Crossover Anime: I'm Kasumigaoka Utaha's Brother

Page 75

The studio's "working" hours are very irregular. In short, it's "whenever you wake up, you start working. As long as you can complete today's tasks, you can do whatever you want the rest of the time"—so no one gets up at six in the morning, and in fact... no one considers "getting up early" a sin!

Forcing yourself to get up early when you can stay in bed is a sin.

"Ready! But this won't work, this is no longer acceptable..."

The ringtone for her phone, "Renai Circulation," suddenly went off. Yamada Elf jerked her eyes open, her slightly dark-rimmed eyes staring blankly at the ceiling for several seconds before her slender arms grabbed a towel and slammed it over her head...

"Hmm...why did I set my alarm so early?" The vaguely shaped "head" murmured to itself, its half-exposed white legs curling up slightly, and its cute 04 toes bending a little—when not naturally awakened, most people would experience self-doubt, thinking, "Huh? Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?"...and the fairy was in that state at this moment.

Of course, this situation came and went quickly; within seconds, she remembered what she "had to do"!

With a force far greater than her previous reaction, she threw off the blanket. Her smooth, golden hair was lifted slightly by the airflow, clinging to the fairy's fair face, looking messy but still beautiful.

"Yes! Starting today, I'm going to work with Kasumigaoka Utaha on the script for 'Your Name.' I can't be as lazy as before!" Her little mouth was slightly open, as if she was cheering herself up. She slowly raised her delicate little hand and gently patted her cheek twice to dispel the drowsiness that had enveloped her.

Picking up the white stockings scattered on the chair, she stretched her toes forward with her toes together. Before long, Yamada Elf appeared in front of the mirror, wearing a red and white princess dress with white stockings.

Smiling at herself in the mirror, she nodded vigorously: "Okay! Starting today, I'll work hard! I must do my best to make 'Your Name' the best it can be!"

...

"Knock knock knock!" It sounded like there was a knock on the door?

"Knock, knock, knock!" There was indeed a knock on the door...?

Izumi Sagiri tried to open her eyes, but her body instinctively resisted because she always adhered to the principle of "sleeping until she naturally wakes up." She grabbed a plush toy from the side and covered her head with it, but even so, the noise outside the door showed no sign of stopping.

"Ugh...!" Izumi Sagiri wrinkled her small, fair nose slightly, letting out a muffled groan. Acting purely on instinct, she got out of bed and went to the door. After taking two deep breaths, she decided to open the door—she was afraid that if she didn't calm herself down, she would yell at the person standing outside, "What are you doing so early in the morning?!" the moment she opened the door...

If it were anyone else, they could just apologize after they sobered up, but if it were Hyakuri Akira standing outside... emmm, Izumi Sagiri couldn't imagine what would happen next...

"Who is it?" As she opened the door, she tried to open her eyes—though she could only manage to squint—and what came into view was a head of long, flowing golden hair with slightly wavy ends, and... a smiling face that, for some reason, looked particularly "annoying" today.

"Yo Sagiri! Wake up! Aren't we supposed to start drawing the original artwork for 'Your Name' today? Get up and start drawing!" Yamada Elf flashed a smile as bright as the sunshine outside—of course, Sagiri's room was completely sealed off, not letting in a single ray of light—and raised her right hand to Izumi Sagiri, giving her a "good morning" gesture.

Izumi Sagiri stared blankly at her. After a few seconds, she took two steps back, her gaze shifting to the electronic alarm clock on the desk—"06:20"—and took another deep breath...

"Yamada Fairy! Look at the time! Why are you waking me up? It's just drawing 'Your Name,' right? I'll finish it when I wake up!"

"boom!"

Almost simultaneously with the growl, a loud slam of the door slammed shut—even the finest materials were ravaged by Sagiri's hate-filled blow, emitting a painful groan! It even made one wonder, "Can it be opened again?"

Yamada Elf stood there, stunned, her smile awkwardly frozen on her face. Her once "energetic" right hand retracted in disappointment, and her slender index finger unconsciously scratched her cheek: "Uh...did I remember wrong? Didn't Professor Hyakusei say that we'd start making the 'Your Name' animated film today? Why is everyone acting so casually? Hmm...or was my reaction too strong?"

