SCHOOL RUMBLE: TWIST, TWIST, & TURN
By: Pizza Blade
PART FOUR
-Sawachika Eri-
-Three days before the second meeting, the night after the Library meeting, in her mansion-
"Ojou-sama."
…
…"Ojou-sama."
……
……"Ojou-sama."
"A…ah, yes?"
It took some time for Nakamura to finally grab Eri's attention. It was a clear, starry night, and Eri was at one of her most favourite location on her house, the veranda on the second floor of her mansion.
It's always a nice thing to just sit and lay back at the veranda. The wind blew softly to her face, gently playing her beautiful blonde hair. The sky was so clear tonight—it was also filled with many, many stars, each and every one of them sparkled ever so beautifully that only by watching them you could feel the warm sensation squirming inside your chest.
…
But Nakamura was having difficulty calling Eri not because she was busy scanning the skies. Not because she immensely enjoyed the gentle blow of the night wind. And not because she was in the middle of quiet appreciation of how beautiful the night was.
It was because she was so focused at staring a blank piece of paper on the table in front of her, her right hand twiddling a pencil. Her face looked a bit frustrated.
"Yes, Nakamura?" she said, turning her attention to the butler. "I am sorry, I was deep in thought of something…"
"Yes, I can see that, Ojou-sama." Nakamura said politely, bowing himself a little. "But dinner is ready; I suggest you eat first, because the food will be cold in a short while."
"Ok, ok." Eri waved her hands—apparently she's not really listening to Nakamura's words because her eyes were still fixed at the empty piece of paper on the table. "I will go…, just wait for a moment…"
She scratched her head in frustration.
Nakamura stared at his young master for a while, before politely asked,
"Pardon me, Ojou-sama. But you seem to have a problem there."
"Yes." Eri answered vaguely. "Yes—I've never thought before that making a movie script is going to be this difficult."
"Movie script?" Nakamura asked.
Eri nodded her head.
"Yes." she said. "It's for a school project. An important one." She scratched her head again. "At first I thought it's not going to be hard to create a good one. But apparently I was wrong. I've already been sitting here for the last two hours but not a single idea appeared in my head…"
"I see." Nakamura said understandingly. "Inspiration is not something that you can learn, or something that you can forcibly take out from your mind. It comes when it comes."
"Perhaps." Eri replied. "Anyway, I am sorry to trouble you, Nakamura, but could you please bring my dinner here to me? I seem to be getting something here, and I am afraid if I go now that something might just disappear from my head."
"I understand." Nakamura bowed. "Of course, Ojou-sama. Just wait for a moment and I will bring your dinner here."
"Thank you."
With that, the head butler went off to get Eri's dinner, while Eri herself returned to her deep thought.
…
I've never thought that making a script for a movie would be this difficult, she said to herself. I seem to be getting 'something', yes, but it is very hard to actually translate that 'something' onto the paper……
…
Love…
…Love……
The script must be about a story related to love…
…
What did she know about love?
……
Well, if one counted the times when she got those countless confessions by the boys at the school, then perhaps one could say that Eri was indeed a very experienced person at love.
But Eri refused to use that kind of thing for her story. To her, the countless confessions made by the boys to her were more something of a love at its most superficial level. That was not the kind of thing she wanted to use for her script.
She wanted her script to fully appreciate the truest aspect of love. She wanted her script to expose the deepest core of love itself. She wanted her script to be able to instil that same warm feeling when you stared at someone you truly loved.
…
Perhaps those kinds of goals were vague, silly, or even borderline ridiculous. But for the kind of person like Eri, they were just another way to say that she only wanted to strive for the best thing that she could, for everything that she did. That she only wanted to produce a good script at the best of her ability.
…
……
Eri leaned herself on the chair.
She looked up, staring at the dark but beautiful night sky bejewelled by sparkling light of the stars.
…
……
Her friends, especially Tenma, most probably wouldn't believe to the fact that Sawachika Eri was a person inexperienced in romantic love, or anything related to that. She gave advices to Tenma about that sort of thing, but ultimately…
…
Eri looked at the blank piece of paper.
She scratched her head once again in frustration.
…
"Ojou-sama."
"Woah!" Eri nearly jumped from her seat because all of the sudden Nakamura stood behind her without warning. "Nakamura! You surprised me!"
"I beg for your forgiveness, Ojou-sama." Nakamura said. "But I bring you your dinner right here."
Just like he said, he carried with him a plate filled with delicious-looking spaghetti on his right hand and a long glass filled with fresh-looking milk on his left hand.
Eri stared at them for a moment, before pointing at the table where the blank piece of paper was on.
"That was quick, Nakamura, thanks." she said, sighing a little. A little bit of delicious food and drink may help her brain to boost up a little. Hopefully she could get great new ideas for her script, then.
Nakamura gently put down the plate and the glass on the table. While he was doing it, his eyes (well, his right eye, actually, since his left eye was blanketed by a cover Pirates usually wear) stared at the still blank piece of paper.
…
"Still having some difficulties with the script, Ojou-sama?" he asked politely.
"Yes." Eri answered, sighing desperately. "I only have three days to complete this script—but I don't know if I could make it in just three days… I've never thought making a good movie script would be this difficult…"
Nakamura stood silent for a while—he seemed contemplating something.
…
"Perhaps I could be of some assistance, Ojou-sama." he said. "They all always say that two minds are greater than one. Maybe I can help you find this…inspiration…, that you lack at the moment."
Eri was a bit surprised by this sudden offer of help from Nakamura.
She stared at him for a while.
…
……
Normally, looking at his stature, Nakamura would most probably be the last person in this world someone would consult on the matters of love.
Objectively speaking, it was quite hard to imagine that a person with that kind of tough-looking appearances like him would be able to provide sound advices about how to make a good movie script with a story centred on love.
It was just not fit with his image.
…
……But then again, if you looked at it, normally someone could hardly imagine that a person with that look could actually be a professional head butler; someone who diligently carrying dinner for a girl; someone who drove around a limousine…
It seemed more fitting for him to become a mercenary, or something.
…So Eri decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.
…
"Alright, then." she said slowly. "Because I am getting stuck here, I guess I could use a bit of help from someone." Although in reality she preferred to this thing alone rather than accepting help from someone, unfortunately her situation right now didn't warrant her that luxury.
"It would be my pleasure." Nakamura bowed himself once more. "So, what kind of movie script are we talking about here?"
