be so obstinate regarding the source of a writer's inspiration. This unexpected situation rendered all the persuasive arguments he had previously prepared completely useless.

Seeing that Kasumigaoka Utaha still seemed somewhat unable to accept it, Jiang Yu continued, "Besides, don't I still have the manuscript for *Saekano* in my hands? Senior knows about that too, right? Honestly, I don't even know how Senior manages to juggle the club's scriptwriting while furiously hammering out a brand-new work at the same time~ Should I call this the mark of a commercial writer?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha finally seemed to give up her persistence, sighed, and said, "Well, let's make this clear first: I will finish this story, but I'm going to write your name in the preface or afterword, you know?"

"If Senior could refrain from doing that, it would be doing me a massive favor..."

Jiang Yu expressed that he had zero desire to be associated with a bestselling author's new work. Setting aside what other readers might think, just imagining the potential reactions of the club members gave him a headache.

"That won't do, though~! Friend A-kun!"

Kasumigaoka Utaha said with a light chuckle, as if she had just won a round.

"Hey—! Stop casually misusing newly learned vocabulary just like that!"

Oh come on, who wants to be Friend A?! Wait, isn't Friend A just another term for the protagonist?

Jiang Yu thought to himself.