Unlike Izumi Sagiri, Yamada Elf devoted most of her time to writing the light novel "The Monkey King" after joining the studio—while 373 had already begun working on the animated film "Your Name" with Eriri and others...

That's why, while Yamada Elf was excitedly exclaiming, "Ah! I can finally participate in the production of an animated film!" as a "newcomer," Izumi Sagiri, as someone who had been there before, showed a strong sense of "disdain" for the former's excitement—"An animated film? What's that? Is it more important than sleeping?"

"Hmm..." Somewhat awkwardly, Yamada Elf withdrew her hand and peered into the other rooms—where Eriri, Hashima Izumi, and Shiina Mashiro lived... Without exception, they were all eerily quiet.

"Aha, ahaha... I guess I was overthinking it, wasn't I?" Yamada Elf slowly turned around, her body feeling a little "rusty," and muttered to herself as she walked downstairs. "Well... I'm already up, might as well go check on the teacher. I remember... the notebook containing the text of Volume 2 of 'Your Name' is in the living room, isn't it?"

"Hmm, there's plenty of time to make the teacher a hearty breakfast..."

If anyone could hear her mutterings, they would easily detect the undercurrent of self-comfort...

Chapter 0215 The Wise Kato Megumi!

After tidying her hair in front of the mirror, Kato Megumi nodded slightly and whispered "Okay" before walking towards the door. As a celebration of "returning from a long trip," everyone in the studio played until very late last night before going to rest (playing video games on consoles, participating in crazy gacha games on mobile games, etc.). Kato Megumi also unusually told her family that she "won't be going home tonight" and slept in the room that had been prepared for her.

“Although A-Hui often goes home, she is also a member of the studio. Is it wrong to always prepare a room for her?” With this thought in mind, even though Kato Megumi has never stayed there, Bai Lixiao still insists on taking care of (cleaning) her room every day.

Of course, this "proper" but "excessive concern" sometimes makes Kasumigaoka Utaha feel a little jealous when she sees it...

(Everyone should still be asleep, right? After all, we went to bed so late last night... I'll make a breakfast that won't taste bad even when it's cold!) Thinking this, Kato Megumi suddenly caught a whiff of a delicious aroma—from the kitchen downstairs, she could faintly hear the sound of metal clanging.

"Huh?" Kato Megumi's surprise was clearly visible on her face. As she walked towards the direction of the sound, she kept her eyes fixed on the figure that flashed by in the kitchen. Then she paused for a moment, "A fairy?"

"Huh? Oh, it's Megumi-nee?" The sudden voice behind her made Yamada Elf tremble. Turning around, she saw Kato Megumi and a relieved look appeared on her face, as if she had just scared her. "Megumi-nee, you're up pretty early too. I was worried that no one would get up before the porridge I made got cold... Just wait a moment, here you go!"

On her fair face, which revealed a cute smile, her striking pink eyes blinked—whether it was her imagination or not, Kato Megumi sensed a kind of inexplicable joy from Yamada Elf.

Something like, "Oh, finally someone's talking to me!"

Confused about what had happened, Kato Megumi shook her head slightly, clearing her mind of distractions: "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No need, Megumi-nee, please sit in the living room for a bit. I'm going to summon a demon from the demon world that can make food delicious. If it sees humans—especially human girls—it will go berserk!" Yamada Elf said some extremely chuunibyou words, grabbing Kato Megumi's shoulders with both hands and slightly tightening her grip, turning the latter's facing direction from "inside" to "outside".

Completely unable to utter a sarcastic remark like, "Hey, aren't you a human girl?", Kato Megumi waved her hand with a bitter smile: "Alright, I'll head out now. Looking forward to breakfast 'bewitched' by the 'demon god'..."

Even a girl like Kato Megumi, who exudes a strong "three-dimensional" aura, sometimes finds herself switching into "two-dimensional" mode after spending a lot of time in contact with others...

A few minutes later.