"It's only for a school project, so nothing too fancy." Eri answered. "I mean, we're not talking about a movie script where you can put a scenario like the end of the world or something. Just real life events."
"I see." Nakamura said. "Does the script must adhere to a particular theme?"
"Yes." Eri nodded her head.
"What theme?" Nakamura asked.
"L…love." Eri answered, a bit awkward. It felt a bit strange for her to speak a word like love during a conversation with her head butler.
"I see." Nakamura said once again, nodding his head a little. "So the movie script must be centred on the theme love."
He put his index finger on his chin, while closing his eyes, apparently thinking.
"Yes." Eri said. "You can sit down first, you know, Nakamura." she pointed at the empty chair at the other side of the table.
"This is just fine, Ojou-sama." Nakamura replied humbly. "I think better when I am standing up like this. My blood circulation runs more smoothly from top to bottom, so my brain could perform better."
"…I see." Eri failed to see the logic behind his words, but she decided it would be better to just leave things as it is.
…
……
………
One.
Two…
Five……
Ten………
And finally fifteen minutes has passed with both of them still not talking.
Eri was staring to the blank piece of paper thinking for a start for her movie script, but to no avail. She appeared to be more frustrated than before.
Nakamura was still closing his eyes. It was a bit eerie, actually, how he could stand like that, completely not moving even for tiniest little bit. It was like he transformed himself into a statue or something, completely oblivious to the outside world.
…
"So, Nakamura…" Eri said slowly. "Thinking of anything yet?"
Nakamura opened his eyes.
"Yes." he said confidently. "If it's about love, that I have something in my mind that you may find interesting, Ojou-sama."
"Really?" Eri stared at him with one of her eyebrows raised. She seemed a bit surprised by his answer. "What kind of story?"
"A story filled with passion, with love, with blood and honour." Nakamura said sternly. "A story that I think would be able to move many hearts, many souls, and pushing them into a pool of unspeakable emotions."
"……"
'With blood and honour' seemed like pretty much out of the context here, but Eri didn't say anything. Perhaps it was just one of those weird things guys like to say in order to over-dramatize things up.
"Yes." Nakamura hardened the palms of his both hands, his eyes burning. "This is the story about the unbreakable love between me and fellow comrades back when we at war. The very times when bonds between myself and my team-mates were tested beyond its limits, and…"
"Hold it." Eri raised her hand, cutting through Nakamura before he had any chance to finish what he's about to say.
"What is it, Ojou-sama?" Nakamura stared enquiringly at Eri who at the exact moment slapped herself on her forehead and shaking her head.
"Don't tell me you are about to tell the stories when you were still at the army." Eri sighed softly. "I have no doubts in my mind that those stories must be interesting, but sorry, Nakamura, I said that nothing too fancy for my script here."
"There is nothing 'too fancy' about the brotherhood we men committed each other to during the times of war." Nakamura said plainly. "In fact, I think that brotherhood is simply the greatest form of love that I could ever imagine. And it was based on real-life events too, just as you requested, Ojou-sama."
"I should have been more specific, then." Eri said, quietly contemplating within herself the reasons why did she have to deal with……, ah…, unique…, people not only at school but also at her own house. "Although the theme of our movie project is indeed love, and I have no doubts whatsoever that those moments you shared with your friends during the war was… um…, filled with love…" Eri shivered a bit when she imagined the word 'love' being paired together with a bunch of tough-looking guys with scary faces like Nakamura, "…your kind of story are not the ones I'm looking for here. Our movie's target audience is teenagers, young people, so I think that your story is a bit out of context, Nakamura."
"I see." Nakamura nodded softly. "I apologize, Ojou-sama."
"Don't worry about it." Eri waved her hands.
She should have known better.
"So, the kind of 'love' you are looking for your script is the kind of love between a young man and a young woman." Nakamura said. "Is that correct?"
"Pretty much." Eri answered shortly.
Nakamura bowed himself once more.
"Then I must offer you an apology yet again, Ojou-sama." he said courteously. "I am afraid I am not experienced well enough about that kind of thing that my help could warrant a suitable enough contribution for your effort."
Eri sighed once more.
"That's okay, that's okay." she said. "It would be best for me to finish this thing by myself, anyway. Thank you for your help, Nakamura."
…
"…However." Nakamura continued. "It's true if I say that the time of my life when I could experience love like that has long since passed. But yours hasn't. In fact, I believe now is the exact time for you to experience this sort of thing, am I correct, Ojou-sama?"
"…What?" Eri replied.
"If you are having difficulty of finding an appropriate story for your script," Nakamura was still talking, "Why don't you base it upon one of your own experiences? You said that your target audience are young people, but since you are still young yourself, Ojou-sama, I think many of your experiences will fit properly for this subject."
"If only things were that easy, Nakamura," Eri said curtly. "I wouldn't have any problems for the past two hours."
"But Ojou-sama." Nakamura persisted, although he's still talking in a butler-ish kind of way. "Have you never been in love with someone before?"
…
……
That question caught Eri off-guard for a second.
…
Fall in love?
…Her?
……
A flash of someone's face suddenly made its way into Eri's mind; a flash that occurred without her thinking, a flash that was just there without her consent, a flash that sneaked its way smoothly into her mind without permission.
A flash that successfully made Eri's face went red.
…
"Have you never felt attracted to any men before, Ojou-sama?" Nakamura continued.
…
That flash grew stronger.
A flash of someone's face with that stupid face of his, with that stupid laugh of his, with that stupid attitude of his, with that stupid sunglassess of his…
…
"I…" Eri said awkwardly.
She looked at Nakamura, who was staring at her, and felt a surge of embarrassment rising inside her self.
This is not good.
She didn't like this side of her being shown to other people, even if the other people her own head-butler whom she had known for many years.
She waved her hands slowly, trying not to show off her emotions too much.
…
"Alright, I understand." she said. "T…thank you, Nakamura, for your insights. I think I have finally found something that I can use for my script."
"Are you sure, Ojou-sama?" Nakamura asked.
"Yes, yes." Eri said impatiently. "Thank you. You may go."
Nakamura bowed again.
"Well then." he said politely. "I am glad that I could be of some help. And don't forget to eat your dinner, Ojou-sama."
After that, Nakamura walked off from the veranda, leaving Eri deep in thought on her own.
…
She stared at the dinner Nakamura brought for her—they looked delicious, but her mind was too full with various things right now that she hardly had an appetite to eat them.
