My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 400

"I don't know about that."

Her name was neither Irito Yume nor Higashito Izana.

Wearing glasses and sporting a serious appearance, contrasted sharply with her pink-streaked braided pigtails, she was a first-year student a year younger than me, named Miyo. Although she claimed she wanted to be addressed by her given name, calling a girl by her first name, which was practically a first meeting, still made me feel a bit resistant, so I decided to use "you" or something similar as much as possible.

As for why we met at a family restaurant—

"Then, show me what you've completed so far."

Please help me!

She smiled and spoke in a relaxed, unhurried tone, placing the printed script on the table.

Read her script and offer suggestions to guide its completion.

This is my current job.

The reason why things turned out this way goes back to what happened yesterday when I went to the library to discuss revising the script with her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I have to decline any changes to the script."

She flatly refused my and Yoshino's request for script revisions.

Yoshino seemed even more surprised than I was by this.

"Eh, why?"

Yoshino moved closer to her with an expression and voice as if he had been betrayed.

"Didn't we say before, 'Just tell me if there's anything you want to change?'"

"Hmm~, that's true... but isn't this amount of writing a bit too much...? After all, we have to write versions for six different characters, right?"

"That's right... but it's just a slight modification to the lines..."

"In that case, it's okay if you just modify it yourselves, right?"

"That won't do."

I stepped between the two of them and said.

"Changing a character's personality isn't as simple as just slightly modifying the dialogue; it requires rebuilding the entire world around that character. So, this task can only be entrusted to you, the one who wrote the script."

The first-year student with pink highlights gave a troubled, wry smile and tilted his head slightly.

"I hadn't thought that far ahead... but thank you for understanding the difficulties I'm facing."

"It's certainly not easy, but I don't think it's incapable of you. You wrote that script in one day, right? If it were you, you could definitely finish it before the school festival."

"It seems you've overestimated me a bit. But what I can say is that 'being able to do it' and 'knowing how to do it' are two different things."

"I have the payment ready."

At this point, I played a negotiation card that I had prepared.

"I'll pay 3,000 yen for each pattern I write. Six patterns would be 18,000 yen. Although that's lower than the market price for an actual script, assuming the assignment takes 10 days, it's equivalent to working two hours a day for 900 yen an hour as a part-time job. I don't think that's unfair."

"Wait, wait a minute!? Do I need to pay!?"

Seeing Yoshino's surprise, I simply gave a soft hum.

"Of course. You have to pay people for their work."

From the beginning, I didn't think this script revision would be a simple matter. And it was entirely on our side—we requested changes for Isana's character design. Plus, she was from another class. Showing this level of sincerity was only natural.

Perhaps surprised that I brought up money right from the start, Meiyang blinked and continued speaking with that same expression.

"Just asking... where did that money come from? Does your class have such a generous budget?"

"Of course not. I paid for it myself."

"Huh!? Are you an idiot!?"

Yoshino made an even louder noise and grabbed my shoulder.

"You want 20,000 yen?! You just pulled that out so easily, how much pocket money do you even have?!"

"I also work part-time regularly. But I hardly ever have the chance to use the money, so it just sits there unused. So it would be pointless not to invest now."

"Investment, is that it?"

I nodded at Meiyang, who looked puzzled.

"Firstly, it's for Isana—our class's character design coordinator. Secondly—"

I looked at the face of the excellent screenwriter in front of me and said.

"—This investment is to establish a connection with your rare talent."

Meiyang opened her mouth slightly and remained silent for a moment.

While I'm currently working as Isana's manager because I'm captivated by her talent, I certainly don't intend to spend my life there. In the future, I hope to interact not only with Isana, but with all sorts of talented people.

Now that I've seen this script, I can't possibly let this opportunity slip by.

After a few seconds of silence, a coughing sound came from behind. It was probably the librarian. Although there were no other users, we were definitely talking too loudly in the library.

Upon hearing this, Meiyang gave an awkward, wry smile.

"Anyway... let's go somewhere else first."

With a creak, the library door closed, and Meiyang turned to me with a slightly mischievous grin.

"Just as the rumors say, Irito-senpai is an oddball."

What are the rumors saying?

"It's best if you don't ask too many questions."