"Ta-da!" To the tune of the "human-made opening line" that even the oldest musicals would never use, Yamada Elf, wearing thick gloves, walked up to Kato Megumi, carrying the porcelain bowl by its two corners, and placed it on the prepared mat: "The enchanted hot porridge is ready! Megumi-nee, come and have a taste! Oh, and don't forget it's hot because it's so delicious!"

Seeing Yamada Elf's smug expression that seemed to say, "Try it and praise me without reservation!", Kato Megumi smiled slightly and clasped her hands together: "Well then, I'll begin."

Her lips, moist and flushed with an alluring blush, parted slightly as she gently blew on the steaming porridge served in a small spoon. Once she was sure the temperature wasn't too hot, Kato Megumi put it into her mouth.

"How was it?" Yamada Elf stared intently at the former with expectant eyes. Kato Megumi smiled and gave her a thumbs up without hesitation: "Great!"

"See! I knew it would be delicious!" Yamada Elf raised her chin slightly with a smug look—Kato Megumi's "praise," though expected, was enough to make her happy—but after a few seconds, a surprising hint of disappointment appeared in her smug expression: "Hmph! They didn't even want to get up, and I've made something so delicious for them..."

The "they" in the words are too obvious—who else could it be besides the people in the studio?

"..." Silently gazing at Yamada Elf's profile, Kato Megumi only then noticed the faint black marks around her eyes. After a moment's thought, she quickly guessed the reason for Elf's "disappointment"—while sitting in the living room, she had seen the laptop on the table, not yet in "standby" mode, and the screen displayed... the text of Volume 2 of "Your Name," which she had already read 30% of!

(She got up early, eager to discuss the production plan for "Your Name" with everyone, only to find that she seemed to be the only one like this...?) Suppressing the thoughts that were rising in her mind, Kato Megumi sat up straight, trying to appear as formal as possible: "~Fairy, if it's alright, after I finish eating, could we discuss the script production for 'Your Name'? Although Hyakusuke-kun didn't let me participate, I'm still very curious about the production of animated films, so... is that alright?"

Yamada Elf's eyes slowly widened—her somewhat "clumsy" little brain couldn't understand why Kato Megumi would suddenly say such a thing, and of course... she didn't want to think about it at the moment! —The disappointment hidden deep within her vanished without a trace, replaced by an indescribable excitement: "Really? That's great! Well... actually, this is also my first time participating in the production of an animated film. Megumi-nee knows that during the production of [5 Centimeters Per Second], I focused on writing light novels... Since it's our first time, it's only right that we discuss it with each other, right?"

"Yes, that's right!" Kato Megumi nodded emphatically, a slight upward curve to her lips.

"Aha, okay, Megumi-nee, hurry up and eat. Hmm, hmm, I'll go get a serving too!" Yamada Fairy urged Kato Megumi as she ran towards the kitchen—for someone who always called herself a "Demon Princess," this "undignified" running style perfectly demonstrated the seriousness of the situation!

Watching the fairy's departing figure, Kato Megumi's smile grew wider and wider—(Is this a girl's...thoughts?)

P.S.: I've been busy these past few days, so I can only manage one update a day at most. I should be able to get through this busy period by the end of the month and then I'll try my best to update again (oops, I think I've said this quite a few times already). Don't worry, I'm definitely not going to abandon this project. Maybe I can consider crossdressing (facepalm).

Chapter 0216 Eriri's mother's phone call!

What happened to Kato Megumi and Yamada Fairy that morning was just a small episode in the studio, a memory that existed only in their minds—"not exactly a secret, but never mentioned to anyone."

After a "rest" of more than half a month, the studio staff once again threw themselves into their busy work. Kasumigaoka Utaha and Yamada Elf, who were in charge of the script for the animated film, and Eriri, Izumi, Mashiro, and Sagiri, who were in charge of key animation and in-between animation, were all busy with their own tasks in an orderly manner under the leadership of Hyakuri Akira, who was in charge of planning, supervision, and screenwriting.