……
It's true that she never felt the same way about boys before the way she felt when she was around that stupid guy. Often, they banter, they argued, but that was not because she hated or disliked him or anything…
More like, it's just happened without her even thinking about it. The flow just seemed… there, between her and him every time they were together, without her even realizing it.
…
True, in front of him, she didn't have…, she didn't need to act fake. In front of him, she didn't have to worry about how to preserve her image as a 'rich, gentle, princess.' In front of him, she could talk the way she wanted, act the way she wanted, and even yell the way she wanted.
And there was the Sports Festival too…
A happy feeling, even if it's only for a fleeting moment…
…
But is it love?
Isn't it a bit too premature to call her feelings towards him love?
…
……
Eri stared at the blank paper once more, her hand twiddling the pencil faster then before.
…
After five minutes in silence, she decided to write something; something that was clinging inside her mind.
"…I hate you, Hige." she said quietly, as she started to scribble words onto the paper.
-Hanai Haruki & Suou Mikoto-
-Two days before the second meeting, in Hanai's dojo-
Hanai quickly threw a fast flurry of punches towards Mikoto, but she gracefully dodged all of them. In retaliation, she ducked herself a little, spinning her feet with the intention of sweeping Hanai's feet in one fast swoop.
But Hanai was able to read her movements, and as Mikoto launched her counter, he easily jumped himself up to avoid it. Mikoto didn't stop right there, however. She quickly gained her composure and dashing forward into Hanai's range; then with amazing speed, she grabbed Hanai's Dougi and twisting it while at the same moment she tackled Hanai's feet.
Having attacked with such combination of movements, Hanai couldn't avoid them and couldn't keep his balance intact. It took only a matter of seconds before he was staring at Mikoto's face from the down the floor.
…
"You lose." Mikoto grinned.
"Bah." Hanai grumbled.
He quickly stood up.
"That makes it 40 wins for me." Mikoto pointed out at Hanai, still grinning widely. "And with your victory only at 30, I think it's safe to say that you still have a lot of work to do to catch up with me, Hanai."
"Thirty?" Hanai exclaimed loudly. "You are kidding! According to my memory, I've won about 40 times against you, and you've won about 40 times also! So we are even!"
Mikoto laughed softly.
"It's better if you don't trust your memory too much." she said slyly. "Because of many times your head hit the floor from my throw, maybe your memory isn't just as good as it used to be."
"Humph! My memory is still as good as ever!" Hanai replied bluntly—if there was one thing in the world that he didn't like the most, that one thing must have been being defeated in anything.
He pointed his finger at Mikoto.
"One more spar, Suou!" he said. "And this time we decide the real winner!"
"Nah." Mikoto waved her hand apologetically. "Sorry, Hanai, but I am a bit tired, today. We could always continue this at other time, anyway."
…
She walked towards the place she put her towel inside the dojo.
She grabbed the towel, and using it to wipe sweats on her face.
"Tired?" Hanai said as he was staring at Mikoto. "It's not usual for you to get tired, Mikoto. You are the strongest girl I've known."
"Yes, but I am a human, you know." Mikoto said as she drank water from a bottle not far from where she put her towel. "…and a girl. So it's normal even for me to get a bit tired every once in a while."
Mikoto once again wiped the sweats on her face with the towel.
"…and this is more like, mental tiredness instead of physical tiredness…" she mumbled.
"Mental tiredness?" Hanai asked questioningly, one of his eyebrows raised.
"Haven't you ever heard the saying the mind and body is one?" Mikoto continued. "Well, to put it simply, your body is connected to your mind. When your mind is weak, then your body would turn weak too. When your mind became tired, then your body would feel tired too."
"I see." Hanai said understandingly while nodding his head. "But what was it that's making you tired, anyway? Just wondering."
Mikoto sighed a little. She turned her body and now staring directly at Hanai.
…
"It's about Sasakura-sensei's movie project." she said. "I couldn't think of anything good for the script."
"Oh, that." Hanai said, readjusting his Dougi a little. "So you were thinking about that the whole day?"
Mikoto nodded.
"Yeah." she said. "Today, at school, from the looks of it, it seemed like everybody was having a smooth time with their script. Tsukamoto was smiling all the time, writing story notes. Takano shouldn't have any problems with this kind of thing, seeing the fact that she was the one who wrote our script for the play at Bunkasai. Imadori……"
She stopped for a moment.
"Well…" she said, sighing. "I bet he already wrote at least something…"
For his own good, Mikoto thought to herself, he'd better not write anything ridiculous.
Most particularly ridiculous things involving me.
"Harima grinned all day too, so I guess he had no problems with his script." Mikoto continued. "And Sawachika seemed busy writing stuff here and there on her own notebook..."
Mikoto grinned a little.
Her mind flew to the sight she saw about Eri today. Interestingly, while writing on her script, that supposedly centred on the theme love, she saw Eri not once, not twice, but numerous times glancing secretly at Harima. Eri didn't know that she knew, and she didn't want to bother to tease Eri.
Akira must have noticed it too, Mikoto said to herself.
That Ojou should be more honest to herself, really…
…
……
Mikoto sighed once more.
Even so, that Ojou must have already written something for her script, while I am still stuck at nothing…
Mikoto was sure that her friends wouldn't mind if at the deadline she just says that she couldn't think of anything, thus, she didn't create any script, but Mikoto didn't want to just avoid her responsibility like that.
She must come up with something during these next two days.
…
"What about you, Hanai?" Mikoto looked up to her childhood friend. "Have you written anything yet?"
"Of course!" Hanai said proudly. "Yesterday, as soon as we concluded our meeting at the library, I rushed to find imaginative ideas in order to create the best script!"
"Oh?" Mikoto said, a bit down. Even Hanai beat her on this. "What's the script about?"
"You just have to wait until our team's next meeting, Suou." Hanai gave Mikoto a thumb's up. "At that time, I will reveal my script to everyone. Besides, I still need time to put it into perfection."
"Wait." Mikoto said, a sudden realization came to her mind. "By any chance, your script wouldn't have anything to do with Tsukamoto's little sister, would it?"
"Of course it is!" Hanai exclaimed. "The script must be centred on love, isn't it? And what kind of love greater then my love for Yakumo-kun?"
Mikoto sighed once again.
She should have known this. Hanai's infatuation to Yakumo-chan was one for the Guiness Book's record. She didn't know what his script is about, but she highly doubt he didn't write himself as the main actor and Yakumo-chan as the main actress.
She also highly doubted that the team would accept his script based on this new information…
…
But at least he came up with something, Mikoto thought, while I am still at nothing…
…
Hanai stared at Mikoto's troubled face.
