A lot happened here... but I'm too hung up on Yota saying, "If I work on the picture book alone, then Ai's reason for existence would be gone!"
Wow. So he really doesn't love Ai, then. He only sees her as necessary for his dream of making picture books? Very disappointing.
Tbh, even if it ends up with Yota saying "I love you Ai," I'm not actually sure I can buy it at this point. It will probably feel forced.
Something crazy will have to happen for me to believe that Yota actually loves her. Like, he'll have to admit that he was lying to himself, and that he was only using the picture book as an excuse in order to keep Ai with him, along with Moemi. Basically, he was too scared to lose both of them, and so he reasons and lies to himself that he loves Moemi, and that he needs Ai solely for the picture book. I can understand that. Or maybe there will be something else that I come to understand. We'll see.
RIP Gokuraku Clerk. I liked that guy