“Fairy, here…” Kasumigaoka Utaha’s red eyes were fixed on the computer screen through her anti-radiation glasses, and her slender fingers pointed to a certain paragraph in the text—a scene of Mitsuha’s grandmother, Miyamizu Ichiyo, weaving “knots” with Mitsuha.

This simple scene, however, hides a certain "foreshadowing" in the later plot.

【Chanling is a guardian deity of the land. In ancient times, it was called Chanling, a name with profound meaning. Connecting threads can be called Chanling, the connection between people can be called Chanling, the flow of time can be called Chanling—all are the power of the gods... The knotted ropes we weave are also the work of the gods, embodying the flow of time, gathering threads together to weave into shape, twisting, entwining, sometimes returning to their original state, breaking, and reconnecting—that is the 373 Chanling, that is time...】

It was because Taki Tachibana's soul possessed Mitsuha's body that he heard his grandmother say those words, and because his true self always wore that red knotted cord on his wrist—a cord he "didn't know who gave it to him, but felt he couldn't throw away"—that he continued searching for someone whose "name and appearance he didn't know" even after forgetting Mitsuha's existence.

In a sense, one could even say that "the story of 'Your Name' all begins with 'knotting rope'!"

"Here... oh, is that foreshadowing later? How should it be presented? Just a brief interlude would be fine, right? After all, we can't make it too obvious that 'this is important, take note'..." Yamada Elf gave her opinion after a quick glance at the screen, before Kasumigaoka Utaha could finish her sentence.

Shi Yu's brows furrowed slightly at first—[Your Name] was a work she typed out word by word herself, and as a "mother," she reflexively didn't want anyone to offer any advice to her child—but after only two seconds, her brows relaxed, and a slight smile appeared on her lips: "It seems you've been reading Volume Two carefully in private... Good, let's do it your way."

"Okay!" With the "author's" affirmation, Yamada Fairy's mood clearly improved. She buried her head in front of the laptop, her petite hands moving incessantly across the keyboard, the soft "tap tap tap" of her fingers filling the air.

(My brother had the fairy and me work together on the script. It seems it's not just about training the fairy, or... does this child have a lot of untapped potential in light novels?)

Watching the former's busy figure, Kasumigaoka Utaha squinted her eyes with interest and stretched, then her gaze fell on Hyakuri Akira not far away—at this moment, the latter was standing behind Shiina Mashiro with her chin resting on her hand, watching Mashiro "quickly, accurately, and flawlessly" draw the original drawings needed for the movie on the graphics tablet.

This scene has remained unchanged for the past ten minutes!

"Only Mashiro and her brother could do this, right?" This thought slipped out unintentionally, reaching Yamada Elf's ears, causing her to look up, a rare occurrence. "Yes... Even if it were someone else standing behind me, let alone Hyakuri-sensei, I wouldn't notice, much less continue working... I'm afraid only Mashiro in the entire studio can concentrate like this."

Unlike Kasumigaoka Utaha's soft murmur, Yamada Elf spoke in a slightly higher tone, so that the "painting team" on the other side could hear her clearly.

Eriri glanced at Mashiro's profile with a hint of envy—though she was incredibly envious, she knew perfectly well that she could never reach his level...

This isn't a special treatment only for Shiina Mashiro. In fact, Eriri, as one of the earliest members of the studio, has experienced the most instances of being "secretly watched by Hyakuri Akira from behind while painting"!

At first, she would often feel something strange behind her while drawing—like someone was watching her. Whenever she turned around, she would find Baili Xiao standing behind her with a serious expression, and then she would be lectured by things like, "This won't do! You have to concentrate when you draw!" "You're using the wrong technique here. Wouldn't this be better?" "You're slacking off again! I've been watching for minutes, and you've only turned one line into two?!"

Over time, Eriri seemed to develop an instinctive reaction that she would detect any attempt by Baili Xiao to get close. From then on, Baili Xiao never succeeded again. No matter how quietly he walked or how casually he approached, before he could even get within three meters, Eriri would send him away with something like, "Don't come near me while I'm drawing!"

(If only I could be as focused as Mashiro, or get used to the feeling of Hyakuri Akira standing behind me...) Eriri sighed softly to herself, her lower lip unconsciously biting down.