"…Look, Suou," he said, deciding that he should help her about this the best he could. "Creating a script for a movie isn't that hard thing to do—you just have to know the tricks to do it, that's all."
"Yeah?" Mikoto replied. "What kind of tricks?"
"Well…" Hanai said, with his trademarked The-Class-President-Way-of-Speaking, "There are a lot of them, but the most important one is, at first, you shouldn't look too far for your source of inspiration. You probably didn't realize this at first, but the greatest source of inspiration for this kind of thing has already been there all along with you!"
Mikoto listened to his words carefully. Hanai did have the tendency of overreacting when he's explaining something, but his words usually carried a lot of weight within themselves. He didn't become the class president for nothing, after all.
…
"I bet you are asking yourself what is the source, yes?" Hanai continued. "The source is your own experience."
"My… own, experience?" Mikoto said slowly.
Hanai nodded.
"Yes!" he said. "Take a look at me for example, I am a bit baffled about what kind of story I should make for my movie script. Yesterday night, I was literally drowned in ocean of books trying to find a source of inspiration. Then, when I am about to give up, a sudden realization hit me in the head: I don't need a book! I am a book!"
"Ho…" Mikoto said amusingly.
"Why don't I look at myself for a source of inspiration!" Hanai said, firing up. "I have a lot of experiences with Yakumo-kun that would definitely make good script for a movie! We have so many fond memories together that define the very characteristics of love!"
"Uh-huh." Mikoto said again.
Yakumo-chan would have most probably fainted if she heard those words directly, and not the kind of faint that was induced by happiness, too.
…
"So, to cut things short…" Mikoto said. "You said that I should search for my own real experiences and make them into a script for my movie? is that it?"
Hanai nodded.
"You understand quickly, Suou!" he said, giving Mikoto yet another thumb's up. "Besides, movies are more like the portrayal of reality, and what is better to portray reality but the reality itself?"
…
He said some strange, sophisticated, and out of the world comments sometimes, Mikoto thought, but the funny thing is that she sensed that his words, no matter how ridiculous they would seem; they rang a little bit of truth.
…
My own experiences, huh…, Mikoto thought to herself.
But therein the problem: she didn't have a lot of experiences regarding this matter. The only time she thought she fell in love with someone—it didn't turn out well…
Or maybe she should just write something about that…? The one time when she fell in love but ended up tragically?
Maybe it would work for a tragic love drama script or something like that…
……
"Suou?" Hanai said worriedly, seeing Mikoto drowning in her own deep thought. "Are you all right?"
Mikoto looked at Hanai's worried face for a while.
She smiled.
"Yes, I am fine." she said. "I think I am finally able to write something for my script, now."
"Really?" Hanai said. "You do?"
"Yes." Mikoto replied shortly. "Thanks to you."
"I am always here to help you, Suou!" Hanai said boldly. "All you need to do is to ask!"
"I'll be sure I remember that." Mikoto said, smiling. "Thanks."
-Takano Akira-
-The last day before the second meeting, in her part-time work's location, the old book shop-
Akira worked her part-time job at a used book store, which people rarely ever came to. But it didn't bother her, because for one, she got her payment anyway no matter how many people came to the store and two, she got herself an environment where she could read many kinds of books at her own leisure.
You see, Akira might not look like the type, but she was really into books, and could spend hours upon hours just to read them.
Today, as usual, the store was empty. There were a couple of kids coming earlier, only to be disappointed because they thought that the book store was selling mangas, when of course, not.
Well, anyway, Akira now had the chance to really savour the moment. She was all alone, enjoying the quiet contemplation of the situation, observing each and every words on the book she read now peacefully, and…
This, and that…
Before…
…
"Hi, Takano-san!"
Her friends showed up.
Akira turned her attention from the book to the front door of her store. There, she spotted two of her classmates, Yuuki Tsumugi and Ootsuka Mai, waving their hands cheerfully to her.
Well, this was quite unexpected. It was rare for her three best friends to visit her on this shop, let alone other classmates of hers. The only time Yuuki visited this store was before the Bunkasai, back then Yuuki didn't even know that Akira worked part-time at the store.
"Hi, Yuuki-san, Ootsuka-san." Akira said. "The two of you want to buy some books today?" She closed the book she was reading.
"Yes." Yuuki replied shortly. "We are looking for good, romantic books, Takano-san."
"Romantic books?" Akira said, one of her eyebrows rose. "By any chance, are you going to use them as reference for Sasakura-sensei's movie project?"
Yuuki and Mai nodded their head at the same time.
"Yeah." Mai said. "We were charged to become the script-writer for our team, and we were given 4 days to create a script. Both Yuuki and I managed to come up with something, but…"
"But we were kind of stuck." Yuuki said, completing Mai's words. "So we figured that we should read up some books to gather more inspiration. We've looked up the school library, but they didn't have any decent collection of romantic novels. Then I remember about you working here, Takano-san, so I hope that you could help us with something over this."
I thought so, Akira said to herself. All the other teams are making romantic movies too.
"Romantic novels and the like are over there." Akira said, pointing her finger at one of the shelves at the corner of the store. "But mind you, the books we have here are mostly old ones, so you won't be able to find any teenage drama; or things like that, in our store."
"It's okay." Yuuki said, smiling. "We're looking for an inspiration on how to end a romantic story. You see; the part where Mai-chan said we were stuck with was at the ending. So we are now kind of looking for good ways to create a good, proper ending."
"I see." Akira nodded her head softly.
"Do you have any recommendation on books with great ending to its story, Takano-san?" Mai asked. "It doesn't have to be a happy ending, but a great, fitting, ending."
Akira gave it a thought for a while.
"The Song of the Swan." Akira said slowly, contemplating. "It is a romance novel with a very good ending, written by a French guy called Francis Chapellone. The Miracle of Heaven by Hajime Kondo is not too shabby either. Oh, and probably the best in terms how the author ended the story, Closer Love—a novel about how many times people does not realize that the person that cares for them the most are most of the time the person who is closest to them—written by a woman, Maria Charlotte. The foreign ones have been translated to Japanese."
…
"The last one seemed interesting." Yuuki said, nodding her head a little. "But you really are amazing, Takano-san, being able to remember them all."
"Yes, well…" Akira said. "I've read almost all the books here, just to kill time."