As she spoke, she put her hands behind her back and started walking forward. The way she walked with her chest out was a type I had never encountered before, which made her seem rather novel.

"I've thought about this carefully, and I still can't accept the money. My article isn't really that remarkable."

"I don't think so..."

"But instead, could you please hear my request?"

She turned around and said to me, who was following behind her.

"The reason we were unable to assist our two senior colleagues is partly because our class's activity plan itself encountered some bottlenecks."

"Yeah?"

"Our class's exhibit is a play... but the script is still pending."

She sighed.

Who wrote the script?

"It's me. But after listening to everyone's opinions in the class, things have become a complete mess..."

"I see……"

If we have to solicit opinions on everything from casting preferences to dialogue adjustments, then things that could have been done before will never be done. The reason our class's script was finalized so quickly was partly because Yoshino delegated everything to Miyo. While Yoshino may not have a deep understanding of creative work, her reluctance to interfere much might actually be a strength.

"So, senior, could you please become my advisor?"

With her black and pink braids swaying, Meiyang looked at my face and said.

"You're the agent for the character designer, right? Yoshino-senpai told me that. Besides, I'm quite a bookworm myself. If you're willing to lend a hand, maybe you can save this mess of a script."

"No...no, no, no, that won't do!"

Before I could answer, Yoshino interrupted.

"Irito has Higashi-kun with her, so how could she—"

"Understood. Let's do it that way."

"Irito!?"

Yoshino looked incredulous, and I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye.

"We asked her for help with our class. It's only natural that we offer assistance, right?"

"That's true... but is it really okay?"

"What is allowed and what is not allowed"

After I asked him a question, Yoshino replied with a slightly uneasy and speechless expression.

"So it was just as I expected... You really don't understand women at all, do you?"

She probably meant that Isana would be jealous. If that's the case, then Yoshino is seriously underestimating that girl.

"In short, the contract is valid!"

Meiyang smiled happily and clapped her hands.

"Well then, I'll bring the completed part of the script after school tomorrow. Please read it and give me some suggestions. Would a family-run restaurant or something like that be a good location?"

"No problem"

"Is this really okay?"

I thought to myself, "I should report this to Jie as well."

Back to the present.

After reading the last page, I put the original script back on the table in the family dining room.

"How about it?"

"She probably just came back from a drinks bar." Meiyang asked while sipping her melon soda through a straw.

I flipped through the manuscript again, humming softly, "Hmm..."

"How should I put it..."

"Don't be shy, just say what you want. Otherwise, it's pointless."

"It would be better to rewrite it as soon as possible."

As she wished, I said without any hesitation.

Meiyang had probably anticipated this answer, and said with a wry smile.

"I knew it!"

"Too many scenes and lines were added forcibly, probably written at the class's request, which caused the overall structure to collapse. In that case, I think it would be faster to start from the plot outline and work through it again."

"The overall structure collapsed...what exactly does that mean?"

"Perhaps the 'development' section in the introduction, development, transition, and conclusion is too long..."

"Won't that work?"

"These are all things I learned from professional writers and am now applying them on the spot... The 'development' is basically just used to connect the 'introduction' and the 'transition.' To put it simply, it's the groundwork laid for the 'transition'... If the groundwork is too verbose, the audience will get bored. Of course, the same goes for the 'introduction.'"

"You mean we should get the audience to where the story is getting interesting as quickly as possible, right?"

"That's exactly it. But the more fundamental problem is that a large number of mysterious scenes completely unrelated to the story were inserted before that."

The performers might find it interesting, but the audience might struggle to grasp the story's flow and thus feel bored. "Incomprehensible" and "bored" are two extremely similar feelings.

I tapped the script lightly with two fingers.

"Is there any reference material or anything like that for this script?"

Why would you think that?

"It doesn't seem like something you conceived entirely from scratch. It looks more like it's based on a script that was clearly conceived by a high school student."

"I'm a high school student too."

"The story you wrote doesn't seem to be written at a high school level at all."

How do you know?

"Can't feel myself"

Faced with this flamboyant girl with dyed glasses, I still spoke my mind clearly.

"It feels like I wrote it exactly as the other person requested, word for word. To give an analogy, it's like a novel written purely to climb the charts on an online literature website."

Meiyang smiled awkwardly and tilted her head.

"Is this... a compliment?"