(That way, it means he and I...would be spending a lot of time together every day, right?)

With her cheeks slightly flushed, Eriri forcefully shook off the "embarrassing" and "strange" thoughts from her mind, took a deep breath, and raised the pressure-sensitive pen again—however, the pen tip did not fall onto the graphics tablet!

"Buzz buzz buzz!" The phone screen in front of me suddenly lit up, displaying the name of "Mom"—Sawamura Sayuri.

She picked up the phone and held it to her ear, cupping her other hand around her mouth, trying to lower her voice so as not to disturb others: "Hello? Mom? What's up? I'm working right now..."

The voice on the other end of the phone was hoarse, pained, and on the verge of collapse, filled with a British accent.

"Eri...please come back quickly...your mother...she's dying..."

“!!!”.

Chapter 0217 Eriri Gets Tricked!

"Eri, don't worry, your aunt will be fine."

Sitting on the next flight to Great Britain, Baili Xiao looked at Eriri beside him with complicated emotions. Eriri had her head down and hadn't looked up for a long time. Even her usually energetic golden twin tails were now hanging limply beside her cheeks, looking dull and lifeless.

Since receiving the call from her father, Eriri has maintained this posture until now. Although Baili Xiao is worried, he doesn't know how to comfort her. In fact, all he can say is the meaningless words mentioned above.

There was nothing Eriri could do... No matter how much she asked, she couldn't get any information from her father about "what happened to her mother." All she could hear were heavy sighs—no matter how worried Eriri was, Bai Lixiao remained relatively calm. After all, this world was different from the previous one; there were no "incurable diseases or sufferings"...~...

(In this magical world, there must be many more solutions than before. If all else fails... I will do everything in my power to borrow Avalon from my Queen Artoria!) — Such a thought even popped into Baili Xiao's mind!

Of course he knew it was difficult, extremely difficult. Not to mention that King Artoria was the ruler of the Kingdom of Great Britain, and he, a commoner (at most, he had some fame in the world of anime and manga), was not qualified to pay homage to her. As for Avalon, the "ideal land far from the world," how could such a divine artifact be borrowed so easily?

However, Baili Xiao was confident. He possessed the system as his trump card. If he let go and disregarded everything else, relying on the system's abilities, he could soon become the person in the world bearing the title of "strongest"—but it was foreseeable that at that time, Baili Xiao would likely have to be at odds with the vast majority of people in the world...

“It’s nothing…” While Baili Xiao was thinking to herself, Eriri raised her head slightly and followed her movement, her ponytail swayed back to reveal her small face—a forced smile that, to be honest, was “uglier than crying!”

“Mom isn’t that weak. Last time she was still very energetic and helped me sell my doujinshi at the anime convention. How could she be so weak in such a short time, just like Dad said…” Eriri tried very hard to pull the corners of her mouth up, but quickly returned to normal.

Staring blankly at Baili Xiao, she saw "unbearable" and "heartache" in his eyes. The emotions she had been suppressing erupted from the depths of her heart. Her nose suddenly stung, and she tightly embraced Baili Xiao with her long, slender arms, burying her face deeply in his chest—though only faint sobs could be heard, the increasingly violent shaking of her shoulders clearly indicated her current state.

With a gentle stroke of her right hand, Baili Xiao carefully and tenderly tidied Eriri's hair, then turned her gaze to the window—through the thin clouds, the outline of a city appeared in the distance.

...group

Amidst the lush green forest stretching to the horizon, beside a tranquil lake in the center, a small castle exuding British style appeared before Eriri and Baili Xiao. Eriri anxiously rang the doorbell outside the iron fence, ringing it repeatedly, the intervals between rings barely exceeding two seconds...

With a crisp "click," the castle door opened, and a figure stepped out—but only half of her body was visible. After meeting Eriri's gaze, she seemed startled, trembled, and hurriedly turned and retreated back inside... without even closing the door! 7

Bai Lixiao frowned slightly—he clearly noticed Eriri's stiffness, and a rather amusing thought arose in his mind: "Eri? Was that... Auntie?"