Akira said this last sentence so casually; unaware that Yuuki and Mai were getting quite a shock thanks to it. The store might not be so big, but it was quite jam-packed with shelves full of books that it was quite normal for people to think that it could take at least one hundred years to finish them all. Most likely the things that a person kills when they read so many books were not only just the time but themselves as well.
"…And I do think Closer Love is the best amongst the three." Akira continued. "But you may think differently. They were all there." she pointed at the same shelve again.
"…So, The Song of the Swan, Miracle of Heaven, and Closer Love." Mai repeated the titles Akira mentioned before. "All right, I'll look for them."
With that, Mai dashed herself to the shelve Akira pointed at, leaving Yuuki and Akira together alone.
…
……
"So, what kind of movie does your team make, Takano-san?" Yuuki asked, approaching Akira who stood behind the paying counter. "Is it action, thriller, or…"
"Those indeed seemed more interesting." Akira said shortly. "But our team has decided to make a romantic drama movie instead."
"Really?" Yuuki said. "The same as us, then?"
"Not just us." Akira said. "With the kind of audience we are strictly targeting, most probably almost all, if not all, movies produced on Sasakura-sensei's project would be about love and the like. It's just logical."
"I guess so." Yuuki sighed. "But that would make the competition even harder then before, wouldn't it?"
Akira nodded.
"Of course." she said. "But what's so fun about being in a competition is that you have the chance to prove yourself that you are much better then your competitors, isn't that right?"
Yuuki gave it a thought a little.
"I suppose." she said. "Tougher competitions would force people to work harder, and as such, better results bound to show up."
Akira nodded once again.
…
Yuuki stared at Akira.
It seemed a little strange for her, to be able to talk to Takano-san so smoothly like this. When you looked at a person like Takano-san for the first time, the impression you got must have been around things such as she's a cold, unfriendly person. The fact that she rarely spoke at the class, and at times seemed a bit distant with other classmates, well, they didn't help matters either.
…
But really, if you really talked to her, Takano Akira wasn't that kind of cold, unfriendly person. She was a nice person.
In fact, talking with Akira for Yuuki seemed so relaxing and a bit fun, because she just could feel the connection between how she talked and how Takano-san talked. After all, Takano-san's really an intelligent person, and it would always a fun thing to do for Yuuki to converse with intelligent people.
…
"Yuuki-san." Akira words snapped Yuuki out from her daydream. "Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something on my face?"
"Ah, oh, sorry, sorry." Yuuki replied, shaking her head and waving her hands a bit frantically. "It's nothing—it's just that……, Takano-san, are you the script writer for your team?"
"Yeah, I want to know that too." Mai has returned from her search, carrying with her the three novels Akira previously mentioned. She handed them to Akira for pricing.
"Yes and no." Akira answered shortly, picking up the novels for price-checking. "I mean, maybe my script will be used, maybe not."
"What do you mean?" Mai asked questioningly.
"Well…" Akira continued, "We have decided to give each members of our group to propose a script. Then, we shall choose the best amongst them, and that script is the one that we will use for our movie."
She handed the books and the receipt to Mai.
"That's a good idea." Yuuki said. "That way there will be more diverse choices for your team for the script."
She tilted her head a little.
"I wonder why we didn't think of that." she said slowly.
"That's because that kind of thing would only work with Takano-san's group!" Mai said boldly, handing Akira the money for the books. "They must have had a hard time trying to decide which person is going to be the script writer for the team—after all, all of the class' brilliant minds were gathered there. So they must come up with a way to choose the best among the best."
"You glorify our team too much." Akira said shortly. "The two of you are easily the smartest girls in our class, after all."
"…No, no, Mai-chan is right, Takano-san." Yuuki said, her face appeared like she was contemplating something. "Your team are filled with 2-C's greatest potentials for creating the best movie for our class. You have Sawachika-san with you…"
"…which undoubtedly smart." Mai completed Yuuki's sentence.
"Then you have Suou-san…" Yuuki continued.
"A person that is great at doing, well, practically everything." Mai added.
"Then you have Tsukamoto-san…" Yuuki continued.
Mai stopped for a moment.
…
"Well, I am sure Tsukamoto-san could come up with something fabulous for the script." Mai said, laughing apologetically a little. "I mean, it seemed like she is the most enthusiastic person in our class about doing this movie project."
…
"Then you have Harima-san…" Yuuki said.
"Which will undoubtedly surprise everyone with his… er…" Mai stopped once more, trying to think of something suitable to say. "…Unexpected side of art. Um, maybe."
"Then you have Imadori-san…" Yuuki still mentioning each Tenma's team members' names.
Mai shook her head in slow motion.
"A person with his calibre of experiences must be an expert at creating scripts for romantic movies." she said, a bit loud. "I suppose he even had the potential to create the best script for this kind of thing…"
…
"Then you have Hanai…" Yuuki said, but this time she completed her sentence without Mai interference. "Who is not only the smartest guy in our class but also quite probably the smartest guy in the whole school. I bet he could come up with an amazing script for your team."
Akira steered her eyes to Yuuki.
…
Mai didn't seem to realize it. Even Yuuki herself didn't seem to realize it. But Akira sensed that Yuuki subtly changed the way she talked when the subject is about Hanai. Her tone seemed a bit softer then usual.
Akira didn't say anything about it, but she smiled a little.
…
"And then you, Takano-san." Mai pointed her index to Akira for a short while. "You, the person mostly responsible for creating our success at Bunkasai's theatrical play."
She sighed.
"It seemed like you guys are the invincible team or something." she said.
"You are exaggerating things." Akira said plainly. "All the teams in the school had the exact same probability to become the winner. There are a lot of smart, imaginative people in our school, you know."
"So like, what kind of story did you make for your script, Takano-san?" Mai said all of the sudden; her face looked a bit excited. "I bet your story must be amazing."
"Nothing too sophisticated." Akira said shortly. "Just my real-life experiences, turned into a movie script, that's all."
…
……
This sudden information from Akira effectively turned Mai and Yuuki silent. For a moment or so, they even exchanged glances, seemingly unsure that what they just heard from Akira was really what they heard from Akira.
…
"Your…, own, experiences?" Yuuki said, her face seemed a bit intrigued.
Akira nodded.
"…But, this is a script for a love romantic movie…, isn't it?" said Mai.
"Yes." Akira stared at both of the girls questioningly. "Is there anything wrong with that?"
Both Mai and Yuuki quickly shook their heads.
"No, no, no, no." Yuuki said, frantically waving her hands. "Or course nothing is wrong. Nothing, ha ha ha ha…"
Akira stared at both of them, before shrugging her shoulders, and then returned to read the book she held on her hand.
Mai and Yuuki quickly turned their backs from Akira, and then they whispered to each other with as voices as low as possible,
"She said her own experiences!" Mai whispered excitedly.
"Yes, I know, I know!" Yuuki said with the same excited look on her face. "Takano-san's love experience! This is so exciting!"
"You know it!" Mai replied. "I wonder what kind of story is it—I really want to know!"
Their excitement was really understandable, really. Amongst all of their female classmates, the only person always seemingly unconcerned with romantic problems was none other than Takano Akira herself. Nobody, not even her own three best friends, ever spotted her walking together with a boy, speaking about a boy, or generally do things people in love usually do.
It seemed like she was just flat out not interested on that kind of thing.
Thus, Mai and Yuuki were excited to hear that Akira was about to use one of her own experiences for a romantic movie script. What kind of romantic experiences does a person like Takano Akira had? What kind of person could thwart the heart of the venerable Ice Princess?
…
This just maybe the greatest scoop ever in the history of class 2-C!
……
"Um…" Yuuki said, after she and Mai turned their eyes again at Akira. "If…, you don't mind, Takano-san, can we take a look…, um…, just a peek, at your script?"
Akira turned her attention from the book to the girls.
One of her eyebrows rose.
"Why do you want to do that?" she said questioningly.
"It's not like we want to plagiarize or something like that!" Mai said quickly. "But we just really want to know what kind of story you make! You know, we are kind of intrigued, since you are the script writer for our Bunkasai play…something like that."
…
Akira stared at both of the girls. She seemed to be thinking about something.
……
"No, sorry." Akira said, "Truth be told, my script still need a little bit of this and that before it's entirely completed. I don't want to show to people my work when they are still unfinished."
Her lips then formed a very-rarely-seen-on-Akira's-face smile.
"But if my script is chosen for our team's project, and somehow our team won Sasakura-sensei's offer…" she said. "Then eventually both of you could see the story on your television, right? Just wait for that."
…
"Oh, all right then, Takano-san." Yuuki said weakly. She was clearly very disappointed by Akira's refusal.
"Then, we'll be going now." Mai said, a bit more cheerful then Yuuki but it was clear that she was also heavily disappointed. "Thanks for your help, Takano-san."
Both of the girls waved their hands.
"Yes." Akira replied. "Be careful."
And with that, the two girls left Akira's store.
…
"You know what, Mai-chan." Yuuki said slowly when they were still a few steps away from Akira's store. "This might sound weird, but now I am kind of hoping that Takano-san's team win this thing so that we would be able to see her movie…"
"Yes, I know…" Mai said thoughtfully. "But that doesn't mean that we should just give up like that! We too, have to do our best on this project! We must strive to achieve nothing less then victory!"
Yuuki smiled.
The ever so enthusiastic vice-president of her class. Always filled with enthusiastic spirits.
"Right!" Yuuki said, giving her thumbs up.
-Imadori Kyousuke & Harima Kenji-
-The last day before the second meeting, in a manga store somewhere in Japan-
"Yay." Imadori said happily when he spotted the new volume of Dojibiron manga was available for purchase.
Walking happily like a little kid—while ignoring the looks he got from other people on the store—he approached the shelf where the manga was displayed and picked one from there.
"Yay." he said once again. "Now I can read what happens next after the Giant Monster's secret weapon is revealed. Man, I can't wait!"
He made his way to cashier while humming the Dojibiron's theme song.
By the time he arrived at the cashier, however, he stopped his hum because there was an interesting sight there; the sight of a certain person carrying lots of manga books, waiting patiently at the paying queue, while looking somewhat blissfully unaware to his surroundings.
Now, if this person was just an ordinary other person, he wouldn't care—but since the person was someone he knew that he wouldn't have thought before as a person taking an interest in things such as manga, well…
…
Imadori stealthily approached the person from the back.
……
"Yo!" he said a bit loud while simultaneously tapped the person's shoulder. "What are you doing here, Harima?"
The person was indeed Harima Kenji.
Harima jumped a little, surprised by the sudden greeting. When he turned around to see the person greeting him, he seemed even more surprised to see that the person was Imadori.
"Imadori?" he said. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, yeah, hello." Imadori said, waving his hand a little, ignoring Harima's question. "This store is quite big, yes? So it's no wonder I didn't see you and you didn't see me earlier."
His eyes strolled down to the mangas Harima carried. "Buying some mangas, I see. I didn't know you are the kind of guy that read mangas, Harima."
"Yeah well, everybody reads them." Harima answered matter-of-factly. "It would be hard to look for someone in Japan who doesn't like to read mangas."
"True, true." Imadori nodded. "By the way, Harima, what kind of mangas do you buy?" His eyes strolled to three books of mangas Harima held on his left hand.
"Shounen manga." Harima answered. "Mainly action or sports."
"Figures." Imadori said. "A tough looking guy like you must like those kinds of manga, yeah?"
"What about you?" Harima asked. "What kind of manga do you buy?"
Imadori proudly lifted his new Dojibiron manga in front of Harima so that he could see it clearly.
"This, of course." he said excitedly. "I've been waiting forever for this new volume to come out. Finally this day has come; finally my wish to know the fate of the heroes after being cornered by the Giant Monster shall be fulfilled!"
"You talk like it's some sort of sophisticated manga or something." Harima said, turning his back away from Imadori, moving along the paying queue. "It's for kids, right?"
"That is just a misconception." Imadori tried to explain, unaware to the fact that Harima just seemed uninterested to his words, "True, Dojibiron is a show for kids, but not just kids! That is what so great about it is that it is also a suitable show for adults! Look at all the action, the romance, the drama, the thrill…"
"I get it, I get it." Harima cut through Imadori's explanation. He was not in the mood to hear an overly-excited high school student trying to justify his infatuation with stuff for kids.
It was his turn right now to pay. Harima gave his mangas to the female cashier, along with the money.
"Thank you." said the female cashier politely.
Around one minute later she gave Harima's mangas, wrapped inside a plastic bag, with the change. "Thank you for shopping here, and have a nice day, sir."
"Yeah, nice day to you too." Harima said indifferently, taking his goods from the cashier.
He walked out from the store without even looking back at Imadori.
"Hey, Harima!" Imadori shouted as he gave his manga and the money to the female cashier. "Wait for me, will you?"
"Dojibiron manga, sir?" the cashier said as she took Imadori's manga and money, she smiled a little. Perhaps she felt a bit amused that a person with his kind of age could actually buy a manga for kids and seemingly not ashamed at all by it.
"Yes, yes…" Imadori said impatiently, his eyes staring at the exit door. "Would you please bit hurry, I have to catch my…"
When he turned to look at the cashier, Imadori stopped mid-sentence.
That's because he just realized that the cashier was in fact not only a female, but also a female around his age, and more so a beautiful female around his age.
And not just that, when his eyes automatically strolled down to look at a particular spot at the female cashier, the word 'D!' suddenly flying around his perverted mind.
…
A beautiful female with a D… definitely something that his playboy sense just couldn't ignore.
"Here's the change, sir." the cashier said politely, handing Imadori his new manga, wrapped inside a nice plastic bag, and the change. "Thank you for shopping here, and have a nice day, sir."
Imadori suddenly flashed his charming playboy smile. He leaned closer towards the female cashier a bit.
"Yea, but it's nice already now that I see you today, beautiful." Imadori said elegantly, blinking one of his eyes. "Tell you what, why don't you keep the change, in case at the future you feel the sudden urge to call a particular number on a payphone. I am feeling generous today."
"And what would that number be?" said the female cashier, giggling. She didn't seem ashamed by Imadori's sudden and frontal assault, in fact it seemed like she was rather amused by it. Maybe her job was so boring that she just simply couldn't resist a good entertainment like this. The fact that no one was currently queuing behind Imadori helped too.
"Why, a very special number, of course!" Imadori whipped out his wallet, taking out a card from inside it. "And I am not just giving you the change, I am also giving you a free card along with it. Aren't you lucky today?"
He gave the card to the cashier, who took it and examining it.
It was some sort of a business card, with a rather large Imadori Kyousuke name imprinted in it, and containing other unimportant information; such as his phone call, his birthday, his hobby, even a small profile about him.
"Thank you, sir." the cashier said while giggling a little. She was clearly amused to the fact that someone would actually bother to make a business card as complete as this just for the sole purpose of flirting. "But you'd better hurry chasing your friend; otherwise you might just lose him."
"Oh yeah, right!" Imadori suddenly remembered that he intended to speak with Harima about something and Harima just walked out from the door a few moments ago. Seeing the sight of a beautiful girl somehow always short-circuited his memory or something.
He quickly grabbed his manga (along with the change) and dashed to the exit door.
Before leaving the shop entirely, however, he turned himself grandiosely to look at the female cashier.
"I'll be waiting for your call, beautiful!" he said, bowing himself a little.
A second after that, he dashed towards the way Harima left.
By the time Imadori was out of the picture, the cashier couldn't help herself not to laugh, ignoring the looks she got from other people inside the store.
"That creep!" she said hilariously. "He took the change anyway!"
…
……
Fortunately for Imadori, he could catch up with Harima easily since Harima was stuck along with many other people waiting the 'WAIT' sign to change into 'WALK' at one side of a crowded street. They were all waiting to cross the road.
"Hey, man, chill a little, okay?" he said, catching a breath for a while because he ran quite frantically before. "Do you make yourself a habit of leaving a classmate you met outside accidentally during a beautiful, clear, sunny day like this?"
"Depends on who is the classmate." Harima said matter-of-factly. "And besides, you are slow."
…If it was Tenma-chan, I'll wait for her even until the end of the world… no matter how slow it was…
…
"And now you're just being cruel." Imadori continued. "I am just being held a little by a beautiful little bird I just couldn't afford to ignore. Hey, Harima…"
The WAIT has changed into WALK, and the drove of people waiting along with Harima and Imadori moved, crossing the road like a flood breaking through a broken dam.
"What say you we take a quick sip at the WAS together?" Imadori said, pointing at one of the building across the street where one of WAS' branches was located. "I am kind of hungry and I could use a friend while I am eating."
"No." Harima replied flatly. "I am busy."
Why would I accompany him anyway? Harima said to himself. Besides, eating together with in a restaurant together with a boy is just so uncool!
…
"Really?" Imadori said, one of his eyebrows rose. "Busy doing what?"
"Busy doing busy stuff." Harima answered shortly. "Busy stuff busy people usually do on a busy day like this."
Just get lost already, will you? Sheeshh…
…
"Oh well." Imadori stopped in front of WAS' entrance, while Harima kept walking. "And I am thinking about treating you for this one. Guess I'll be saving my money, then. See you tomorrow, Harima!"
…
Harima stopped his step, quickly turned, and ran towards Imadori. He then flung his right arm along Imadori's shoulder, acting like he was the very best friend of Imadori or something.
…
"…But of course." Harima said, laughing. "Even a busy person should spare a bit of his time when a friend could use a company, yea?"
Imadori stared at Harima's face for a moment.
"You just want to eat free or charge." he said accusingly.
"What are you accusing me of, my friend?" Harima said, still laughing. "I don't have any subliminal intentions whatsoever to help a friend in need of a company on a sunny, beautiful, day like this! My nice, sensitive heart just couldn't afford to let such misery left unattended!"
"You sure know how to talk when it comes to free food, Harima." Imadori said, but he entered the WAS' building all the same, quickly followed by Harima.
The restaurant was uncharacteristically empty. Only a few people were queuing at the register, and most of the lines were even devoid of people. Only around ten people total were sitting inside the restaurant, enjoying their foods and drinks.
Which was perfect, so they didn't have to wait too long to eat their foods.
…
"WAS Set number seven, please." Imadori said by the time he and Harima arrived at the register. This time he didn't bother to whip out his business card because although the attendant behind the register was a relatively attractive female, she wasn't a D. "What would you like to have, Harima?"
Harima eyed the food list above the register for a moment.
"WAS Set number one." he said. "With a large size cola, large size chicken, and large size fries. Oh, and throw another large-size cheeseburger too, while you're at it."
Imadori was stunned to hear Harima's list of orders.
"Yo, Harima." he said panicky because that kind of order would most certainly blow a very large hole on his wallet. "For a person without any subliminal intentions, you really do order a lot!"
Harima patted Imadori's shoulder.
"It's because I am so happy being invited to eat together by a nice friend." he said, smiling happily. "Right, I'll be waiting at the table near the window, yea? Be careful not to drop our food when you bring them there, okay?"
He trailed off to the said table, leaving Imadori alone, speechless, at the register.
Imadori regretted his good intention of treating a friend already.
…
"Here you go, sir." said the attendant, putting down all of him and Harima's orders at the counter. Bringing them all without tumbling would be a rather difficult task. "Yours and your friend's orders."
"He's not my friend." Imadori grumbled, taking out the money from his wallet grudgingly. Just as he expected, his wallet felt so terribly light after the transaction.
…
After having quite a difficulty carrying the foods and drinks to where Harima was sitting, however, Imadori decided to let bygones be bygones and it would be better for him to just enjoy his share of food—while of course, making a mental note to avoid inviting Harima to a free meal at the future.
……
"So…" Imadori opened the conversation, biting his chicken burger. "You often buy manga?"
"Nah." Harima replied. Unlike Imadori, who seemed to savour each and every moment of the bite, Harima ate at a much faster rate—something that you wouldn't call 'decent' if the restaurant was a fancy one. "Most of the time only two or three every two months or so. I bought three today for a special occasion."
"Special occasion?" Imadori said curiously.
"Yeah." Harima answered, biting a large portion of his cheeseburger.
"What kind of special occasion?" Imadori continued.
Harima stopped eating. He stared at Imadori.
…
I don't want to tell anyone about this…, he said to himself, contemplating. But, I guess its okay to tell him since he treated me like this and all…
…
"Well…" Harima said. "I am writing an action-romance story for my script. Mostly done, but there are some parts on it that I just couldn't seem able to complete, due to lack of inspiration."
Harima patted the plastic where his new mangas were wrapped in.
"And according to me, the best way to search for new inspirations is to look on mangas." he said. "Because mangas were created by geniuses filled with amazing imaginations and creativity. What's wrong with searching for an inspiration from the work created by the geniuses of inspirations?"
"Hm." Imadori nodded his head slowly. "So basically, you are searching for an inspiration for that script of yours inside mangas? That's quite wicked, Harima; and clever, to boot."
"I know." Harima said, nodding his head.
"That showed that you really appreciate the beautiful art that is a manga." Imadori continued. "I rarely see a person filled with wonderful appreciation like that such as you, Harima. I might have to rephrase my opinion on you for this."
Harima scratched his hair.
"Hahahaha." he laughed. "Well, it's just normal for a great guy like me!"
I begin to like this guy! Harima said to himself as he was staring at Imadori and kept laughing for about next half a minute, ignoring the strange looks he got from the rest of the customers inside the restaurant.
…
……
"By the way, Harima." Imadori said, biting another part of his burger.
"Yeah?" Harima replied happily. His mood was somehow lifted because the praise Imadori gave him just before. "What is it?"
"Why do you write a script?" Imadori asked.
…
……
"Huh?"
This question was so weird that Harima just couldn't help himself not to stare quizzically at Imadori.
…
"Yeah, I mean…" Imadori continued to eat his burger. "Why do you write a script? I thought you are not the type of person who would write a script for a play or anything."
"Why…, do I write a script?" Harima said slowly.
"Yeah." Imadori nodded his head. "What do you write a script for? Is it for a theatrical show somewhere? Just tell me when and where and I'll be sure to watch it."
"…Theatrical play?" Harima said, befuddled by Imadori's questions. "Imadori, what are you talking about? It's the script for our movie project."
"Our movie project?" Imadori said, raising one of his eyebrows. "What do you mean our movie project?"
He laughed softly.
"I am not making any movie now, nor do I plan to make any in the future." Imadori waved his hand in amusement. "And I certainly don't have any plans to be a producer or director or something. You sure know how to talk funny, Harima."
…
Harima stared disbelievingly at Imadori.
He stared at Imadori like a scientist looking at a newly discovered alien entity on Earth or something.
…
"It's the movie project from Sasakura-sensei." Harima said slowly, because he wanted Imadori to capture each and every word from his mouth clearly. "You know, the one she gave to us a couple of days ago? The art project where we formed a team to create a movie? Where the winner would be shown at Touto TV…?"
…
……
………
"OH-MY-GOD!" Imadori shouted so loudly, it seemed like all of the furniture inside the restaurant were shaking.
He slapped his own forehead.
"Don't tell me you forgot about it?" Harima said incredulously.
"I FORGOT! I FORGOT!" Imadori said panicky, slapping his own forehead again for numerous times.
…
……
"How… in the world…" Harima said. He even forgot to eat his food for a moment, because this fact was too strange for him to just ignore. "Could you forget about it?"
"We…, well…" Imadori answered. "Today is the launch day of the new Dojibiron manga, and I really eager for that. So these last couple of days I've watched and read all Dojibiron movies and mangas I owned to heighten the anticipation, and, well, by doing that I am… a bit… forgetting about everything else, I suppose."
"You are going to school, yea?" Harima said, still incredulously. "Everybody in the school is talking about it. How in earth do you miss that?"
"Well, I was sort of busy playing with playing with my cell phone and all…" Imadori replied, laughing remorsefully. "And there's the new Dojibiron portable game…, I am like, totally hooked by it I didn't pay any attention to anything else at school…"
…
It was now Harima's turn to slap his own forehead.
If one of his team members was like this, Harima thought to himself, the chance for their team to win might really be very little to none…
…
"Well, I remember it all now, so no problem, no problem." Imadori said confidently. "And now I do remember that tomorrow we're going to have a meeting to decide whose script we will use for the movie project, right?"
"Yeah…" Harima answered slowly.
"Well, no problem then, no problem!" Imadori continued. "One day is more than enough for a man like me to create the most wonderful script in the world!"
Imadori stood up.
"Sorry, Harima, but I guess I have to go home now, working on the script." Imadori said. "Is it all right for me to leave you alone now?"
"Just go." Harima waved his hand.
Being together too long with you might not be a good idea at all, you baka, Harima said to himself. I might get infected with your baka virus or something…
"Well then, bye!" Imadori bowed himself a little. "See you tomorrow!"
Harima was still staring at Imadori disbelievingly when Imadori dashed out from the restaurant, and finally disappeared from his view.
How could a person just forget something like that was totally beyond his comprehension. There was also the fact that it was Imadori himself that suggested the theme love for their movie project…, for him to forget that…, well… even to call it stupidity was an understatement.
……
Don't tell me he forgot about that too, Harima thought, and instead of making a romantic drama, he'd make a movie script about super robots or something.
…
Harima sighed.
Well, at least that is one less competition for him for tomorrow. Bigger chance for his script to be chosen by the team as the basis for the movie project.
Harima stared at all of the foods and drinks on the table; the one he ordered and the ones Imadori left behind.
…
Heh, he said to himself. At least I am not going to be hungry for today...
To Be Continued